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Hot and Cold: The Role of Heat Transfer in Thermoforming
With thermoforming, a plastic sheet is heated to its forming temperature, then shaped by a mold, but just what is “forming temperature?” Most materials have a range of forming temperatures. For example, polystyrene has a lower forming temperature—the temperature at which it can be bent from its flat shape—of 260 degrees Fahrenheit and an upper…
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Does plastic need to be prestretched?
With thermoforming, a plastic sheet is heated until it’s pliable, then stretched into or onto a mold to form a part. But the sheet gets thinner as it stretches deeper onto the mold, which is why prestretching of the hot plastic is sometimes useful. Prestretching is the process of stretching the plastic once it’s at…
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Thin and Thick Gauge Thermoforming: What’s the Difference?
The thermoforming process involves heating a plastic sheet until it’s pliable, then placing it into or onto a mold to be formed with vacuum or pressure. But within this general description of the process, there is one key issue that can impact your part production: gauge. With thermoforming, you can choose between thin gauge or…
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Info is Instrumental to Successful Parts
One often overlooked but critical step in the production of a successful part is the initial information exchange between thermoformer and customer. During this fact-finding phase, several important aspects of the job should be addressed, including: The expected volume Any stressful environments like chemicals, impact and temperature A part’s relationship with mating parts The material…
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Trimming to Part Perfection
A lot of time goes into designing your component part and selecting just the right plastic material. But there’s one often-overlooked manufacturing step that’s critical to part perfection: trimming. This crucial process removes all excess plastic after a part is produced, delivering a number of benefits, including: Part consistency Proper functioning Correct fit and placement…
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Why You May Want to Consider Temporary Tooling
The right tool is crucial to optimal part production, but sometimes it’s wise to consider a temporary tool instead of going directly to production tooling, especially in situations like early market evaluations. Temporary tools for prototyping offer a number of benefits: They’re made from low-cost materials like wood or epoxy The tools can be made…
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Stronger Plastic with Ultrasonics
When your plastic parts have to be joined, ultrasonic welding is an effective choice to create a secure bond. Ultrasonic welding utilizes the power of high-frequency ultrasonic acoustic vibration to create enough pressure between two pieces to weld them together. With ultrasonic welding, you can achieve the plastic piece you want with the added benefit…
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How to Turn Ideas into Reality
All great products start with an idea. But not every idea becomes a great product. So, what’s the key to turning a concept into reality? Implementation. Successful inventions require that a product can be made. But the good news is that you don’t actually have to build your product. That’s where a third party comes…
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Tooling: The Best Way to Make the Parts Behind the Parts
Before a plastic part gets produced, something else needs to be made: the tooling. And when it comes to designing the best tool, the leading option is aluminium. Why? There are several factors that make aluminium the ideal choice of material, including: Durability: Aluminum is sturdy so it can produce nearly any type of part.…
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The Difference is in the Tooling
The best way to successfully produce a part is to start with the right tool. And that holds true with thermforming as well. To ensure the correct tooling for an application, a thermoformer will consider a number of factors, including: Expected volume Stressful environments, including chemicals, impact and temperature The relationship with mating parts By…
