Technique

Heating and stretching of plastic sheet to form a desired shape.

Materials

• Mould
• Plastic sheet

Machines

• Vacuum forming machine

Method

1. Cut out a sheet of the plastic sheet to desired size

2. Place the mould onto the allocated spot of the vacuum forming machine

3. Place the plastic sheet on top of the opening

4. Pull down the cover and lock it in place

5. Pull out the heater and wait for the plastic sheet to heat up
note: look at the light reflected off the plastic sheet – initially there would be wrinkles, so wait until it’s all gone!

6. Turn the vacuum on

7. Pull down the level at the side to bring the mould up

8. Once the mould touches the plastic sheet, pull down the little lever to create a balloon
note: this is done to easily encapsulate larger and more complex moulds

Results

 

Reflection

Learning to use the machine was a little difficult at first – there were so many steps and I had no idea on how to form the balloon! – but it was easy once I got the hang of it. One thing I regret not doing is to be more resourceful with the mould, since I was using both CNC’ed moulds.