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jdougn
Guru
Joined: 18 Mar 2009
Posts: 714
Location: Louisville KY area
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 Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 11:20 am Post subject: |
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Looks like you're coming along great with your vac former. Very proffessional looking. Is your part the pod in the center of the dash? What's it holding? What did you make your plastic carrier frame out of? Looks like interesting material.
Thanks for posting picts!
dn
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DougN - Just in case you're wondering, I got my "rating" legitimately... by posting aimless drivel, useless advice, and pointless questions. |
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crashmann
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Joined: 27 Sep 2005
Posts: 501
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| Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 11:47 am Post subject: |
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Wow, now that's very professional looking!
What kind of linear actuators are you using to raise and lower the plastic clamping frame? Do they run quiet?
I was going to use pneumatic cylinders, but the compressor to provide the air pressure would be too loud for my son's bedroom over the garage 
Charlie |
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speedofsound
Novice
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 56
Location: Memphis, TN
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| Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 12:46 pm Post subject: |
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| jdougn wrote: | Looks like you're coming along great with your vac former. Very proffessional looking. Is your part the pod in the center of the dash? What's it holding? What did you make your plastic carrier frame out of? Looks like interesting material.
Thanks for posting picts!
dn |
Thanks, dn. The pod on the dash holds two aftermarket gauges (2 1/16"). I own a business that makes these type of parts, so I'm constantly fiddling with gadgets/etc. It's great! 
The material is 80/20 extrusion and fasteners. Great stuff, although kind of spendy if you're starting from scratch. I had a quantity from a previous project, otherwise I probably would have gone a cheaper route.
| crashmann wrote: | Wow, now that's very professional looking!
What kind of linear actuators are you using to raise and lower the plastic clamping frame? Do they run quiet?
I was going to use pneumatic cylinders, but the compressor to provide the air pressure would be too loud for my son's bedroom over the garage
Charlie |
Charlie,
These are 30" stroke, 200 lb force linear track actuators from www.firgelliauto.com . They are very quiet, and are almost silent when the cabinet is closed. I *will* post video when the time is right. 
Video of the same type of part can be seen here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br6wyrU-IT8
Thanks for the kind words! |
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jdougn
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Joined: 18 Mar 2009
Posts: 714
Location: Louisville KY area
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| Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 12:12 pm Post subject: |
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| speedofsound wrote: |
......These are 30" stroke, 200 lb force linear track actuators from www.firgelliauto.com . They are very quiet, and are almost silent when the cabinet is closed. I *will* post video when the time is right.
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Yeah, I like this idea! Since I'm molding 3/16" ABS these would work great, especially to enable pressurized release of the molded parts! Right now I can't get enough down pressure on my 2'x4' manual carrier system to use air pressure to pop the molded part. Is there a way to wire these for tandem control? There must be but I didn't find it on the Firgelli website.
Doug
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DougN - Just in case you're wondering, I got my "rating" legitimately... by posting aimless drivel, useless advice, and pointless questions. |
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speedofsound
Novice
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 56
Location: Memphis, TN
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| Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 4:35 pm Post subject: |
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| jdougn wrote: | Is there a way to wire these for tandem control? There must be but I didn't find it on the Firgelli website.
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Doug, the Firgelli site is kind-of lacking on documentation, isn't it? They do have a very good Youtube page, with quite a bit of instruction there.
Yes, multiple actuators can be "synched" together. I'm doing this, and eliminating the separate hand controls in favor of the single 3-way switch on my machine's front panel (shown on first page of this thread). I spoke to Firgelli about this, and all one needs to do is take the hand controller apart and re-wire from there. Electrical is NOT my strong suit, but this seems pretty straightforward.
I'll take pics and post them in this thread, as I'm attempting to tackle *exactly* this task in the morning! |
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speedofsound
Novice
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 56
Location: Memphis, TN
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| Posted: Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:38 pm Post subject: |
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Quick update:
The two actuators are now wired to the switch in the control panel, and are fully operational. Smooth, pretty quick and definitely high on the "ooooohhhhh" factor.
Ordering the final pieces for the oven/actuators frame work, and I should have a finished assembly. Oven wiring will be quick (hopefully), and then I can run some pump-only test pulls.
Once I finish the oven, I'll move to adding a tank and finishing that plumbing.
I'll post pics/vids as I take them.
-Alan |
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jdougn
Guru
Joined: 18 Mar 2009
Posts: 714
Location: Louisville KY area
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| Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:43 am Post subject: |
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| speedofsound wrote: | Quick update:
The two actuators are now wired to the switch in the control panel, and are fully operational. Smooth, pretty quick and definitely high on the "ooooohhhhh" factor.
Ordering the final pieces for the oven/actuators frame work, and I should have a finished assembly. Oven wiring will be quick (hopefully), and then I can run some pump-only test pulls.
Once I finish the oven, I'll move to adding a tank and finishing that plumbing.
I'll post pics/vids as I take them.
-Alan |
I'll definitely be interested in seeing the video of the actuators in use! If I priced them correctly, actuators with a 30" stroke would cost arount $170 each.
Doug
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DougN - Just in case you're wondering, I got my "rating" legitimately... by posting aimless drivel, useless advice, and pointless questions. |
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speedofsound
Novice
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 56
Location: Memphis, TN
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| Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2009 10:16 am Post subject: |
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| jdougn wrote: |
I'll definitely be interested in seeing the video of the actuators in use! If I priced them correctly, actuators with a 30" stroke would cost arount $170 each.
Doug |
The rest of my 80/20 order should arrive Thursday, and I'll get to work on building the support structure for the oven/actuator bracing at the top of the machine. I've got a (I think) pretty good plan to do this, we'll see how it pans out in real life. haha
Yes, that price seems correct. I used the 200lb force (not 400), and I recall they cost a little less and are a little faster. Since my holding frame weighs about 12 lbs, the heavy-duty actuators weren't needed. |
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vacunoob
Novice
Joined: 03 Apr 2009
Posts: 49
Location: Hickory, NC
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| Posted: Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:38 pm Post subject: |
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It looks great! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.
I'd like to get some actuators but them seem pretty steep in price.
Anyone know of a place to buy them for under a $100?
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Failure is only possible if you set a time limit.
Flickr: Vacuum Former Pics
Product I vacuum form- Laser Speed Grids |
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speedofsound
Novice
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 56
Location: Memphis, TN
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 9:10 am Post subject: |
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| vacunoob wrote: | It looks great! I'm looking forward to seeing your progress.
I'd like to get some actuators but them seem pretty steep in price.
Anyone know of a place to buy them for under a $100? |
Thanks. I'm looking forward to seeing my progress, too!
The rest of my 80/20 aluminum will be delivered tomorrow (  ), so I'm delayed another day. Yesterday I milled a pair of mounting brackets for the upper portion of the actuators. The brackets will allow me to secure the upper portion of the track, and bring the oven/framework/actuators together in a solid structure.
Actuators for under $100? Not likely, unless you score a deal on Ebay or require a shorter stroke length than 30".
You can always consider using window motors from a car, or power antenna motors. I guess it all depends on how crafty/inventive you are. I adhere to a common saying from the drag racing community for most of my projects:
1. Fast
2. Reliable
3. Cheap
Pick any two you like.
Last edited by speedofsound on Thu Jun 25, 2009 3:47 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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spektr
Master
Joined: 07 Jan 2008
Posts: 425
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speedofsound
Novice
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 56
Location: Memphis, TN
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| Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 3:39 pm Post subject: |
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Yep, the pneumatic versions certainly can be had for less than the electric ones. Thanks for the link, Scott.
I'm going to work tomorrow and Saturday to finish up my framework, and I'll bring my camcorder with me on Saturday to shoot a quick video clip of the motors at work.
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Grandpa
Newbie
Joined: 17 May 2009
Posts: 6
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| Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 1:09 pm Post subject: |
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| Isn't 30" a bit long? The electric also seems to be very slow from the spec sheets, it looks like 15 seconds is needed to close the 30" model. It will be interesting to see how it performs. |
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speedofsound
Novice
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 56
Location: Memphis, TN
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| Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 3:14 pm Post subject: |
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| Grandpa wrote: | | Isn't 30" a bit long? The electric also seems to be very slow from the spec sheets, it looks like 15 seconds is needed to close the 30" model. It will be interesting to see how it performs. |
I'm not sure, Grandpa, as I don't require the full 30" stroke. With my oven mounted in place, the desirable travel length is reduced to 19" or so. I haven't broken out the stopwatch (yet), but the frame goes from oven height to table in 7-8 seconds.
Didn't get a chance to shoot video today, but will soon. I did get a few pics, hope you enjoy! Any questions or comments are welcome.
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vacunoob
Novice
Joined: 03 Apr 2009
Posts: 49
Location: Hickory, NC
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| Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 4:11 pm Post subject: |
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Looking good!
Grandpa has a good point there. The faster you can get it from heat to vacuum the better. My current setup has the frame and platen all in one, to eliminate the chance of the plastic cooling.
I'll upload some pictures.
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Failure is only possible if you set a time limit.
Flickr: Vacuum Former Pics
Product I vacuum form- Laser Speed Grids |
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