www.TK560.com

Fredo

For your consideration, questions, and comments.................Fredo

93RMW · Novice Joined: 26 Sep 2009 Posts: 57 Location: Tulare, CA

Great job. I especially like that it folds up into a compact unit when not in use. Great for a small workspace.

A coat of paint and a board or screen to hide the pumps and you'd never know it was hand built.

jegner · Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:54 am Post subject:

Very well done! I do like it very much!

Looks good. What pump are you using?

Fredo · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 1:35 pm Post subject:

My shop is 186 sq. ft. with a 6 ft.7 in. ceiling, so a machine with a small foot print was important. I never read T. J.s book or any other how to vacuum former books. All the info. needed is right here on this site. My advice is to read this forum from start to finish. Almost any question you can think of has been asked and answered. Learn how to use the oven calculater. You can't go your own way with out it. Enough preaching, I'll get back to the machine. The stout little pump is a 1/3 hp 6 amp. 2 stage hvac 1.5 cfm. The tank is an 11 gal. HF air tank. The inital surge drops the tank from 29inhg to 25in.hg. The tank valve is closed, saving the remaining 25in.hg, and the pump finishes the pull at 29in.hg. Everthing happens in just a few seconds. It takes 2 minutes to pull the tank back to 29in.hg. Total pump run time 3 1/2 minutes for each pull. I run .125 abs in 7-8 minutes,with 3to3-1/2 minutes on the oven. The oven and the plastic holding frames are stuffed with 10 pounds of 8#ft3 fiber blanket. No hardibacker was used in building the oven. The platen differs from any found here,so I name it the flush draw platen. The 25,000+ holes draw the plastic flat to the platen. The molds sit flat on the platen with nothing under them. I could go on, but it would only count as one post. It took over 2 yrs. to get this far up the ranking ladder,two fingers at a time...........Fredo

crashmann · Guru Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 501

Wow, what a fantastic compact vac table you've designed!

But does it make the Transformers sound when you flip over the oven? Laughing

I really like that the oven is folded over the table for storage. That would save a ton of space with my vac table in my garage. Hmm....

Thank you very much for sharing your pictures Fredo!

Charlie

jdougn · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:11 pm Post subject:

Hey great work! You mentioned that the oven didn't use HardiBacker. What did you use & how is it working out?
Thanks, DougN
_________________
DougN - Just in case you're wondering, I got my "rating" legitimately... by posting aimless drivel, useless advice, and pointless questions.

Fredo · Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2009 8:44 pm Post subject:

The floor of the oven is a 3/4 in 24in.x24in pc. of 8#cu.ft. blanket saturated w/silica dioxide and then pressed to 1/4 in.thick over an 1/8 predrilled alum. sub floor. After three days in the summer sun [wow sounds like a song] it was dry enough to trim the edges. The holes for the insulators were drilled from the back by hand. The oven floor shows no signs of change after a year of regular use. I expect it to out last me..........Fredo

jdougn · Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 1:35 pm Post subject:

Fredo · Posted: Wed Oct 28, 2009 4:28 pm Post subject:

I pretty much laid that out in the Hardi Backer and Cement Board thread............Fredo

Fredo · Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2009 9:22 pm Post subject:

This is the high-low vac system I first went with. It worked just great, but was really just a waste of time. If you have a good hvac set up you don't need a vacuum cleaner.

This is the two valve 1 tank set up I use now.

This is the where the power for the oven comes in and is split. There are only three 600 watt segments. The center one is isolated and runs through an old 1000watt powerstat, 110volts in 0-140volts out. The center segment is in the exact center of the oven and can be controled to prevent over heating.

This is the second valve and last added................Fredo

Fredo · Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:28 pm Post subject: Oven Temps.

Here is the ovens heat loss numbers after a 20 minute warm up. Oven start temp. 70F. Oven turned full on,1800 watts, lid on, no frames on the oven. After 20 minutes new temps taken with an IR thermometer. Outside wall temp. 88F. Inside wall temp. 425F. Lid temp. outside 105F, inside lid temp. 386F. Oven floor temp. was 405F, taken after the coils were off for 2 minutes with the lid left on. Outside bottom temp. 74F. [ 1/2 in. more insulation in the bottom]. IMO nothing H about it, what happens in the oven should stay in the oven, until you let it out...........Fredo

Stomper · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 7:50 pm Post subject:

Why do you have a French flag under your machine, did they surrender..... again? (J/K) Wink

Looks like a winner!
_________________
Tony Krewson
FEAR... is not my god!!

Fredo · Posted: Mon Nov 16, 2009 8:07 pm Post subject:

#1 I did it to remind the French who pulled thier ass out of the fire last time. #2 I just couldn't live with a chinese red tank. #3 It's a chick magnet................Fredo.

Fredo · Posted: Thu Dec 23, 2021 3:21 pm Post subject:

Looking to rebuild the oven this winter. It's really under powered... I'll be doubling the power by switching to 220 volt 3 segments. Will be making the oven a couple inches deeper and using 1"fiber board for the floor.. Will post a few of my other projects. Need to find a new site to host my pics.
Changed the frame to be 180* turnable like my 12"x12" Former....Being able to turn the frame while heating, and the increased heat will shorten the time to form. Be back when I can post some pics..
_________________
If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you,
it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun...The Dalai Lama..Seattle 2001

crashmann · Guru Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 501

Any chance you could plug your oven into a 20 amp outlet? Then shorten the nichrome coils a bit to increase current flow and generate more heat.

My original 24"x32" oven was plenty hot on a 120 volt AC 20 amp outlet. It heated a sheet of .090ABS in 3.5 minutes.