www.TK560.com

[Benjaminvegeta]

So here are some pics of my Vacuformer being build.
It´s not from the start because some parts were already built before I decided to make a thread about it.

Beware, I´m not a good craftsman

Total Shot:


The table will be reinforced by getting left,right and back wall from wood and maybe later a frontdoor for looks.

My oven box with the calcium-silicate lining:


Parts of the forming platen:


Vacuum tanks and steel tubes:


Vacuum pump:


And my coiled-by-hand NiChrom Wire:


I coiled the 32 metres of wire around a threaded rod (don´t know the english name at the moment, but it´s on right side of the photo). Coiling was not the problem but getting the coiled wire of the rod was difficult.
Because if you want to turn the rod out of the wire, it only partly works. the rest of the wire turns with the rod due to friction.
The trick was fixing the entire coiled wire with tape to the table so I could remove the rod(still took some time though)

Will update when going on
_________________
If it doesn´t exist, build it!

[jdougn]

Hey Ben, thanks for posting up pictures. It's always good to see how other people are doing things. It is amazing to see that you had to coil your own nichrome wire but it looks like it turned out great. In the USA the "threaded rod" is sometimes called "all thread" or threaded rod.

DougN
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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.

[Benjaminvegeta]

Threaded rod: Sometimes the easy answer is the right to go

Yeah, as I told in the Indroduce yourself forum, some parts are difficult to get hold of in germany^^

I forgot to post 1 more photo of another example: toggle clamps. Also difficult to track down. And when you find a vendor those are pretty expensive: about 15-20€ for single one.
Luckily I won these on ebay:
17 used toggle clamps for a total of 30€

_________________
If it doesn´t exist, build it!

[Benjaminvegeta]

Today I built a flange, because I could not find a fitting one at the shop.
So went on with a complete own Design

Thats my first weld ever, so don´t shoot me^^
Used an arc welder
I got a photo after welding with blank metal, but my digital cam somehow destroyed it, so here the pic after painting


I routed the form of the flange on the lower part of the forming platen to get a flush fitment. Then glued, screwed and sealed the flange to the platen


Then glued the lower half of the platen in it´s place on the table


Next step: Glueing upper half in place when lower is dry.
Oven will be wired next week, cause I ordered somemore NiCr wire. Decided to do 4 segments now to get more coils per inch...Happy Coiling!!
_________________
If it doesn´t exist, build it!

[jdougn]

Ben, you're really having to be creative to get your vac former built but great work! Keep posting up your progress.
_________________
DougN - Just in case you're wondering, I got my "rating" legitimately... by posting aimless drivel, useless advice, and pointless questions.

[Benjaminvegeta]

Update:

Forming platen finished:


Carrier frame and guiding posts welded:



Then today also some packages were delievered by the mail man.
After opening:

From left to right:
An aluminium cooling plate for the 4000W Power Dimmer to its right.
a nice turning wheel for the dimmers potentiometer, a vacuum gauge and another 44meters of NiCr wire.
Not on the photo: some angled steel for mounting the toggle clamps on the frame.

My shopping list is shortening and soon should be empty
_________________
If it doesn´t exist, build it!

[jegner]

Cool! Keep us posted on your progress!

JIm

[Benjaminvegeta]

Today I coiled the remaining 44 meters of NiCr wire. I´m happy that it´s over
Didn´t take a photo ´cause it´s nothing new/interesting.
Hopefully I can do an update with new photos tomorrow.
_________________
If it doesn´t exist, build it!

[Benjaminvegeta]

Today´s update: NiCr wire meets oven box




_________________
If it doesn´t exist, build it!

[jdougn]

Wow, great work! Nice clean lines on the nichrome. You might want to shorten the legs on the cotter pins on the back of the oven so they can't get twisted around and touch each other. If two of them touch it can do strange things to the oven.

Thanks for posting up your progress. You'll be forming plastic before too long!
_________________
DougN - Just in case you're wondering, I got my "rating" legitimately... by posting aimless drivel, useless advice, and pointless questions.

[croky_b]

wow

hi

I am of France and I am curious to know how your oven is built because as you I have much problem to find coiled NICR
can you say to me how much nicr has you to use and which is the diameter of the wire still
where do you find you NICr ??
what is the caracteristic of your oven ?


another question your tank where do you find there ?

thanks
Cédric

sorry my english is verry bad and basic

[Benjaminvegeta]

Hi Cèdric

The first NiCr wire I bought was from belgium but when I needed some more wire I found a german seller on ebay:
click here
I´m using the Ø 0,60 mm wire. The wire is straigth, so you will have to coil it yourself. I wrote above how I´ve done it.
Can´t tell you the exact length of the used wire, because I cut the wire by measuring the needed resistance in ohms (50 Ohms each of the 4 segments in my case).
But it´s somewhere between 50 and 60 meters total.
How much wire you need depends on the size of your oven, number of segments and some other variables. You can look that up at the oven calculator:
Oven Calculator

With caracteristic I think you mean size etc?
The oven platen is 95x65cm, I used 4 wire segments (and so a lot of wire in comparison to fewer segments) to hopefully get a more even heat transition.
From the beginning to the end the wire goes in 10 spirals round the platen.
The oven was planned to have a maximum of 3872Watts. This uneven number is due to the fact that I use a max. 4000Watt power dimmer, which I don´t want to overload. and at 3872 Watts each segment needed exactly 50 Ohms.
The white platen is calcium silicate which wasn´t easy to get hold of a single platen. It´s expensive and normally you only can buy a bigger amount of it because it´s used for house building.

I´ve found the tanks on ebay. Just search there a bit. They came from broken workshop compressors and were sold separately from the motors.

If you´ve got other questions: Just ask
_________________
If it doesn´t exist, build it!

[croky_b]

thanks
I continue to follow this construction

[Benjaminvegeta]

I went on with my former:

First I cut angled steel into small pieces, drilled 4 holes in each of them and threaded the holes by hand:


Then I shortened the toggle clamps to fit my needs. The long arms were shortened to avoid them hanging over the forming platen and plastic:


The toggle clamps were screwed onto the angled steel parts:



After some welding we achieve the following:





And my welding skills have improved a little bit, too
_________________
If it doesn´t exist, build it!

[spektr]

you might want to change the rubber bumpers on the clamps before you melt them. Its not as messy that way..... Screws work fine....
I'm also a bit puzzled at how you are goung to seal the plastic sheet off against the platen since they appear to be at the same height. Normally, the sheet carrier moves the sheet a bit further down the machine than level with the platen, This is to promote sheet seal, and if you son't do it , it will become problematic. Go watch the Belovac video and see what I mean. The sheet carrier go's an inch farther than the platen face, it's just a good practice.

http://www.belovac.com/model_c_class.html


Scott.