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Steve68 Newbie
Joined: 15 Aug 2007 Posts: 8
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Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 5:39 pm Post subject: Would there be any problems with a 2' x 4' machine? |
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I want to build a 2' x 4' machine, and was wondering if there might be some sort of problem with a rectangle setup vs a square.
Thanks,
Steve |
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tubachris85x Master
Joined: 15 Jan 2007 Posts: 351 Location: Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
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Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 8:10 pm Post subject: |
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There really shouldnt be any issue with the shape of the platen/former. As long as the basic requirements to make it work as a former is present (air seal/vaccum, etc.), the shape dosnt matter. Its personal preference and depends on what your forming.
-tubachris _________________
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drcrash Guru
Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Posts: 705 Location: Austin, Texas
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Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:59 pm Post subject: Re: Would there be any problems with a 2' x 4' machine? |
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Steve68 wrote: | I want to build a 2' x 4' machine, and was wondering if there might be some sort of problem with a rectangle setup vs a square. |
There's no problem with non-square vacuum formers. Most vacuum formers are not square.
Thurston James's plans happen to be for square machines, but they're derived from Nick Bryson's, which were non-square. _________________ Paul (a.k.a. Dr. Crash)
Tired of buying cheap plastic crap? Now you can make your own! www.VacuumFormerPlans.com |
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jegner Site Admin
Joined: 30 May 2003 Posts: 2144 Location: Texas, USA
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:20 pm Post subject: |
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Thurston talks about a 4x4 machine, basically a scaled up version of the 2x2 machine. So a rectangle version should be a non issue. Also, several board members here have made 24x36 machines too. |
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TK 109 Guru
Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 712 Location: Galena, Ohio
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:48 pm Post subject: |
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charlie
i really thought about building a 4'x4' machine for my armor, but VERY high cost, and SPECIAL-ORDER city. cost came first, so i went 2'x2'. thurston james complained about heating issues, too, when i came to bigger tables.
has anyone on this board or others even made a 4'x4' table? i would love to see it! that would be cool! _________________ -Alex
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crashmann Guru
Joined: 27 Sep 2005 Posts: 501
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 10:25 pm Post subject: |
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Yup, my 24" x 32" table works fine. The over under Doug Walsh tables are also rectangular, and with the lifting lever they work great.
My friends have been goading me to build a 4' x 4' oven, but I think I may scale it back just a bit to 48" x 32" which will yield three pieces of plastic from a single sheet (three sheets to the wind ) Now to come up with a good design...
Charlie |
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Funkzilla Newbie
Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 16 Location: Ontario Canada
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Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:11 pm Post subject: |
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At my University we had a an oven and a platen that could easily handle a full 4'x8' sheet.
I once helped a friend vac form a mannequin in halves to make a body double.
I *think* we used 3 1/2' x 7' sheets of polycarbonate.
-Eric |
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TK 109 Guru
Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 712 Location: Galena, Ohio
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Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:16 pm Post subject: |
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dude, eric ....
i can see that. i actually saw a show a while back that involved making a cast of a human body from vacuum-formed plastic. in fact, the mythbusters used a 4'x' TJ-style machine (i think), to recreate "buster", their crash-test dummy . _________________ -Alex
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cod Master
Joined: 05 Nov 2006 Posts: 322 Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Fri Nov 30, 2007 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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TK 109 wrote: | dude, eric ....
i can see that. i actually saw a show a while back that involved making a cast of a human body from vacuum-formed plastic. in fact, the mythbusters used a 4'x' TJ-style machine (i think), to recreate "buster", their crash-test dummy . |
with a 4x8 machine you could almost(minus undercuts around hands) make your own Hans Solo Carbonite sheet!
http://tinyurl.com/2fk5qh _________________ <.o'> |
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TK 109 Guru
Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 712 Location: Galena, Ohio
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Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2007 7:12 pm Post subject: |
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cod, LOL.
good thing he's in carbonite, that might be the only way to shut him up!
_________________ -Alex
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thats_right2 Newbie
Joined: 05 Dec 2007 Posts: 6 Location: Kansas
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 10:10 am Post subject: |
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Hey all! I've been checking out the forum for a little while now and just joined. I have a question about oven wattage. I'm looking to build a 3' x 5' oven and wanted to know the proper wattage to put into the ovencalculator. I see that 2400W is used for a 2' x 2' panel. Can I assume that 2400W for a 2' x 2' (4ft^2) panel would equal 9000W for a 3' x 5' (15ft^2) panel? |
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jegner Site Admin
Joined: 30 May 2003 Posts: 2144 Location: Texas, USA
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:01 pm Post subject: |
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thats_right2 wrote: | Hey all! I've been checking out the forum for a little while now and just joined. I have a question about oven wattage. I'm looking to build a 3' x 5' oven and wanted to know the proper wattage to put into the ovencalculator. I see that 2400W is used for a 2' x 2' panel. Can I assume that 2400W for a 2' x 2' (4ft^2) panel would equal 9000W for a 3' x 5' (15ft^2) panel? |
Welcome to the board. Sorry about the imperial-armor.com site. I've been having some hosting issues with that. Here is the oven calculator on this site:
http://www.tk560.com/ovencalculations.html
it should calculate your needs.
Jim |
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thats_right2 Newbie
Joined: 05 Dec 2007 Posts: 6 Location: Kansas
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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That calculator is really nice. I guess what I'm asking...is 2400W the ideal wattage for a 2' x 2' panel? Should the wattage be a function of sq. ft.? If I go to a 3 x 5 panel, should I also increase the power? At 2400W that would be 600W/ft^2. So I would need 9000W for a 15ft^2 panel?
Entering 9000W into the ovencalculator for a 3 x 5 gives me the same Power output over area as a 2 x 2 @ 2400w (4.167 W/in^2). |
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jegner Site Admin
Joined: 30 May 2003 Posts: 2144 Location: Texas, USA
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Posted: Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:34 pm Post subject: |
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I think the ideal is to have an oven that won't blow a common 110v 20amp circuit. Hence the math. If you wanted to the same heat level, but wanted a larger oven, you are looking at going above this threshold.
Jim |
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cod Master
Joined: 05 Nov 2006 Posts: 322 Location: San Francisco
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Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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thats_right2 wrote: | At 2400W that would be 600W/ft^2. So I would need 9000W for a 15ft^2 panel?
Entering 9000W into the oven calculator for a 3 x 5 gives me the same Power output over area as a 2 x 2 @ 2400w (4.167 W/in^2). |
I concur with your calculations. You might consider dividing this up into 4 or more discrete circuits unless you have somehow 80 amps available to you on one breaker(not likely)
better yet this might be a case where you want to use 220v to cut your amp rating in half. I'm not certain, but Ibelieve that when machines get this big with this kind of draw- there is a tendency to build them around a 220v standard for capacity and economics- dependss on how your locality charges for power...
I used the calculator and then divided my calculations into 2 discrete circuits in order to fit each into the limitations of standard 15-20 amp circuit breakers. i think your project would require a good commercial rated power hookup- it's the equivalent of running 9 hair dryers simultaneously! _________________ <.o'> |
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