An attempt at a homemade vacuum forming box under a limited budget using a Dyson Ball Animal vacuum hose.

Materials

• Vacuum forming Box
• Dyson Ball Animal Vacuum (Can make more universal in the future)
• Heat Source (I currently use a black and decker toaster oven)
• Clamp/hinge mechanism (STL File Attached, .zip for SVG for laser cutting attached)
  • I laser cut 3mm craft wood
• Binder clips for clamp mechanism
• Thermoforming plastic
• Model/mold to thermoform
• PPE! 
  • I recommend good ventilation but still a respirator since you will be heating a plastic, as well as heat resistant gloves

I recommend researching some thermoforming/vacuum forming and watching Adam Savage's Tested video on Vacuum Forming to have some familiarity.

Basics

After printing the vacuum forming box components, put the lid over the opening of the main box; this will be a tight fit, and some pressure may be needed. Connect the vacuum hose to the adaptor. Cut the thermoforming plastic to fit within the clamp mechanism, affixing it with the binder clips on each side. Evenly heat the plastic until you see it sagging downwards. Once at a suitable level, turn the vacuum on, and move the heated plastic to the box over your mold. If heated enough, it should suck towards the vacuum holes, conforming around the mold. Let the vacuum run and the plastic cool, and Bam! Theoretical mold/vacuform.

You will need two of the clamp/hinge mechanism for it to hold onto the plastic properly; when laser cutting mine I found that the two pieces of 3mm board would not fit in the rack slot of the toaster oven, and opted to take the area of the plastic forward (see pictures for details).

Safety

As always, make sure to wear PPE as you will be working with hot objects! Since plastic will be heated, it is best to wear a respirator as well. I use a laser cut wooden mechanism to clamp the plastic, but be careful when heating wood and maybe consider better materials when crafting.

Future

I plan to revisit the vacuum forming box in the future since this was thrown together. Any and all feedback helps for the next model! Currently I would like to add/modify the following:

• Add more holes to help with vacuuming
• Make vacuum adaptor more universal
• Add side slots for rails to better align the mechanism holding thermoforming plastic
• Modify surface area to better use plastic
• Better material for clamp/hinge mechanism (and better mechanism altogether)
• Find ways to recycle fountain drink cup plastic into molds (specifically #5 polypropylene)

Disclosure

I'm just a dude working out of his garage/basement in his off time; this is my first published model, and it is something totally new I'm trying out. I've had some success, but am still learning! That being said definitely trust more verifiable sources when looking into vacuum forming/thermoforming and be safe.

Shoutout Brite Mini's Saracen Archer for being used as a test for packaging!

Happy forming, and thank you for any feedback! Feel free to send over a boost if you found this project fun!