I was thinking about making a vacuum-formed mould for a Carbon Fibre r/c car bodyshell and was wondering whether anyone has any advice on this, i.e. do I still need to apply mould release wax?
The material I would be vacuum forming would most likely to be HIPS.
Thanks in advance,
Greg
Your carbon fiber body shell is very likely to weigh more than the lexan bodies.
If you really want to make a mold, it needs to be very rigid. If you vac form a body, chances are it won’t have any negative draft angles. Also make sure to build in a large flange area. In that case, place it upside down in a box, and fill the surrounding area with expanding urethane foam to support the shape.
Then you’ll be able to use it as a mold without it distorting.
Good luck, and post results and pics.
And with Polystyrene, you would need to use epoxy resins as PER will melt the plastic…
A better TP plastic sheeting choice would be HDPE as not much wil stick to that material…
Sorry for not responding earlier but thank-you both very much for your advice. I will probably not be able to use a vacuum former anymore as criteria have pushed my model size up to 58x23x20cm. Thanks a lot for the great replies though, and I will take them onboard the next time I am to use a vacuum former.
TET: Thanks for the tips, no. 1 - I’m going to use CF for aesthetic purposes and for the experience, no.2 - these are great instructions, can this be applied for a body of 58x23x20cm?
Werksberg: Yes, I am going to use epoxy resin, also thanks for the HDPE advice too.
I will gladly post pics and stuff. This will be no trouble to me as I have to take them for my resistant materials coursework.
Thanks again,
Greg