Hey guys, before I completely finish my pack, I was thinking of vacuforming a few shells from it, whether to sell or give to friends to use. I have never vacuformed before and was wondering the best type of plastic to use (abs?) as well as the best thickness.
I’ve researched a little and noticed there are various plastics I could potentially use, but I wanted to see the opinions of the ghostheads on here.
Any and all advice is welcome. Thanks.
Styrene has a low melting point and is fairly inexpensive. Some art supply stores carry it. You may have to reinforce the back of it with ribs as the thin styrene isn’t too strong by itself. I’d recommend wooden ribs.
Thanks for the advice, Alkaline.
If I used a thin plastic, could I reinforce with fibreglass inside once the mold is made?
Yes, you could do that too. Its more messy than just using gussets though. Since your going the vaccu-form route I would try to avoid fiberglass all together. I honestly hate the stuff. Its dangerous and can be extremely hazardous to your health. Even though I’m working on fiberglass shells, I still cringe at the thought of having to do it.
Paul..Vac forming a shell is not as easy as it looks. Most vac formed pack shells you will see out there have webbing in between parts, thin areas and the shell is never that strong.
You can use Styrene .080 which is easier to get details but has the potential for thin areas, ABS is far trickier to use and will not let you get as sharp of details on things like ribs on the powercell or gear box and there will be more webbing. ABS is also sensitive to humidity which can cause other issue (orange peeling)
Do you already have a vacformer?
No, I don’t have a vacuformer. It was an idea I’ve been throwing around the past few days. Thought I’d look into the details. I may give it a shot to see how it works out. I have a friend that would love a pack, and I’d like to save him some trouble.
Thanks for the advice so far.