Thermoforming, Volume 1

Virtually any thermoplastic can be heated, shaped and cooled into another shape.   Whether starting with pellets, heating and injecting the molten plastic into a mold, or starting with a sheet of plastic and changing the shape by other forces, all thermoplastics can be transformed into nearly any shape desired.

Plastic Plus is equipped to handle pressure and vacuum forming, radius bending and free-forming of most thermoplastics.  Vacuum Forming is a fairly simple process whereby you create a mold, heat a sheet of plastic, draw it down over a male or female mold and apply a vacuum. This method of thermoforming is ideal for intricate designs with uniformity from part to part. Typical run quantities are more than 100 and less than 10,000.

ABS for Electronic Components

These products are all used in the electronics industry.  The large unit is a fixture used in the circuit board manufacturing industry where circuit boards are attached in the quality control phase of production and tested for conformity.  The two smaller items are actual enclosures for end products.  ABS is ideal for this type of product with good impact resistance and textured finish available off the shelf.

Polyethylene Thermoforming

This carrying case is designed for a line of compound bows.  This case was designed to hold several models and made with forming grade polyethylene.  PE is generally used in chemical exposure applications however in this case it offered good impact resistance and abrasion resistance.

Restoration Items

This customer searched for months to find ceiling tiles for a historic restoration project.  The original tiles were made with press formed tin and virtually impossible to acquire.  We cast a duplicate tile with a high heat resistant compound to create a vacuum forming mold and formed the required replacement tiles with custom extruded, white, fire retardant ABS.