Formech On Tour

We look forward to seeing you over the coming days and weeks.  We invite you to join us and meet the team at these various events.

Atlanta, Georgia,  USA22nd Annual Thermoforming Conference September 9 – 12, 2013 Booth 204
Chicago, IL, USA	Las Vegas, Nevada, USA September 23-25, 2013 Las Vegas, Nevada USA Visit Us at Booth 5246 Question? E-Mail Us		Düsseldorf, Germany, Europe October 16 – 23, 2013 Hall 3 / Booth F46

SET AN APPOINTMENT NOW TO MEET WITH OUR EXPERTS AT ANY OF THESE SHOWS.

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Formech’s Vacuum Formers: Formidable At Fakuma 2012

Formech’s Latest Semi-Auto Ranges Wow At Fakuma 2012Fakuma is a key trade event for the EU plastics processing industry with approximately 1,700 exhibitors and visitor attendance in excess of 40,000.  Approximately 65% of exhibitors are domestic companies emphasizing the very sizable German plastics market.  Formech was proud to represent the finest UK engineering and 30 years of vacuum forming machine design, demonstrating our latest developments with the HD686 and 1372 ranges.

Formech Managing Director, Paul Vukovich commented:

“I am excited with the huge interest we received in Formech’s semi-auto range in such a strongly contested market.  Formech’s no compromise approach to using quartz heaters and Mitsubishi’s logical touch screen across the range sets a benchmark at the price.  This resonated strongly with existing and new clients requiring high performance at very accessible price points.  Application queries were as far and wide as automotive prototyping to packaging, design and architecture.”

Germany Market Manager, Jeannine March explained:

“Since the formation of Formech’s branch office here in 2010 my feet have hardly touched the ground!  Despite strong competition from the long-established domestic brands, Formech’s reliable, user focused and cost-effective machines–coupled with a helpful and friendly approach–is proving very attractive to existing and new customers in Germany.  Formech’s presence at major European events hosted in Germany such as the K Show and Fakuma underlines our commitment to the EU market and keeps us close to our customers from whom we are continually learning.”

Sold on Formech

Formech’s uniquely flexible approach to machine design and customization were a big hit with customers looking for a fully optimized solution at a sensible price.  One visitor in particular, looking to buy a machine to form small run specialized automotive parts, expressed delight in how easy the Formech machines were to use.  Understanding his application and quantity requirements enabled us to quote on a cost-effective semi-auto bespoke size machine for his needs.  The end result was an ideal solution at a price that fell within his budget and proved considerably cheaper than the ‘take it or leave it’ large standard auto solutions offered by other manufacturers.

 More testament to our fine array of machines that fit market demand for a variety of application requirements, with huge international growth driven by our branch offices in US and Germany and a carefully selected network of very supportive re-sellers, 2012 is a record-breaking year for Formech in global machine sales.

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PACK EXPO 2012 Formech & Stratasys Booth >>>> EVENT INVITE

Formech’s Vacuum Formers & Stratasys’ Dimension Printers fit like a hand in glove.

That’s why we’ll be demonstrating jointly in Booth #E8320 at this year’s annual Pack Expo to be held in Chicago’s McCormick Place, October 28-31.   The Pack Expo attracts over 46,000 attendees!  With so many offerings,  book a demo now so you’ll be sure to have the opportunity to talk to one of our experts on hand!

And after the EXPO…Did someone say P A R T Y?

On Monday October 29, join us after the Expo when our free shuttle bus will transport you from McCormick Place to exciting Excalibur Nightclub in the heart of Chicago.  There you can cut loose and have some fun with the folks from Formech & Stratasys.  We’re providing the travel, entry, food and drink!  Just send us your reservation and let us know you’re coming.  RSVP@FORMECHINC.COM

Case Study: The Idea Shop at the Illinois Institute of Technology

 

The idea shop is a 13,000 square foot collaborative learning space and digital fabrication lab for the IIT community. It is located in the University Technology Park, an incubator for start-up companies. By bringing together people from different backgrounds and areas of expertise and providing materials, human resources, technology, equipment, all in one place, the Idea Shop is an ideal space for generating and disseminating good ideas and coming up with great solutions to real-world problems. The Idea Shop also  provides opportunities for the surrounding community through workshops, seminars, outreach activities, summer programs, and more.

       “We (The Idea Shop) purchased our Formech vacuum former to complement the other digital fabrication equipment. Using AutoCAD our CNCs, our 3D printers and our traditional wood working tools we are able to easily create a wide rang of molds to use in our vacuum former. This gives our inventive students many options and the ability to create professional final products. The students in the Idea Shop are finding answers for the problems facing people all over the world. We have a team working on an incubator for premature infants in developing countries. The team is using easy to find parts and the are putting together a build it yourself kit to be shipped all over the world. The team plans to use the vacum former for molding the half dome of the incubator and for securing the vital components that must be protected.

We used our vacuum former to help us keep the project work we require our students to do organized. In the summer we run programs that involve many teams working on many different projects at the same time. Our vacuum former has helped us to create custom trays to keep they parts for our rocket project and our robotics project protected and organized. To create the custom trays we start by creating a drawing of what we want in AutoCAD. From there Joe Luciani, the Idea Shop Lab Manager, does the tool pathing in Visual Mill, then the form is cut out of wood on the CNC. (We could also do it from aluminum) Once the form is out Joe sands it down and drills in air holes. Then Joe places the newly milled mold into the vacum former and in moments we have a usable tray custom designed to fit our needs. Joe releases the mold and uses our 50 watt laser cutter to make a clean edged cut.”

– April Welch | Manager | The Idea Shop at IIT

Photo of the project below:

DIY: How to Easily Replicate Existing Patterns and Tooling

Formech: Forming to Perfection Create a box for your mold to support the sides and bottom. This will also make an environment for you to pour your resin so that you decrease the chances of spilling or uneven pouring. Keep the size and shape in mind when building the box. This example is rather large and will be quite heavy when completely filled. Select a casting resin that will be able to withstand the heat from the thermoforming process. This particular resin has an aluminum base and will do the job well. Other resins that are useable for this process have mineral a mineral base. Companies like Smooth-On make several viable options (i.e. Task 18). These resins come in two parts, the resin and the activator. The most common ratios are 1:1 or 1:10 and are always measured by weight. www.smooth-on.com Using an electric mixing attachment is vital to achieve uniform consistency so that all the resin cures properly. When purchasing a resign pay attention to the pot life. This is the amount of time you have to work with the resign before it starts to cure. Next we will allow the mixed resin to sit for a 1-5 minutes to release any air bubbles that may be present. Air bubbles can have a drastic effect on the aesthetic and functionality of the tooling. Remember to coat all surfaces of the mold with mold release so that you can easily extract the finished tooling. Then apply a thin layer of casting resin to the surface of the mold. Including this step will drastically reduce air bubbles on the surface of the tooling and leave a a smooth exterior. Once you have coated the mold it is time to pour the rest of the compound into the cavity being mindful of the pot life. Once it is cured (cure times will very), you should easily be able to separate the cast (or tooling) from the mold provided you used he mold release properly. To sign up for our monthly newsletters please email us at info@formechinc.com Formech Inc – Forming to Perfection Visit our website at www.formechinc.com

DIY: Creating Molds for Vac Forming

Formech: Forming to Perfection Over the course of doing business we have advised many customers on the specifics of developing custom tooling for their various applications. Here we demonstrate a few commonly used techniques from the do-it-yourself to the utilization of high-end machinery. Easily Create Molds for Vacuum Forming The first step of the vacuum-forming process is to create your mold, also known as ‘tooling’. If you have an easy-to-use, professional grade vac-forming machine then this step is probably going to be the most in depth part of the process. It’s easy, and Formech successfully advises our customers on this initial step quite frequently. There are several ways to create a tool for vacuum-forming, and which one you use will ultimately depend on what you are attempting to achieve, the resources you have to achieve it, and how long or how many runs you will need the tool to last. Here are a few suggestions on common mold types: §  Cast | Plaster, Clay, or Resin: To the right we have an example of a plaster mold utilized by our customers at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. You can actually form right over the plaster, as demonstrated with the mask below, courtesy of our friends at the London College of Fashion.                                                      American Museum of Natural History Workshop   Here we see course leader Caroline Gardiner using a plaster tool to make a foam mask with the Formech FM660.   This ‘Azote’ foam is handy for mask making applications and maintains excellent shape after cooling. NOTE: One thing to definitely keep in mind when using plaster or clay is to periodically remove excess dust before and after forming. Otherwise, debris will build up inside the pump over time. Also, plaster or clay may only last for a few runs but aluminum or mineral resin tools are more permanent. Mineral resin ‘paint tube’ tooling utilized for packaging If necessary, you can always duplicate your brittle molds by forming a part and then using that negative mold to pour a mineral (or some other type of resin) into the cavity. More is explained in our Vacuum-Forming Guide Email us at info@formechinc.com if you’d like a free digital copy. Another method is just to sculpt the tooling out of resin as demonstrated in this video by Mr. Andrew Ainsworth with Shepperton Studios. You may know him a little better as the creator of the original Storm Trooper outfit for Star Wars. Here Mr. Ainsworth walks his audience through exactly how he created the Storm Trooper molds from scratch and then shows how he forms the real-life costumes on his Formech 660 machine. More on creating vac-forming molds with an additive manufacturing machine – click here.  The above 3-D printed tool came courtesy of Stratasys – www.stratasys.com §  3-D prints: Did you know that you can also use your 3D prints as tools for vac-forming? Also, if you print them as ‘sparse fill’ you won’t need to drill any holes for the air to pass through. The ABS plastic will typically hold up for quite a few runs but if you need something more permanent, then you can use the resin trick listed above. Here is a video of the process §  CNC. This is another commonly used method to create tooling. The durability of the mold will depend on the material that you use and can range from foam block all of the way up to aluminum. A really neat material on the market today is called Metapor, and it is a porous aluminum material that can easily be cut with a CNC machine. Its porous qualities make it ideal for vacuum-forming. More on Metapor here Those are some of the main methods of mold-making but there are many more. For instance, you can also form right over an existing object in order to replicate it. Need to make a soft wrench or a hammer for stage or film? Form right over the wrench or the hammer and pour silicon right into the cavity. §  Here’s a good example of how Chef Pilon at the Mandalay Bay utilized a toy starfish to create a chocolate mold: Questions? We have answers so don’t hesitate to get in touch, we are here to help! info@formechinc.com ©2012 Formech Inc | 1 S. Dearborn St. Chicago, IL http://www.facebook.com/formechinc  https://formechinc.wordpress.com/

Formech: A Chocolatiers Path to Innovation

Formech’s 300XQ, 508 and 686 machines are used to create unique and delicate chocolate pieces in the RP department at CSM in Kings Cross London. From the molds that created the chocolates to the packaging designs, the chocolate designers relied on Formech machines to produce every aspect of their works.

Chocolate Bloom by Marine Le Loung

CSM Art and Science Year End Exhibition

The CSM Art and Science year end exhibition called Experiments showcases research from participating artists and investigates the creative relationships between Art and Science. Agnieszka Tamiola is studying at CSM in London. Her work focuses specifically on endangered languages – she investigates audio recordings of the languages from which she identifies intonation patterns and creates a series of abstract patterns – working specifically with plastics formed on Formech’s vfm’s at CSM’s rapid prototyping lab.

The Making of Fiat 500 by Gucci featuring Formech

White Lodge director Chris Sweeney was commissioned by online luxury platform Nowness to conjure up a concept for Gucci’s makeover of the Fiat 500. The resulting film is a mischievous marriage of handbags and head rests with a playful nod to the pure joy of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. At the heart of the playful short is Formech’s model FP vacuum forming machine, which ingests the high fashion design of Gucci to transform fragrance bottles into exhaust pipes and high heels into alloy rims. Follow this link to see the full “Making of Fiat 500 by Gucci” film:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-JYT7TRWMw