Vacuum Forming

Vacuum forming (VF) is a widely used technique for efficiently creating consistent copies of parts from thermoplastic sheet material.  

A master 3D mold is created with the desired exterior contours.  These molds must be flat-bottomed to seal tightly to the VF machine bed.  They are vented with pin-holes placed in concave details, inside corners/edges to improve mold's detail reproduction.

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During the forming process, the mold is is anchored to the VF bed.  The thermoplastic sheet is heated, softening it, and drawn down upon the mold.  Immediately after, a two-stage vacuum draws the soft sheet against the mold details through the VF bed.  When details optimize, the raw part is complete, removed and trimmed to the desired shape.