Porous Tooling Material For Vacuum Forming

NEST Technologies, Inc., announced the availability of a new low-cost micro-porous tooling plate for construction of molds for vacuum forming and thermoforming.

VACPLATE-1155 is a highly machinable composite material produced using a proprietary combination of ceramic powder and plastic binder. The unique manufacturing process enables them to produce extremely dense structures with uniform micro-porosity. VACPLATE-1155 represents a true “Rapid Tooling” solu-tion for quick production of vacuum molds. Excellent machinability, elimination of the need to drill vacuum holes and distribution channels and “stone-like” surface quality that virtually eliminates secondary polishing, means that this product can be used to produce finished molds within hours. In most cases, the material will help reduce the total labor cost to make a mold by at least 50% as compared with other tooling materials.

The product is ideal for prototype and low-volume production tooling for thin gauge and heavy gauge plastic vacuum forming. Other applications include vacuum clamping systems, 3D-vacuum chucks, air-cushion devices and molds for the ceramic industry.

Some of the specific benefits of totally porous vacuum form tooling are extreme level of detail and definition; highly crisp corners and edges; ability to form transparent parts without surface imperfections; elimination of trapped air on flat surfaces; improved uniformity of plastic thickness in deep cavities and faster air evacuation.

Presently, VACPLATE-1155 is available in 24” x 20” x 3.7” maximum block sizes. Multiple blocks can be joined together using epoxy based adhesive to produce large structures.

For more information, contact Michael Tsenter, NEST Technologies, Inc., 3849 Ridgemoor Drive, Studio City, CA 91640, 818-761-6500 Fax: 818-761-6116, E-mail: nesttech@pacbell.net.