Plastic Vacuum Forming
Our Plastic Vacuum Forming, Low Pressure Structural Foam Molding & Plastic Injection Molding facilities form the heart of our manufacturing capabilities! Plastic Industries has Plastic Vacuum Forming machines capable of Thermoforming parts up to 8ft wide.
Vacuum forming is usually restricted to forming plastic parts that are rather shallow in depth however Plastic Industries has equipment that can achieve much deeper pulls than the industry standard. Typical thick sheets of plastic are formed into permanent objects such as turnpike signs, swimming pool steps and various types of tubs. Usually, draft angles must be present in the design on the mold, a recommended minimum of 3°. Otherwise, release of the formed plastic and the mold is difficult. Deep parts are more easily formed if the formable sheet is mechanically or pneumatically stretched prior to bringing it into contact with the mold surface and applying vacuum, hence the term Plastic Vacuum Forming.
Suitable materials for use in plastic vacuum forming are typically standard thermoplastics. The most commonly used thermoplastic is high impact polystyrene sheeting (HIPS). This is thermoformed around a wood, structural foam or cast or machined aluminum mold, and can conform to almost any shape. Plastic vacuum forming is also appropriate for transparent materials such as acrylic.
Other in-house services include design and engineering capabilities, in-house fully equipped tool facility, warehousing and integrated quality control. We can also provide press side packaging, hot stamping and sonic welding.
Make sure to remember our unique location in East Tennessee makes shipping products to the East, North East and Mid West portions of the USA less expensive and faster. Plastic Industries is located off interstate I-75 and is only 30 minutes from I-40.
Plastic Vacuum Forming Capabilities
- Small & Large Part Plastic Vacuum Forming Capabilities
- Shuttle Machines
- 8ft part sizes
- In House Design
- On Site Tool Room
- International Tool Sourcing Available
- Warehousing Capabilities
- ISO 9001 Certified
Plastic Vacuum Forming Molding Resigns
With over 50 years of plastic injection molding experience we are well versed in molding almost every type of resign available.
- ABS
- GP Polystyrene
- Polystyrene
- Nylon
- Polypropylene
- High Impact Polystyrene
Plastic Vacuum Forming Molding Projects
At Plastic Industries we book and sell Plastic Vacuum Forming to almost every industry imaginable! We service the medical, recreational, military, aerospace, poultry, firearm, plumbing, electrical, structural and packaging industries. Don’t see your industry? Don’t worry more than likely we are in the process of working on something right now! The pictures below are just a small sampling of the many products we make every day at PI. The first is a plastic tub (we thermoform various tubs in all shapes and sizes), the second is a swimming pool step, the third is a wheel chair seat cushion (material is only 6 mill and extremely thin walled), the 4th part is another style of in ground swimming pool step.
Plastic Vacuum Forming
At Plastic Industries we mold everything from structural foam molded swimming pool walls for Hydra Pools to custom injection molded rifle stocks for Knight Rifles. We also offer custom RF Welding through our sister company Sealtech.