Mini Vacuum Table

[Jason Rodgers]

Give them a try? Oh, my good sir, you do not know what you say. DIYing as many guitar parts as possible has become something of an illness for me. Vacuum forming plastic for pickup covers (and maybe truss rod and control cavity covers, pickguards...) shall become my new addiction.

Thanks!

[David King]

As an aside. I wouldn't let the wax pot get over 140º even if the thermoform plastic says 325-350º for forming.

[John_H]

The adjustable wraparound bridge is pretty tall, so I needed an extra tall cover to accommodate it. This also makes for a substantial neck angle. I compensated for this on the cover to make the top of it parallel with the strings. The pure white plastics with the silver fox finish are a combo that I've never seen on a Jr. An elegant plank.

[Beef Coon]

Bad A$$ John!

[copperheadroads]

The adjustable wraparound bridge is pretty tall, so I needed an extra tall cover to accommodate it. This also makes for a substantial neck angle. I compensated for this on the cover to make the top of it parallel with the strings. The pure white plastics with the silver fox finish are a combo that I've never seen on a Jr. An elegant plank.

Love it ! Awesome John ....

[copperheadroads]

Here's a couple of floating Jazz pickups I've made for a guitar builder .
I think the forming came out ok ,but needs some more buffing


Thanks John ....

[John_H]

Outstanding! Nice work. Those look great. I'm glad I could help.

[Jason Rodgers]

I keep coming back to look at this and think about building my own table. I understand people talking about fitting this or that pickup experiment in this or that cover, because it's economical and you want your pickups to be drop-in replacements for stocks. But there's so much flexibility in making totally unique covers and one-off attempts. Good stuff.

[Jason Rodgers]

Ok, I'm planning more seriously for a vacuum table. My local TAP Plastics has black ABS and white HIPS, and they'll cut down sheets into any dimension you want. Building the box itself would be a fun few hours in the shop on a weekend.

John, did you try making a smaller 6x6 inch table? Reducing waste is something I'm concerned about, but jonson cautioned that too small a starting area could lead to stretching and thinning in the final product. For folks who have done more of this work, are there any general rules in the industry about the ratio of starting sheet area to product height to maintain consistent thicknesses?

I'm thinking of making pickup covers, not unlike EMGs, that might be somewhere around a max of 3/4" to 1" in height. I'm ok with building matching covers one at a time, with one positive mold for each design. Would it work to have a 6x6 inch table and use 1/16" sheet for a full 1" height humbucker cover, or would one then need to go up to 3/32" material?

[J M Fahey]

LOVED this, thanks for posting.

Opens TONS of possibilities.

Not into pickups but will use it to make custom "trays" to mount recessed jacks + controls or plate amps in the back of cabinets.

Also custom horns and "tweeter banks" for peanuts.

There's YT videos but it's more comforting when "one of us" has done it and succeeded

[copperheadroads]

I made some more covers similar to what I posted only quite a bit smaller & floating pickups for Mandolin & Mandolia for the same builder (I don't know what a mandolia is lol ) They turned out pretty good if having 20 rejects before producing a decent cover. lol

[Jason Rodgers]

Well, a mandola is the next size up from mandolin, like the viola, and tuned CGDA. Not sure about a mandolia.

Copper, are you serious that you end up with a score of duds before getting a good one? What are the most common problems you're running into? Is heating the plastic evenly an issue? How big is your table platen?

[Jason Rodgers]

Holy crap, I just found all the answers to my questions! Scroll down the data sheet list to "Acrylite Tech Brief - #10 Thermoforming."
http://www.tapplastics.com/product_info/data_sheets
This is information for thermoforming acrylic, but I'm guessing that it applies pretty closely to ABS and HIPS and other thermoformable plastics. Check out the suggestions for side angles and info on effects of stretching for wall thickness in positive and negative molds. For thin sheets, it looks like there are some quick limits when considering sheet area to mold height. There's even a great troubleshooting guide.

[John_H]

Ok, I'm planning more seriously for a vacuum table. My local TAP Plastics has black ABS and white HIPS, and they'll cut down sheets into any dimension you want. Building the box itself would be a fun few hours in the shop on a weekend.

Go for it! I spent too many years "planning" for something that is so simple. Most of the questions that you have will answer themselves once you take action. It's not a big gamble. I had less than $25 invested into this entire experiment, and was making usable covers on my first hits. JFDI

John, did you try making a smaller 6x6 inch table? Reducing waste is something I'm concerned about, but jonson cautioned that too small a starting area could lead to stretching and thinning in the final product. For folks who have done more of this work, are there any general rules in the industry about the ratio of starting sheet area to product height to maintain consistent thicknesses?

I tried working with a smaller format. I don't recommend it. The covers weren't as nice, and I had more attrition due to working with smaller pieces. jonson was spot-on.

I'm thinking of making pickup covers, not unlike EMGs, that might be somewhere around a max of 3/4" to 1" in height. I'm ok with building matching covers one at a time, with one positive mold for each design. Would it work to have a 6x6 inch table and use 1/16" sheet for a full 1" height humbucker cover, or would one then need to go up to 3/32" material?

6X6 is too small for me to get the best results. It's not worth trying to save a few pennies on material. My final cost on 9X9 ABS blanks is below fifty cents ea. It's not worth it.

LOVED this, thanks for posting.

Opens TONS of possibilities.

Not into pickups but will use it to make custom "trays" to mount recessed jacks + controls or plate amps in the back of cabinets.

Also custom horns and "tweeter banks" for peanuts.

There's YT videos but it's more comforting when "one of us" has done it and succeeded

Great ideas! You're only limited by your imagination. One project that I'll be tackling soon is a hypo-allergenic cover for a violin chin rest.

What are the most common problems you're running into? Is heating the plastic evenly an issue?

It's ALL about getting the plastic to the right temperature. The best way to learn is to do it. Once you know what is too hot, you'll know when to stop heating.

I've got a new oven for heating plastic that I haven't had a chance to try yet. At $6 it was a great deal from the Goodwill store. It's a small convection oven with digital control. http://www.houzz.com/photos/4995616/...orary-toasters Stay Tuned.

[jonson]

I am really enjoying this thread in as much as more and more of you are taking more in house. Trouble with all the suppliers is their price is high and the less they sell they put their prices up to secure their profits and not realising that if they put them down they may sell more so take it away from them. So next up flatwork/metalwork and everything you can to keep stuff in house. Costs a bit with the experiments but the end of the road is well worthwhile.