Mini Vacuum Table

[kayakerca]

Anyone know where to get CREAM STYRENE POLYSTYRENE PLASTIC SHEET

Any luck locating polystyrene in other than black or white (and at a reasonable cost to get to CANADA)?

[David King]

I bet HIPS takes RIT salt dye pretty well.

[kayakerca]

I bet HIPS takes RIT salt dye pretty well.

Thanks David. Not familiar with that process, so I'll have to look into it. Black or white sheets are not a problem and reasonably priced, but the cost of coloured HIPS to Canada is brutal from suppliers I've been able to find online.

[copperheadroads]

Any luck locating polystyrene in other than black or white (and at a reasonable cost to get to CANADA)?

Not really .I've been only getting B & W from one supplier

[copperheadroads]

Here's some more floating pickups that I've made .Vacuum form the covers .
The larger pickups are for an archtop Jazz guitar ,the smaller one is for a Mandola & the smallest is for a Mandolin

[Jason Rodgers]

Most excellent! And what plastic is this?

[copperheadroads]

Black "styrene" polystyrene

[Jason Rodgers]

I'm going to have to try out HIPS on the next run of covers. Right now, I'm trying to finish up the guitars the last batch were built for.

[John_H]

dusty projects

These fender XII type pickup covers were the most difficult I've done so far. The plastic didn't draw down tight on the tall bucks. I was able to save two failed attempts by using jonson's advice to re-heat the plastic with a heat gun, and push it tight to the mold. I did this with the vacuum running.



The guitar was built with the pickup in mind from the start. One piece neck set into a one piece body. One pickup, and one knob. 'Not a whole lot of parts on this one..





I haven't been on here much lately. I had some health problems that kept me from being able to work for months. It was a total drag being unable to do anything strenuous at all. I took a break from forums as well. I'm healthy again, and getting my feet back on the ground, so its time to dust off all of the projects that I abandoned months ago.

[Jason Rodgers]

That's cool all over, John (pickups, covers, and guitar). Glad you're mended and back in the shop, too!

[John_H]

I had a friend take some video of the process while I was forming covers. This is with 1/16" ABS.

[Jason Rodgers]

I had a friend take some video of the process while I was forming covers. This is with 1/16" ABS.

Cool! It's good to see it done, and how quickly. The aluminum foil under the ABS is a good idea. For the most part, this is what it looks like when I form a cover, but I have to force down those edges. You're definitely heating it up to a floppier temperature than I am. My covers don't suck down so completely to the edges. Either I'm not getting it hot enough, I don't have a good seal on my table, or I don't have strong enough suction, or all three problems.

[John_H]

I finally got back to this blue guitar and finished it. This thing is so surfy that if it were to fall down a staircase it would play "Wipeout" as it bounces off of the steps.

[Chris Turner]

Do any of you that have been doing vacuum forming think that this could work well for pickup covers?

Dental Vacuum Former

Or would the 5" X 5" table on it be too small?

[Jason Rodgers]

Hmm, that's cool. I don't know what kind of plastic is used in invisi-line braces and retainers, but it's certainly a product designed for thermoforming. 5"x5" is probably going to be a little small, considering an f-spaced humbucker cover is about 2-3/4" wide and the plastic needs to be pulled down 5/8" or more over the sides. While my setup and trials were less than optimal, with a 5"x5" table I would have seen thinning and tearing on those edges.