Tony

Tooooools....
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Interesting project!

Jerry Feather

Something I learned last night about my ability to concieve of things in my mind to create is that although I can think very well in three dimensions and can articulate three dimentional things together somewhat, that ability is not flawless. I thought I had the articulating plastic holding frame pretty well figured out, but when I got close to fabricating the articulation aspect, I found that it wont articulate the way I thought unless there is no hinge plate in the way.

One of my limitations in this kind of project is the size of my oven. It is 22 inches wide, and as large as I am making this forming machine I still have to keep it within that limit. The other measurements are of some concern, but I don't think I am getting close to them.

Anyway, I first thought that if I cut the top off of the hinge plate and then plan to add on to it later by overlapping more hinge plate in the back I will have a little more clearance for the plastic frame to articulate.

The first picture shows me cutting the hinge plate off in the band saw.

The second and third pictures shows me miling the sawn edge true and then beveling it a little with my big countersink.

The fourth picture shows where I have drilled and counterbored the holes that will be used to mount another piece of hinge plate to this one later. Actually this solves a problem I was having trying to figure out how to tap holes in the offset part of the hinge plate when I began cutting is down. It was going to be impossible to turn my tap wrench all the way around in the offset. Now I will be able to tap freely before I bolt the new hinge plate to what is left of the original one.

The last picture shows the mock up of the shortened hinge plate and it also shows the little piece of bar stock the is mocked up where the articulating plate will need to go.

An additional change that this all dictates is that I will have to shorten the handles that I have basically completed before. That is not a big deal, and as it turns out, I am going to have to have another handle or two that I hadn't planned on. More about that later.

Jerry Feather

After I got the hinge plate cut down I cut a couple of pieces of bar stock to use as fitting pieces to see just how much articulating I can get in the plastic frame. I made them 6 inches long and that turned out a bit too much. Nevertheless I used that rough measurement and then began fabricating the actual articulation plates.

I first cut two pieces of half inch plate into the approximate shape I wanted and then drilled and tapped them to hold them together to be finished up in the mill and be the same.

The original idea here was that I would have a part of the upper end of the plastic frame that would hinge in respect to the whole frame. I would be able to load it with a sheet of plastic flat the then put it all in the oven that way and then when it is hot I would pull it down over the male form in a tent like fashion with the foreward end articulating upward with the high part of the form, but only to a point where a stop would hold it in a position to allow it to then tent also. Again, however, space to articulate is not available.

What that means is that I will have to load it in the frame by heating it across with a heat gun and then load it with a bend altready in it. That Is not too big a problem, but adds a step the the process of forming.

The pictures show the articulation plate being fabricated and then I have put a nearly complete one into position to study. I have moved the frame up and down and tried to figure how it is going to work, but it still does not do what I had expected.

I finally gave up on it tonight, but at about the end of my session I figured out that I don't really need this complex little plate. All I need is a hinging section of the plastic frame with a handle going out the other say so that I can simply push that end down over the form and then have some kind of catch like on the other end to hold it where I want it.

Again that means that I have to shorten the handles on one end in order to allow for a new handle on the hinge plate end. Now, I think I have it!!

Jerry Feather

Well, I didn't get anything done last nite. I worked late and then just didn't go out to the shop. I did give the project some thought, so the evening was not entirely wasted.

Tonight I got out to the shop a little late, but I did get some progress made, after backing up and starting over on the articulation aspect of the plastic frame. I think I mentioned last time that I didn't think the little articulation plates were going to work and this evening I "pruned" them and built a different kind of upper end to the plastic frame that will articulate with the pull down of the frame with hot plastic in it.

I have mentioned that the way this thing is being developed from designs in my head it does make it very much an organic process. Hence, when something "grows" in some unsaticfactory way it simply gets "pruned" and something else grows that is going to work better, or at all.

The first picture tonight shows the new upper end of the plastic frame that I started tonight. I have the two side bars and the round bar handle in place; and I am showing the two former articulation plates that I am going to discard.

The next picture shows the bars with the handle in place without the other stuff there; and the third picture shows me tapping the end hole for the cross bar of the upper frame.

The forth picture shows me drilling some holes in the frame bars; and the last shows the upper frame articulated in the verticle position with the cross bar bolted in place. All of the holes in these bars that are tapped will be used for the hold down bars the will be clamping the plastic to the frame..

Jerry Feather

This next picture shows the plastic frame in about the position it will be in when it is loaded with plastic before being put in the oven. Then the last of these two pictures shows where I have simply layed some of my bar stock on top of the frame like it will be fabricated and drilled to fit for the hold down bars.

Next, I have to shorten the original handles about two inches because the machine in its present condition is too long for the oven. When I have the hold down bars done and these handles shortened I think I will be about half done with this machine, although that might be a little bit of an overestimation of my progress.

Aloysius

I know you were making small posts so people could just jump into the thread and know what's going on, and i did that first. then, i started from the beginning to get a full handle on what's happening - WOW! i've never done any forming like this but i have a great appreciation for good metal craft - i just love seeing it. so, one question, just from a process standpoint: once you get the frame done, you make the 'positive' forms to press the plastic around the 'negatives', what's the material for these? and, do you put the whole aparatus in the oven first to heat the plastic then pull it out and compress? my other curiosity is can this press (and others you've made) be used for other heat formed materials or plastic variants? (I don't know what they might be but just wonderin'). and, i assume, the plastic could be any color? Very cool project and i'm watching on the edge of my seat for more stuff. WOW (say that backwards too: WOW). Nice work.

Jerry Feather

Hi Paul. The whole thing gets put in the oven once the plastic is loaded into the holding frame, then when it is up to the proper temperature, about 270 F, I take it out and try to pull all three or, in this case, four, levers and lock them down while the plastic it still hot enough. The temperature window for forming is very narrow and very short because the heat goes out pretty quickly, so I will have to act fast. If I can't get it done all at once I will have to reheat it in the middle of the process and finish the forming.

I suppose I could use just about any kind of plastic, but I would have to experimenmt with it and with the temperatures to get others to work.

Once I get the plastic frame complete, and that wont take too much more time, I'll then have to finish up the male form for the actual trim piece. That is it in the middle of the base plate looking like two ski jumps layed down kind of. What it needs next is the central piece of this project and that is the cross bar with the clock opening in it. Then it needs a smaller cross bar at the bottom end. Once I fabricate and install these two bars I will then have to put the base plate in the mill with the form attached and then mill out the inside upper edge of the form to its finished shape. I have described this before as sculpting. Most of that I'll do in the mill but will have to finish it up with a file and probably emry cloth.

After that I'll begin to work on the first of the next forms and that will be one to form the plastic down around the outside of the fixed male form. I am going to make it out of two pieces of 3/16 inch aluminum plate and simply cut them out in the band saw with holes drilled for the corners. It will be made to allow for about an 3/32 of an inch or less clearance all around to allow space for the formed plastic.

Then the last of the levers will have a reverse male form on it to form the plastic to the inside perimiter of the trim piece and the shape for the clock opening. This will be made out of 3/16 aluminum plate also and will be made in two segments, because I am going to make this form flexible so that I can form this trim piece in some different configurations.

Thanks for your interest. Jerry Feather

Jerry Feather

I got off work a little early today so I was able to make some progress on the last steps on the plastic frame and I also got most of the handle shortening done. The last things on the plastic frame was the series of hold-down bars which required cutting, trimminmg, drilling, and, for some of them, beveling them for plastic clearance.

In this first picture I have roughly cut the six pieces of stock for the hold-down bars and set them in their relative locations on the plastic frame.

Next I am drilling one of the cross-bar hold-down bars for its bolts.

On the third picturte I have all of the hold-down bars drilled and located temporarily with some bolts in their final positions.

In the fourth picture I have the original trim piece in approximate position, again, for perspective for those who might have gotten in the middle of this thread and wonder what the he!! I am doing here.

Then the last of these show me beveling the edges of one of the hold-down bars for plastic clearance which I am doing for those bars that will hang over the inner edge of the plastic frame. You will be able to understand more about this later.

Ducman82

you are doing some amazing work! cant wait to see the end result!

Jerry Feather

After I got the frame conplete with the hold-down bars I then had to shorten some of the previous handles because with the extra handle out the other end of this machine for the articulating plastic frame the machine is too long for the oven.

In this first picture it looks a lot like the next to the last one in the previous post, but here I have completed the beveling of about 5 of the 6 hold-down bars. Look closely at the inner edge of some of these bars and you can see that the edges are now narrower.

In this second picture you can now see the beveled edges. Boy, there sure is a lot of crap on my work bench. I'll bet you wonder how I get anything done with all that stuff around!

In the third picture you can more clearly see the beveled inner edges of some of the bars.

Now, in the fourth picture I have shortened one of the handles--this one on the plastic frame.

In this last picture I have the machine upside down. I wondered if I had shown the underside of this machine before, so here it is. Both of the base handles still need to be shortened.

Jerry Feather

I'm only doing five pictures max at a time with each post, and I took eleven this last episode, so here is the last of those. What it shows is that I have also shortened the handle that has the locking handles that I am planning on using for latch points for the two upper forming lever/forms. I shortened it a little less than two inches and eliminated one of the latch bars. I also moved the inner one out a little so it will be able to get a clear grasp of whatever I use for a latch or hook. I still have to shorten the main handle; and I will go out later and do that. Thanks for watching. Jerry Feather

Jerry Feather

I know this seems like it is slow going. Actually it is. There is really a lot of busy work in this kind of fabrication. I can work for two hours and then have very little substance to show for it.

That's true for today. I Finally have the plastic frame complete. The last thing I had to do on it was the make the latch that will hold it down when I pull the plastic over the form for the first pull. Actually the latch seems to be something that I tend not to want to deal with, I suppose because it is not really---- well I don't know what it is not really.

Anyway the latch is a very important part of the process because when the plastic is soft and formable I can usually pull it right into shape, but is has such good memory that it wants to pull back unless it is firmly held. Therefore if I put a latch on the frame so when the plastic is first pulled over, and then latched, I save a lot of time and effort is some other kind of clamping method.

I got the latch made and adjusted close enough for this purpose; so the plastic frame is complete.

Next, I put an extra pair of bolts in the two male form side members. I had them held with two bolt each and that is very adequate for the froming purposes, but I am going to have to do some machining on these side members while they are bolted to the base and with the base is bolted to the mill table, so I figured I had better have them held to the base more firmly. There is not much there to show pictures of, so there aren't any of that.

I did take a picuure of the raw piece of aluminum plate/barstock that I am going to make the upper crossmember of the male form with, and it is laying in place about where it will end up. Then I took the two side members off the base and put them in my mill to begin milling the recess in the upper end of those for the top crossmember. I was going to mill that before I came in for the evening, but I don't want to destroy the curve at the top because I have to cut that curve in the crossmember and I can't find my little paper-glued-to- metal pattern which has that curve. Until I find that I need to save the curve in the members so I can make a pattern of it for the milling process tomorrow.

Jerry Feather

OOPS, I hit the wrong button and posted that without the pictures. Here they are:

Oh, the other thing I did was shorten the last of the handles.

You can see the latch mechanism laying on the base plate. You can see that it is made of two of the ends of handles that I cut off, so I saved a little machining there. Then the little round stock between them is made out of the third catch bar that I eliminated, so it was already drilled and tapped. Another saving.

In the second picture I have the latch mechanism bolted in place and latched.

In the third it is unlatched and propped up.

In the fourth picture I have the crossmember stock held loosely in place with my mill draw bar hammer/wrench.

In the last one I am setting up the mill to cut the recess for the upper crossmember. I'll start with that tomorrow after another search for the pattern I have misplaced. Have a nice evening. Jerry Feather

Bill Ball

Jerry - You just need a bigger oven!

Jerry Feather

Not yet for this project, I don't think. On the other hand my plastic guy has one that you can walk around in. He can cook pieces of plastic big enough to make eight foot plexiglas domes for Reynolds Polymer.

He also has a fairly large vacuum oven that I am going to use for another or two of me next projects--S4 front spoilers and S4 radiator fan schrouds. I am making my own blow oven for the rear wheel well liners. I hope I have it covered for the time being. Thanks for your input. Jerry