Vacuum Moulding

Vacuum moulding is traditionally one of the oldest and most common types of processing plastic materials. It is common to see a variety of vacuum moulded products throughout our daily lives.

The process of vacuum moulding is to take a sheet of material which is suitably sized for the particular product which you would like to mould. The material is then clamped around the perimeter of the sheet and heated in an oven until it is soft and pliable. The sheet is then removed from the oven and mould is then pushed into the sheet. The vacuum is then applied to the sheet and the sheet will take the shape of the mould.

The sheet is then cooled using air and water mist or water cooling through some tools. This is the simplest term of explanation but behind the scenes is a science which takes into account sheet stretch, pneumatic and hydraulic pressures and vacuums, as well as a range of specifically tuned heating temperatures to ensure speed and specific application, are continuously met.

There is literally no limitation as to what plastics can be vacuum moulded. We have the capacity to mould from 0.38mm all the way up to 12mm thickness. Our machines have the capability of moulding sheets 3500mm x 2500mm with an overall draw depth of 1000mm.

We work with a large number of standard material which is commonly kept in stock, ranging from UV grade acrylic caped for outdoor applications, sanitary grade material for the hospitality and medical industries, standard ABS, Acrylics, HDPE, polypropylene, polycarbonate styrene, and ASA. All material is available in a variety of colours, textures, as well as finishes ranging from chrome, soft-touch, carbon fibre and wood grain laminates to list a few common examples.

Vacuum moulding is used in almost all industries. We have clients in the retail and point of sale, manufacturing, military and emergency services, automotive, food and hospital and packaging to name a few. Plastic moulding is extremely versatile, especially with modern industry advancements.

Vacuum moulding has many advantages over other types of plastic processing. Due to the relatively low pressure when vacuum moulding the tool does not require to be as resilient as some other types of plastic processes. With the advances in aluminium as well as resin technologies tooling is a lot more affordable than other plastic processing options.

The process of tooling combined with the fact that we have a full in-house tool making and pattern shop department as well as 3 and 5-axis CNC machining allows for extremely quick tooling manufacturing. This process allows for extremely cost-effective prototyping as well as affordable low to medium production runs.

We are a wholly Australian family-owned business. Feel free to contact one of our friendly engineering and design staff who will be all too happy to help talk to you about your product requirements.