Return of the Vac-U-Form!

[Clipper1701]

After my resin sail pouring efforts I was reminded by Kentop of the old red box in the shop. I went on line and discovered the resurrection of the Mattel machine complete with new plastic and several inexpensive upgrades out there. So I ordered the complete rebuild kit and it arrived this week. Today I got time to dive into the project! http://www.gaugepods.com/vacuform/index.htm

First off is the new plastic available. Some of the old stock is still out there with the zillions of holes on the edges, but the new parts allow you to use undrilled sheets, more on this later



New feet may not be a huge thing, but my old machine would rock on the work bench while the vacuum was being pumped, no longer!



The neat heat trapping lid! This fits nicely over the frame that clamps the plastic sheet in place. Putting it on the opening before the plastic is loaded and letting the machine heat up for 10 minutes allows the gripping frame holes and pins to heat up enough to clamp the new undrilled sheets in place! And it does! Here it is in place during warm up.



And the final most important bit, the vacuum platten base. The stock one has a few dozen holes for the vacuum to pull the plastic down with, this open grid gives the vacuum thousands of holes and a better vacuum to draw the plastic.



Better overall view . . .



Other unseen upgrades include a better vacuum check valve for under the platten, silicone sealer for the vacuum cylinder attachment area, lube for the vacuum piston and heat resistant tape for filling the gap around the platten base/plastic frame unit. The LO-TEK website offers a lot of resources for the Mattel user and is quite inspiring. I remember being a little Clipper in the '60's and using it for the first time, ah, memories! I could not resist making my fave stock glider and sneaking it into school in my lunch bag . . .



Well worth the investment if you have a Vac-u-form. Even fun if you do as Kentop mentions and buy a used one off ebay . . . they can be found for around $50 even today. I will be working up more sails and bits like life boats etc now that my baby is back in tune! Stay tuned! And thanks Kentop for reminding me of this great tool!