foam mold for vacuum forming?

[DrHoneydew]

Can certain foams, like polypropylene, be cut and used as a mold when vacuum forming?

If so, does anyone know any resources for obtaining such foam?

Thanks kindly, all.

Cheers,
DHD

 

[patprimmer]

I think PP would cave in under the heat and pressure. A rigid thermoset foam might do.

Medium Density Fibre Board works fine.

Regards

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[HDS]

There are ceramic and Al foams used to make porous tooling.

The tool gets hot and sees at least 15 psi of force with atmosphere and plastic combined. So you would need some special tricks to make a PP foam work.

Let us know what happens.

 

[wes616]

MDF has a lot of interesting properties when used heat and pressure. Also, I have found that it takes a lot of work to get the MDF to seal properly - its best to be bagged to a table or envelope bagged. The upside, it is is an order of magnitude cheaper than other tooling materials.

Wes C.
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