MicroMark Featuring a Vacuum-Forming Tool

[C855B]

The MicroMark catalog arrived this morning, and on the cover was this: http://www.micromark.com/compact-vacuum-forming-machine,11244.html. Of course as with a lot of MM's stuff the same machine can be bought from Amazon for a few bucks less. This particular machine seems to be primarily marketed to dentists for making mouth guards and the like. There are also larger-capacity machines available for not much more.

Anyway, shades of my old Mattel Vac-U-Form! About the time I was old enough to consider using the Vac-U-Form for modeling, the pump broke and it was pitched. Anybody currently play with vacuum forming?

[peteski]

I bought a similar unit (for a bit more money) from Rio Grande (jewelery supply house) few years back, but I haven't tried doing anything with it yet.  Actually, to tell you the truth, I sort of forgot I have it.    Like you said, it is designed for dental trades.

It should be good for making window inserts for the Showcase Miniatures COE tractors (since they include the buck in the kit).  My original plan was to make windows for model cars (models larger than 1:160). Of course it will be useful for 100s of other projects too.

[SAH]

The Mattel Vac-U-Form!!!!  Outside of the Atlas N scale train set (1969) the vac-u-form (a few years earlier) was probably my favorite Christmas present of all time.  I still had it up until a few years ago.  Used it last probably 20 years ago to recreate lost wood moldings on a fireplace mantel we were restoring.  I wonder if any of the subsequent owners of the house ever discovered what I'd done.    It looked pretty good.