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How to make a press with your own hands: mechanical, hydraulic, for the garage. Types of models and application in everyday life. Description of vacuum presses for veneering MDF and facades Do-it-yourself vacuum press

Thermal vacuum forming is a batch molding of plastic sheets using negative pressure and high temperatures. PVC plastics, polystyrene, PTG, as well as ABS plastics are used as the starting material.

Special vacuum forming equipment is very expensive, but you can easily make homemade machine for vacuum forming with your own hands.

How to make a homemade vacuum forming machine

To make a vacuum forming machine with your own hands, you will need the following:

Sheet plywood 15-20 mm or chipboard

wooden bars

Profiled pipe 20*20

Vacuum cleaner compressor

Heating element (for example, from the oven)

Iron legs from a chair

The design is very simple, we heat the plastic over the shade, and then transfer it to a vacuum table, where the compressor draws the heated plastic to the working surface. Plastic meets a model on its way, according to which it takes shape.

So, let's start manufacturing.

To begin with, a holder for the compressor is made, ordinary bars from the household store are used.

The walls of a homemade vacuum machine are assembled using the fittings at hand.

Holes are cut in the sides of the walls for air to escape from the compressor.

The working surface is drilled with holes in increments of 20 mm.

Before fixing the working surface, a sealant is laid on the walls. You can also use silicone sealant.

Frames for clamping plastic are also equipped with a seal. Its purpose is to reduce the amount of air leaking through the gaps in the structure.

To clamp a sheet of plastic, ordinary bolts and nuts are used. To facilitate the removal and installation of sheets, wing nuts can be used.

An old case from a VCR was used as the heater case, the inner surface is lined with a GVL sheet, asbestos sheet can also be used. The heater power is 1 kW, the power is excessive, so the heater does not have high side walls.

That's all. As you can see, making a homemade thermal vacuum forming machine is not at all difficult!

If everything is not clear from the photos, watch a video on the manufacture of a vacuum machine and its use. In this machine, the oven of a conventional electric stove is used as a heater. And as a vacuum engine - an ordinary vacuum cleaner.

As you can see - despite the simplicity of the design, it works quite well.

Leo32 comments:

It’s cool, but, as I understand it, is such a machine relevant for those who make batches of parts according to the same model?
Suitable for one-time production only if necessary high quality and lightness of the product.
Otherwise, you can also make precipitation from a bottle.

Artem comments:

Great item for the RC model lover!
You can mold homemade bodies for RC cars!

Hydraulic press is used to produce high pressure. It is used in many body shops to press various shafts, bearings and gears. Home craftsmen use it to stamp parts made of plastic, rubber or metals. If your workshop does not have it yet, then you can try to make a press with your own hands.

Read in the article

Purpose and functions of the press: areas of application of the device

The press has a wide range of applications. Sometimes this is a necessary item in the workshop or in the garage. A small device is often used in car repairs. You can use a press for silent blocks, as well as for pressing out bearings.

Such equipment is used to create briquettes from waste, when gluing two surfaces, as well as for bending metal parts. At the same time, factory devices can be unaffordable for many. If you decide to make such a device with your own hands, then it can be easily adapted to certain tasks.

The principle of hydraulics makes life much easier. Thanks to simple mechanism different equipment works effectively.

So, let's take a closer look at why such a device is needed:

pressing out different bearings, it is used in small auto repair shops;
bending hardware of various shapes;
providing pressure to bond the two elements;
rivet installation.

Try to make a press with your own hands in. Such a device is used for pressing and pressing all kinds of parts. At the same time, the equipment performs a huge range of repairs, maintenance and preventive maintenance.

Let's look at some options:

even a small car service needs hydraulic press, which you can buy or make on your own. To make such a unit, you need to decide on the installation of a pressure gauge, the mass, dimensions and performance of the piston. Before developing a press, you need to consider car models. Simple design not suitable for large cars;

often needed for workshop and home waste paper press. If there is a large accumulation of paper, it must be disposed of. This design has an average power rating and can be powered by the mains. With the help of a small device, you can remove a significant amount of waste paper;

useful and cardboard press, with which you can press plastic bottles and cans. When installing the device yourself, you need to take into account the parameters of the piston, bed, equipment dimensions and weight. Such a device uses ready-made or manual hydraulic;

sawdust press used to create briquettes. The resulting briquettes are used for heating private houses. Such a device consists of a power frame, a base and a drive. A jack is often used for a manual mechanism, and an electric motor is suitable for a mechanical structure;

homemade hay baler is a special box that is installed on a frame structure made of. Such frames can be made from a metal profile. The design is made in the form of a box, but without the upper part. You will need some materials to make your own hay press. Dimensional drawings will make the task easier. It is worth using corners, metal slats and.

To make a hay machine, you need to connect the boards using metal corners. After that, the box is upholstered with slats. This will give strength to the product. Then you need to go to the gate or door, which is fixed on the hinges.

For assembly, you will need an element for attaching to the front, a base for mounting all the nodes, a running part and a transport pick-up. You will also need a special camera with a gearbox and hay. The roll-type pick-up device is used to carry out one cycle of packing and collecting straw or hay.

At the same time, a selection of dried hay is made in the field, as well as pressing the selections. Then rolls are formed from the canvases. Such a process is distinguished by baling without deforming the vegetation. Factory pick-ups have a rather complicated device, which is rarely done at home.

Waste paper units are used in points that are engaged in the acceptance of various secondary raw materials. This unit is different high blood pressure about 15-50 tons, which helps to make small bales. For their loading, you can use any manipulators. Presses for fuel briquettes also have great power.

Such a structure can be made of two types:

the mechanical version is a simplified design with low power. In this case, the force can reach one ton;
more powerful ones include a home-made hydraulic apparatus, the power of which can be up to 4 tons.

Similarly, the production of a press for plastic bottles occurs.

Press design: features of existing devices

To create a significant effort on a certain area, the design of a hydraulic press is used; you can buy such a unit in specialized stores. Such a device is an effective and simple device.

If you decide to make such a design according to the drawings, then you need to figure out what it consists of:

the bottom or base is necessary for the stability of the structure. It looks like a platform and is made from massive rolled metal. For this, corners made of metal and channel are suitable;
racks are vertical parts of the structure. The height of the elements is calculated as the sum of the length of its rod, the height of the jack and the thickness of the fixed stop. Racks are made of steel corners welded to the base;
the fixed stop is fixed in the upper part of the uprights. To make it, the same corner is used as for the racks;
the jack allows you to develop the necessary effort. This element is attached to the movable stop. It is driven by an electric drive or manual control;
the movable stop exerts the main pressure on the mechanism. It can be made from corners or strips of steel;
the return device is used to move the movable stop to its normal position. In this case, springs are used, the degree and length of stretching, which is calculated depending on the parameters of the press.

How to make a simple design can be seen in the video below:

vacuum press

When making a vacuum press with your own hands, it should be borne in mind that the device consists of a thermal module, a table and a vacuum chamber. In this case, the last element often has the shape of a rectangle and is made of a rigid material.

This design has some features:

the device has only manual control;
available materials are used for work;
the speed of work should not be inferior to factory counterparts.

The vacuum design is assembled from the following parts:

the bed is made of a rail for a thermal module and a profiled pipe. For work, you will need an electric drill;
a vacuum table is made from a clamping frame, clamps and a bath;
a water ring pump is also needed.

By analogy, a thermal vacuum press is also produced.

Press picker

An apparatus such as a baler is installed as a trailer for. It is used in small farm fields and large agricultural areas. After the green mass is cut off by the mower, this device is engaged in its processing. At the same time, rollers are formed from the stems, and after that, using the unit, pressed bales are obtained.

Here are the advantages of using such a unit:

drying time is reduced, and hay losses are reduced;
labor costs are reduced several times;
improves the quality of hay during storage;
possible self-adjustment hanging device.

The most common option is roll mechanism. Spring teeth allow you to collect a lot of grass. After that, each portion is rolled into bales. A minitractor with the help of such a press can load up to 20 tons of straw in 20 days. Roll structures have small dimensions.

The roll press type makes briquettes in the shape of a rectangle. The grass in the windrows is picked up by the tines and sent to the pressing chamber. Dimensions can be adjusted by technology. The bales are tightly packed and tied with twine. After that, the block is thrown onto the field.

Can be done and homemade version from running timber and lumber. In this case, a large box is made of boards and a horizontal method is used to load hay. A rack or screw jack is used as a press. With the help of such a device, you can knit straw bales and press them.

Tabletop mechanical press

The desktop press can work both on automatic and on hand-drawn.Such equipment is often made of durable steel.

By means of a manual press are processed:

polymers and plastics;
cardboard and foam rubber;
all kinds of metals;
rubber and leather.

With the help of a mechanical press, bearings and bushings are pressed out, stamped, as well as die-cutting of small products. Such a unit allows you to save time on the manufacture of parts.

The device of the hydraulic manual device produces force with the help of a hydraulic cylinder rod. This element contains a liquid that is compressed under pressure. The unit is used to compress, deform and connect parts.

The punching option is used for punching holes in sheets different materials. Manual mechanical devices are necessary for crimping tubular sleeves and cables.

vibropress

Vibropress allows you to reduce the time of holding construction works and reduce their cost. The device device assumes the presence of three drives: hydraulic, mechanical and pneumatic. The vibpressing technology is at the heart of the unit operation.

Even if you have instructions and the necessary drawings, creating a vibropress with your own hands may not work. This can happen due to incorrect calculations, inaccurate setup and low productivity.

Press with electric drive

The hydraulic press with electric drive has a simple device. Most often it consists of a thick corner and a channel. All elements are connected with thick bolts.

Particular attention should be paid to the frame, as it will be subjected to significant mechanical stress. In this case, the thickness of the metal must be sufficient.

Such a device is often used in production and industry. The force is generated by the operation of an electric motor. The use of such a mechanism helps to reduce the time of the set technological processes.

Garage hydraulic press device: main characteristics

How to make a hydraulic press sometimes you need to know to make such a unit for your garage. At the same time, practical designs can be made from improvised raw materials. The garage unit will require a manual drive, as well as hydraulic. It is necessary to decide on the type of installation: it will be desktop or floor. A drawing with dimensions will also come in handy.

For the production of a hydraulic press, it is important to decide on the model variant. Here they can be:

complex hydraulic design requires specialized equipment and time to work;
manual mechanism can be done independently;
The standard tire changer design is two speed and has a hand pump. The piston is mobile;
the floor model is equipped with an overload valve and a manual pump drive.

For self-production, you will need a cutting tool and. The advantage of the garage assembly will be the ability to control each stage of installation work.

It is important to determine the type of construction. Horizontal devices are used for bending, straightening and cutting individual elements. And vertical equipment is required for pressing out and pressing parts. The hydraulic plant is used for waste disposal. At the same time, waste paper, plastic waste and corrugated cardboard are pressed.

Also, devices can be desktop or floor. In this case, the desktop mechanism can be installed on a workbench. The presses differ in carrying capacity.

Floor structures have a wide range of desktop adjustment. This option can have a load capacity of up to 20 tons. With their help, disassembly and assembly of nodes is carried out.

There are special safety rules for working on such equipment:

for work, you should work in clothes without parts that can get under the press. It is important to protect the hair from such a hit;
special glasses are used for the eyes;
in the working area there should be no children and strangers;
parts are placed in the center of the press;
only high quality oils are used for jacks.

An important drive is a manually operated hydraulic pump. He is able to perform reciprocating movements in the working part. Hydraulic cylinders can be plunger and piston. This largely depends on the quality of the liquid used.

To make a simple assembly for the garage, you need a bottle jack. For a small workshop, you can choose a mechanism that can create a force of up to 10 tons. This will reduce the size of the device. You will also need a welding unit, and discs for cutting metal.

Before assembly, it is important to choose only a good jack and make a solid base for it. Such a press consists of a hydraulic pump, a pressure gauge, a frame with a bed and a hydraulic cylinder. In some designs, the cylinder and pump may be replaced by a jack.

The hand press has the following advantages:

simplicity of the device;
lack of safety mechanisms;
the location of the desktop does not affect the working force of the structure;
there is a possibility of adjustment of length and height of the working course.

The disadvantages include the insignificant speed of the working surface.

How to make a device for the garage can be seen in the video:

Do-it-yourself hydraulic press drawing options

An important part of any press is the frame. To make a manual hydraulic press with your own hands, the drawings must be chosen very responsibly. The bed consists of a frame, inside of which there is a jack with a tool.

The hydraulic press frame must have increased strength, as it will experience loads in two directions at once.

The lower part of the frame is designed to ensure the stability of the entire structure. To calculate the internal opening of the frame, parameters such as the thickness of the operating mechanism and the free play of the stem are summarized.

To increase the height of the workpiece, it is necessary to ensure the adjustment of the free rod of the jack. Here is what you can do for this:

in the upper part of the frame contour, another plate is installed, which can move along the guides;
a removable emphasis is made for a mobile platform;
from a solid piece of metal, you can make several gasket inserts.

If the correct drawing is used, the hydraulic press will turn out to be of high quality and durable.

Do-it-yourself hydraulic press: how to make

Figuring out how to make a press with your own hands is not difficult. To do this, you need a welding unit, an angle grinder, and a steel profile. A jack is required for the manufacture of a hydraulic device. The shape of such a mechanism should be bottle.

When making a homemade hydraulic press, you will need a jack weighing from 2 to 100 tons. Depending on the purpose, the press can be both floor and desktop. The last option is more compact.

To make a hydraulic press with your own hands, you need a grinder, welding machine and a drill for metal, as well as drills of different diameters. All kinds of channels, corners and pipes made of metal are used as the starting material. Any hydraulic press consists of movable and fixed elements. The movable ones include return mechanisms and a movable stop, and the fixed ones include racks, stops and a base.

The base of a hydraulic press for a garage can be made from any materials at hand. In order for the structure to be stable, it is necessary to place the center of gravity as low as possible. For a floor device, the base is made of thick-walled corners and channels.

In the manufacture of desktop equipment, you can use a pipe with thick walls and a square section. Iron can be used if the thickness of the metal is about 10 mm. For the base you will need a high-quality emphasis and racks. Such elements are made from improvised materials.

Article

Nowadays, you can see everywhere products that are made using vacuum forming technology. This approach allows you to quickly produce plastic utensils, packaging, mannequins, paving slabs and much more. To do vacuum forming at home, you need a special machine. Such devices are expensive, and they are too bulky. This article will look at an example of creating a simple vacuum forming machine that uses only a vacuum cleaner and an oven.

Of course, the power of such a machine will be small, so to make bulky items or just do a large number of products for a short time will not work. But for the sake of interest and small household needs, such a machine is quite enough. In addition, with the help of such a machine, you can perfectly make cases for various models, be it ships, planes or cars. You can also make elements for various homemade products. This device is a kind of peculiar analogue of the "3D printer".

Materials and tools for homemade:
- vacuum cleaner (the more powerful, the better);
- oven (needed to heat the plastic);
- wooden bars;
- drill;
- self-tapping screws;
- screwdriver or screwdriver;
- plywood or chipboard (thickness 16 mm);
- silicone (as a sealant);
- fiberboard for the work surface (plywood is also suitable);
- aluminum tape;
- wood, gypsum (or other materials for creating a mold).

Machine manufacturing process:

Step one. Vacuum machine dimensions
The main element of the vacuum machine can be considered a frame on which the plastic is heated, as well as a vacuum chamber. The dimensions of the frame must be such that it fits in the oven. You also need to take into account the dimensions of the plastic sheets from which future products will be created. The frame is made from wooden bars.

Step two. Making a vacuum chamber
The vacuum chamber is needed to "suction" the plastic, which, in turn, will envelop the form below it. To make a vacuum chamber, you will need a 16 mm chipboard sheet or plywood. Technically, a vacuum frame is a box, its dimensions must correspond to the dimensions of the frame that will fit on it.

First, a frame is made from timber, and then plywood is screwed to its bottom. Since the chamber must be airtight, all seams must be coated with sealant during assembly.

The vacuum chamber also has a working surface, that is, a place where products are formed. It is a sheet with evenly drilled holes. For these purposes, fiberboard is well suited, but plywood can also be used. It is important to understand that the work surface should not sag, so a spacer is installed in the center.

Step three. We connect the vacuum cleaner
To conveniently connect the vacuum cleaner to the vacuum chamber, the author used a nozzle from a vacuum cleaner. It must be screwed to the vacuum chamber, having previously made a hole in it to pump out air. The nozzle is attached with self-tapping screws, it must first also be lubricated with silicone or other sealant.
If there is any doubt about the tightness of the structure, it can be glued on top with aluminum tape or other adhesive tape.

Step four. Forms for homemade products. Product creation process
You can use to create a form various materials, for example, gypsum, wood and others. If the forms do not have to be perfectly smooth, then polyurethane is ideal for these purposes, since it is easily processed with a clerical knife.

If there are concave places on the form, then holes must be drilled here so that the plastic can “suck” into these recesses. A drill with a diameter of 0.1 - 0.5 mm is suitable.

After the mold is made, you can proceed directly to the molding process. The work will be carried out in the kitchen, as access to the oven is needed.
First you need to connect the vacuum cleaner to the vacuum chamber and place the mold in the center of the work surface. From the bottom of the form, you need to put gaskets 1 mm thick, coins will do. This is done so that the plastic better fits the shape below.

Then, along the perimeter of the frame, you need to cut a sheet of plastic, PVC, PET and other types are suitable. Due to the fact that the vacuum cleaner does not create a very high vacuum, it will not work to use thick plastics. The thickness of the plastic for this homemade product should be in the range from 0.1 to 0.4 mm.
The sheet of plastic must be nailed with staples, maintaining a distance of at least 2 cm between them. You don’t need to feel sorry for the staples, since heated plastic can easily break out of their fasteners.

Now you can put the plastic in the oven, heated to 190 degrees (for each type of plastic there are optimum temperature softening). After a while, the plastic will heat up and begin to sag in the frame. Now it needs to be removed and installed on a vacuum machine. Subsequently, the vacuum cleaner turns on and the plastic begins to envelop the mold. When working, you need to use gloves, as the frame will be quite hot.

The vacuum cleaner should be allowed to work for about 20 seconds, then the frame can be removed to remove the product. If in some places the plastic does not adhere well to the shape, you can use a building hair dryer.

Good day brain artisans! Somehow our team needed a vacuum forming table to create a variety of homemade, but there was no large-sized table for sale. Without thinking twice, we made it with your own hands!

Step 1: Table box

A vacuum table is essentially a hollow box with many small holes through which air is pumped out of the workspace. To create this box, we chose MDF, but any will do durable sheet material. So, we create a table box from MDF and drill small holes in the front panel, it is possible on the machine, or we can do it as usual brain drill.

We attach the legs to the box, and install partitions with large holes, about 7.5 cm. These partitions will keep the table flat and will not allow it to sag.

Step 2: Heat Source

Initially, we planned to use nichrome wire as a heater, but it is quite expensive and difficult to obtain. Therefore, we settled on GU10 halogen lamps, which give little light, but give enough heat.

We drill holes in the metal sheet for ceramic lamp holders and install these lamp holders. Further, for ease of installation of the circuit, in order to reduce the amount of soldering, we create from printed circuit boards conductive tracks, we mount them, and already the tracks are soldered into a circuit. For this panel with MDF lamps we make a box with a removable braincap for maintenance, and place the light panel in this box accordingly.

Step 3: Management

The option of the heat source we have chosen allows us to heat not only the entire table, but also, if necessary, only some of its sections when forming small crafts. Of course, connecting the lamps becomes more complicated.

The table control unit consists of several elements:

The front panel on which an alphanumeric LCD display, LED indication of each heating row, a key for turning on the table, an emergency stop button for the table, and switches for the table operation modes are installed.
An ATmega644 microcontroller board that works with firmware written in C. A table temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, an LCD display, front panel mode switches, and a heater power control relay (light bulb lines) are connected to this board.
AC controller board that synchronizes the signal from the microcontroller, the triac and the AC line.
Relay board, which consists of 6 electromechanical relays controlled by a microcontroller. One of the relays turns on the fan, and the rest of the heater lines.
Neutral relay board, which consists of 7 relays controlled by a microcontroller and connecting the heater lines to the neutral wire, as well as a temperature sensor in the table space.
Triac, consisting of two opto-isolated thyristor solid state relays, rated at 20A, 240V, which regulates the fan and the heating of the table space.

Step 4: Installing the supports

On our table box crafts, and by the way, it is 600x900mm in size, we mount supports for the heater panel and install the panel itself with lamps. We also make a frame for plastic and insert it into the bearing supports, seal the junctions of the table box and the frame with insulating porous tape.

Step 5: Vacuum Fan

To the bottom of the box braintable we fix the vacuum source, just a fan. For our vacuum fan, we made an additional MDF plate and with its help, as well as with the help of neoprene gaskets, we installed it.

Step 6: Final assembly and testing

At the final stage, we connect all the elements, check whether everything is installed correctly and proceed to testing. We insert a sheet of plastic for molding into the frame, turn on the table and mold!

And here is how our table works:

good luck homemade and I hope our guide will help you with this!

vacuum press is a unit that allows the production of furniture facades with PVC films and decorative door linings on the basis of MDF. It can be purchased or made at home.

The material will be devoted to how to make a vacuum press with your own hands, and what is required for this.

Remember that such work is quite difficult, you need observe safety rules, because it is associated with the use of power tools high degree hazards and heavy structures. If you want to assemble a press with your own hands, evaluate your capabilities, and if it is difficult for you, it is better to entrust this matter to a professional.

Vacuum press: purpose and principle of operation

Film furniture facades are widely used in the manufacture of cabinet or upholstered furniture thanks to these features:

a wide range of colors;
variety of forms;
affordable cost.

Such facades produced on special equipment, while the main production tool is a vacuum press. It shrinks a PVC film onto the surface of an MDF-based workpiece.

The press includes the following key elements:

vacuum chamber or table;
thermal module.

The chamber most often has a rectangular shape and is made on the basis of a rigid material that does not compress under artificially created negative pressure from the inside. And outside, a PVC film is laid, the edges of which are sealed with the frame.

film shrinking process includes the following steps:

laying blanks on the table;
sealing;
film heating;
air pumping;
cooling;
cutting blanks and removing excess film from the facade.

Do-it-yourself vacuum press: what you need to know?

Before working on the independent manufacture of a vacuum press remember the following:

If you plan the purchase of components and do the work correctly, the cost of a do-it-yourself press will be significantly lower than the factory counterpart, and you can make film facades and MDF lining at home.

Before you start making a bed for the press, you need to pick up optimal type of heating unit, since this will affect not only the design of the bed, but also other elements of the press. When assembling with your own hands, it is best to choose a retractable thermal module, which is easy to assemble and easy to use, but it has large dimensions.

For the manufacture of the bed you will need:

steel profiled pipe;
rails for thermomodule.

The bed design is best modeled on a computer using special 3D modeling programs.

Required to work the following set of tools:

small one-handed angled Grinder, whose disk diameter is 115 or 125 mm;
welding machine;
electric drill;
locksmith set including hammer, wrench, pencil, tape measure, etc.

Assembly steps the stands will be:

cut the steel profile into parts according to the cutting charts;
lay them out on a flat surface in accordance with the project, align and fix with clamps;
tack the joints of the parts, taking into account the final welding on all sides or full welding of the seams without tacks;
knock the slag off the seams and check their quality;
if necessary, clean them with a grinder with a grinding wheel;
drill holes;
clean the surface with a metal brush from rust;
prime the surface;
paint it with a brush or spray can.

For operation, the welding machine can be selected based on AC transformer, inverter type device or semi-automatic device.

The table assembly stage is the most important when assembling a vacuum press with your own hands. At the design stage, decide on its size and material, on the basis of which it will be made, also consider how to fix and seal the connector elements in order to preserve the internal vacuum. Tools for work will require the same as for the bed.

vacuum table is a design that includes the following elements:

bath;
clamping frame;
clamps and other items.

vacuum bath

You need to calculate the size of the bath before assembling it. Remember that the longer it is, the more blanks will fit in it, but at the same time you will use more films in one working cycle. As practice shows, its optimal length is about 2.5 meters.

The width of the structure depends on the width of the applied PVC film, most manufacturers produces products with a width of 1.4 m.

And the working height of the bath should be provided taking into account the presence of a small space between the upper part of the facade and the film with which it will be covered. So, before the air is pumped out, the film should not touch the workpiece.

A 2 mm thick steel sheet is suitable as a bottom for a bath, and a profile pipe is suitable for a frame. The pipe cut in advance must be laid on the slipway, fixed with clamps and boiled all the junctions. A steel sheet must be welded on top of the stiffening frame.

Manufacturing of clamping frame and clamps

The frame is made on the basis profile pipe, its dimensions must strictly correspond to the parameters of the bath. To keep the pressure frame up, you need to put 4 gas lifts and make sure they are able to hold it.

Clamps are needed in order to ensure a reliable and tight hold of the film during the pressing process. To do this, the upper frame must be firmly and evenly pressed against the perimeter of the bath. Clamps work on the principle of eccentrics, they can also be made by hand on the basis of rolled steel.

To install them, holes must be drilled at 8 points on the vacuum table. At the same time, the upper ones increase and give them an oblong shape. Further, they are adjusted by installing nuts in the threads of the stud and fixed with locknuts.

If the table does not have a perfectly flat surface, then you need to cut off the welds with a grinder, you do not need to do everything again. Also, to ensure evenness, you can treat the table with special epoxy compounds, setting it strictly according to the level and cleaning the bottom from rust.

Vacuum system installation

A vacuum system is needed to remove and pump out air so that the film can easily fit the surface of the workpieces.

When installing it , keep the following points in mind:

it is desirable that the system components are not custom-made, and they could always be purchased at retail;
it is best to choose inexpensive components with satisfactory reliability and ease of use;
the system must provide the air pumping speed and vacuum depth, which are enough to create standard flat facades and overlays;
the air removal system should not be demanding on environment and food quality;
controls and controls should be simple and inform about the current pressure, also with their help you need to smoothly adjust the speed of pumping out air.

Such a system consists of the following elements:

water ring vacuum pump with water tank;
pipeline for delivering air from the table to the pump with a valve and a pressure control device;
tabletop for pumping air from any point of the table, regardless of the position of the blanks and the film.

Features of the water ring pump and its installation

The pump must have the following specifications:

productivity 1.57 m3/min;
three-phase motor voltage;
electric motor power is 5.5 kW;
residual pressure 0, 45 mm Hg;
rotation speed is 1500 rpm.

His the working principle is as follows:

the impeller rotates eccentrically in the cylinder in the direction of the arrow;
there is a working cavity between the wheel hub, water rings and the body, it is divided into cells by the wheel blades;
during pump operation, water is thrown from the sleeve to the housing under the influence of centrifugal force, and the volume of the cells increases and air is sucked in. Then this volume is reduced, and the gas is pushed out through the discharge window during compression;
to maintain a constant volume of the ring and to remove heat, it is necessary that only pure water. It is supplied to the central hole in the pump housing and discharged through a special device that separates water from gas. This prevents water from being drawn out of the discharge pipe along with the air.

The pump must be installed on a special foundation or in concrete floor, it should be leveled, then it is fixed with anchors through regular holes. Next to it you need to put a water tank with a volume at least 30 liters. Two tubes are attached to it, one takes water with a pump, and the second drains the waste liquid into the tank. During circulation, the water is heated, and this negatively affects the operation of the pump. To ensure its natural cooling, the tank must be made of a material that conducts heat well, in particular steel or aluminum.

The pipe supplying water to the pump must be equipped with a tap that can shut off the water when idle. The tank and pump are connected by flexible hoses and fastened with metal clamps.

When you have assembled the pipeline and fixed it to the press frame, installed and connected the pump, you can test the system. For this purpose, power the pump in a timed manner by means of a circuit breaker. But it is better to postpone testing until the moment when the electrician of the press is ready.

How to make a thermomodule with your own hands

The thermal module is a heating device that allows you to evenly heat the film to the required temperature and hold it for some time.

This stage of work is considered the easiest when assembling a vacuum press. For the frame of the thermal module, we need steel pipe with a section of 20 by 20 mm. It will be necessary to weld the cases of profile wheel supports and L-shaped handles to the frame to move along the rails of the module. Wheels can be ball bearings.

Next, the frame is needed sheathed with sheet steel and secure with aluminum rivets. On the side of the casing, it is necessary to cut rectangular openings for viewing windows and insert silicate glasses there, having previously darkened them with a tinting film. Cut one 50mm round hole next to each window, this will be a reference window to measure the temperature of the film, and they must also be equipped with sliding shutters. And in order to improve the reflectivity, the thermal module must be equipped with aluminum foil from the inside.

To create a thermal module we will need:

exhaust riveter;
metal scissors;
spanners;
press tongs;
insulation stripper.

Now you need to install the heating elements. Linear lamps KGT (quartz halogen thermal) are suitable for this. They are have a number of advantages:

affordable price;
high resource;
efficient transfer of thermal energy through radiation.

Connecting the lamps according to the wiring diagram is the final stage of assembling a vacuum press. The lamp connection scheme takes into account the requirements in terms of the symmetry of a three-phase load and the possible zonal control of groups of lamps depending on the level of distance from the center of the table.

Now you have an idea about self-manufacturing vacuum press. If you decide to take on this job, then do not forget to use personal protective equipment, since it is not only difficult, but also dangerous if safety rules are not followed.