KYDEX® T– High impact fire-rated sheet that is less hygroscopic and usually does not require pre-drying. Offers more uniform forming with less wall thinning. Greater resistance to a broad range of corrosive chemicals and cleaning solutions. Traditional methods for mold production are often costly, labor-intensive, and have long lead times, which can limit the efficiency of thermoforming processes. KYDEX® sheet can easily be painted and screen printed as long as the recommended paints and inks are used. Technical Brief 152-Aand Technical Brief 152-B provide information on the correct paints and inks to use with the material. Can KYDEX® Thermoplastic sheet be bent using a brake press? Thermoforming equipment can be broken down further into categories defined by their use cases. These categories are spread across desktop, industrial, and DIY thermoforming equipment. Professional manufacturers and enthusiasts can choose from these options depending on the application.

KYDEX® sheet can be assembled to wood products, metals, and plastics using adhesives, double-sided tapes or mechanical fasteners. Superior formability, fabrication and tooling quality makes KYDEX ® sheet your transit and rail choice. Technical Brief 150-A, Technical Brief 150-B, Technical Brief 150-C, Technical Brief 150-D, and Technical Brief 150-Eprovide detailed information on the correct adhesives, solvent cements, and tapes to use with KYDEX® sheet. Mold design features: The mold should include critical features such as multiple ventilation holes to circulate the air from the forming process and draft angles to help demold the part. Complex mold designs: 3D printing eliminates the challenges of developing molds with complex geometries using traditional manufacturing processes. For example, 3D printing allows for including design features difficult to machine and the forming process can be improved by adding more air vents for a better draw or pressure. Manufacturers can also leverage the 3D printer to develop complex molds for thermoforming processes such as twin sheets and matched mold forming.

KYDEX® Thermoplastic Sheet Properties and Options

Yes. KYDEX® Thermoplastics have antifungal and antimicrobial properties. Technical Brief 120-Cprovides details about this. What KYDEX® Thermoplastics meet the requirements for medical equipment housings? Clamping force: Some thermoforming machinery, such as the pressure forming, twin sheet, and matched mold forming equipment, clamps down on the plastic sheet to form the finished part. The clamping force is an important consideration because it helps determine the type of material that may be used. KYDEX® sheet can be fabricated using standard woodworking tools such as table saws, band saws, and routers. Technical Brief 153-Aprovides detailed information on the proper blades and machine settings for cutting and machining KYDEX® sheet. What is the best way to assemble KYDEX® Thermoplastic sheet to other materials? Mechanical Forming: This process involves the use of a direct mechanical force to shape the preheated plastic sheet. A core plug forces the pliable sheet to fill a space between the plug and the mold, and this imprints the surface patterns onto the plastic sheet. Mechanical thermoforming is used when precision and high levels of detail are required. The rubber content gives it extra durability and impact strength and often used by vacuum formers and fabricators for commercial and industrial applications including handling trays, children’s toys, automotive and appliance components.

High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) is one of the most widely used plastics and popular within the Point of Sale (POS), display and signage market due to its visual appearance (colour options, gloss level, texture), the ease with which it can be processed along with its antistatic and electrical conductivity.

ABS

KYDEX ® 3D laminates are offered in a wide range of solid colours, metallics and highly realistic wood grains. It is also possible to mix and match KYDEX ® 3D laminates with popular HPLs and melamine boards.

KYDEX® thermoplastics offer durability, chemical resistance, a wide range of color and texture options including custom colors, and are easy to form. Their integral color keeps surfaces looking new longer than traditional materials like fiberglass, painted metal, or high pressure laminates.

KYDEX ® Aerospace Interior Sheets are offered in an expanded range of high performance grades that meet the demanding requirements of aircraft interior applications. Super tough and durable, KYDEX ® industrial sheet is a proprietary alloy thermoplastic that brings a new dimension to customers in design freedom, formability, rigidity, impact resistance, chemical resistance and fire retardance. Many businesses are turning to stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing to create molds for thermoforming processes—also known as rapid tooling, because it offers a fast turnaround time at a low price point, especially for shorter runs, custom parts, and prototype designs. 3D printing also offers unmatched design freedom to create complex and intricate molds. Use the Form 3+ desktop SLA printer to produce smaller molds, and the Form 3L large format SLA printer for mold sizes up to 33.5 × 20 × 30 cm (13.2 × 7.9 × 11.8 in). Matched Mold Forming: This thermoforming process is applied when manufacturing items that require higher levels of accuracy. The matched mold forming process involves the use of a male and female mold to shape the heated plastic sheet. The forming machine applies force to bring the molds together onto the plastic sheet. The sheet then takes the pattern or shape designed into the two molds.