Author: MakerPRO／蔡松寰
After so many years in the maker world, from the beginning of the trend of 3D printing, to now a variety of convenient desktop machine tools have begun to appear in the market. Yes, the market has always been there, and its design and user interface are constantly changing.
In recent years, self-manufacturing has prevailed. Various desktop tools such as 3D printers, laser engravers, and milling machines have contended. Some people have created their own brands among them. However, as everyone prefers plug-and-play machine tools, the number of DIY kits has gradually decreased, and smarter and easier-to-use machine tools have begun to appear in front of everyone.
This time, I'm honored to have the opportunity to review the two smart vacuum forming machines "FORMART/FORMART lite". I hope that through this article, I will let everyone know about the experience that these two forming machines have brought to me.
About vacuum forming
"FORMART/FORMART lite" mainly uses industrial vacuum forming technology. Its basic principle is to cover the heating and softening the thermoplastic plastic sheet on the mold, and remove the inside air by vacuum extraction. After cooling, it can be shaped to form a thin blister with the same shape as the mold.
Vacuum forming has been widely used in industry for a long time, and the principle is simple, and the operation of vacuum suction is easy. In fact, if you search for vacuum forming on YouTube, you can find many DIY players using gas stoves or hot air guns and vacuum cleaners to DIY vacuum forming machine.
FORMART thoughtful designs
The first thing out of the box, of course, is the "look". FORMART and FORMART lite really catch people's eyes, breaking the rigid impression of the machine tools. Just like the iPhone’s exquisite and high-end product line, even if it is placed on the table in the living room, it will not look abrupt, and it really fits its positioning as a "good partner in desk business"!
FORMART and FORMART lite has beautiful appearance, and even suitable for the living room
When we power on FORMART, you can see its reading on its LCD display. There are a total of 4 modules. And the machine will perform self-test of the 4 modules and will alert if it detects any failure. This is a very good function for users as not everyone understand how to debug a machine. Then with the guidance of this failure notice through the screen, users can easily knowing which part of your machine is faulty, it is also convenient for users to communicate with customer service and engineers, which greatly reduces the time for follow-up repairs.
FORMART provides automatic detection of operating functions when turned on
If you really encounter problems, this machine is not difficult to disassemble. After turning a few screws, you can open the bottom cover. You can see that there are 3 modules inside. It is easy to replace and repair, which is really considerate design!
FORMART can easily disassemble the cover, and there are four modules that perform their duties, which can be easily disassembled and repaired
After the boot process is completed, the function table is clear and concise. From the figure, you can also know that FORMART has three operation modes: rough, standard and fine. It also provides a dehumidification mode for plastic sheet that is very useful in humid environment. After all, you don't want to use a damp plastic sheet to produce defects during molding.
Of course, if you want to make mass production, you can only bake one sheet at a time.This was originally designed for small-scale production. If there is a large demand, you should still buy a larger oven to bake them all at once!
FORMART provides four operation modes, users can choose the mode base on need
FORMART provides an exclusive sheet drying function, which is very convenient for user show lives in humid environment
The two founders of MY YARD (Emerson and Hao) are very proud of the design of the plastic frame locking bracket. Under the pursuit of perfect mechanism design, it was developed to appear in this frame that can instantly lock the plastic sheet by turning the handles, so that the operator no longer has to be afraid of being burned by touching the high temperature frame. Not only that, they also added a function: the frame can be stopped at any height, that is to say, the operator can quickly put in the next plastic sheet without removing the mold, which greatly improves work efficiency. It helps!
FORMART has a safety frame that can quickly lock the plastic sheet and stop at any height
As for the size of the sheets that can be supported, FORMART supports 4 different sizes of sheets between 50x30cm and A4. By adjusting the partition and the replacement of auxiliary parts, it can switch between the 4 sizes of sheets. However, I personally think that the removal of the lower partition is not so intuitive, but after a few exercises, I can get started quickly.
The partition can be adjusted, and it provides four sizes, so that the plastic sheet can be used more effectively
Since it is called an "smart vacuum former", compared with traditional machines, this FORMART must have its special features.
First of all, what I like the most is that it is not like the previous machines which must rely on the user's "experience" to determine how much suction & temperature should be used and how long it takes to complete the work. The FORMART has built-in a very complete material database. The sheet identification sensor, as long as the original plastic sheet is put on, the setting of working parameters including heating temperature, suction and so on is instantly loaded.
FORMART has a built-in plastic sheet sensor and the working parameters can be automatically loaded
This greatly reduces the entry barrier for use and also enhance the success rate of inexperienced users. Of course, for experienced users who want to try other material sheet from 3rd party, they can also find the corresponding parameters in the FORMART database or adjust them by themselves. It provides five groups of user settings that can be stored, including plastic sheet temperature, heating curve, preheating temperature, vacuum pressure, etc. can be set and stored into the machine. It can be said that there are very friendly designs for novices or veterans.
In addition, FORMART also has the function of mold stripping. After forming, the built-in air reversing valve of the machine can automatically blow in the opposite direction, which helps to separate the mold from the blister.
FORMART has a built-in air reversing valve, which can automatically blow in the opposite direction, making it easier to take out the mold
Small and beautiful FORMART lite
Let’s talk about FORMART lite. Compared with FORMART, FORMART lite is not only smaller in size, but also removes few functions. For example, it removes the built-in pumps and have to externally connected to a vacuum cleaner or a pump. However, the user does not need to switch the vacuum cleaner by himself. The suction port and the power supply are connected to the FORMART lite, and the machine can control the switch of the vacuum cleaner automatically. Not only that, it also has a flow control function, which can adjust the vacuum cleaner flow rate to achieve the effect of suction adjustment.
FORMART lite has removed the built-in pump and replaced it with a external vacuum cleaner
At the same time, FORMART lite does not have size switch function, only supports A4 size sheets, which is enough for users who like hand-made. In addition to these, FORMART lite also does not have the functions of sheet sensor and air cooling functions, but for ordinary users, even if these functions are not provided, the simple interface of its settings will not cause much operational problems.
After reading the above open box review, do you want to do something with it, full of creativity? This easy-to-use device is in the crowdfunding process, and there is a chance to get it in hand!
（This article is reproduced with permission from MakerPRO，Original link）
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