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Opportunity Heats Things Up
How do you make your solid surface business stand out? Is it quality craftsmanship, getting the job done in a timely manner or charging your customers a fair price? Can you also take care of those customers looking for a shop capable of producing intricate and complex designs? If you want to be that shop, thermoforming equipment could be the answer. Thermoforming ovens aren’t going to just give your shop an option to catch the big fish, but also to upgrade and upsell a small scale client by proving simple and unique touches that will ultimately cost you very little actual time and money in fabrication. If you’re looking at ways to grow and expand your current products and capacities (or you just think bending and forming solid surface is pretty neat), we have provided a list of industry suppliers and what they can offer your business here in our monthly spotlight.
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Global Vacuum Presses provides a range of thermoforming machines for acrylic solid surfaces
and thermoplastics. The thermoforming process is done in two steps: preheating and thermoforming.
The solid surface is preheated in the Ecotherm pre-heating oven designed to contact heat
the material to reach the desired temperature evenly. It is available in different sizes
and with either one or three heating zones. Next, using the membrane press, place the preheated
material on top of a mould and apply the vacuum, which evenly pushes the solid surface against
the mould. The membrane presses are available in different sizes with different high volume
membranes. |
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The Pinske Edge offers a way to bend solid surface material, PVC or vinyl with Pinske Edge Thermoforming Ovens. The ovens allow flat surfaces to become a radius or any other shape. It can even bend sheets to cover a column, fit a wet wall, add slope to a shower pan and make a unique table base or decorative edging. The company offers several units and can custom build to suit specific needs. |
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Schultz Forming Products offers a solid surface oven carefully designed to heat solid surface
materials quickly and uniformly. Lower emitters with high watt density raise the temperature
quickly without overheating the material, reports the company. Cycling turns lower emitters
off and on at fixed intervals allowing a soaking effect through the material. The heating
elements are manufactured with Nicrome wire that is wound with brazed ends for long life
and durability. The hood of the oven has been designed for easy access, and a view window
is located in the front of the oven for checking materials without allowing heat to escape. |
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Specialtytools.com offers Clam Shell Ovens for forming solid surface materials. The ovens
reportedly allow for easy loading and unloading of large panels. The design also makes it
suitable for loading and unloading smaller pieces. The design reduces the danger in reaching
over a product being heated in front to remove a product being heated in the back. The ovens
are available to heat panels up to dimensions of 32 by 96 in., 32 by 150 in., 6 by 72 in.
and 6 by 144 in. The company also offers a Cube Over for heating strips to form corner pieces. |
