Tag: Vacuum Forming

For most UK manufacturers, the useful question is not “which is better” but “which is the right tool for this job”. Both processes are mature, both have specialist UK and Irish suppliers, and both are often used on the same product at different stages of its life. 3D-printed prototypes are often validated into a production tool, or short-run 3D-printed service parts support a product that was originally moulded. In this guide, we’ll summarise the best use cases for each process, and explain how recent developments may have tipped the scale, depending on your project volumes and part geometry.

Vacuum forming is one of the most cost-effective ways to produce plastic parts, particularly for larger, thinner-walled components in lower volumes. It works by heating a sheet of plastic until it is soft, then drawing it down over a mould using vacuum so it takes the mould’s shape. The tooling is far simpler and cheaper than an injection mould, which makes vacuum forming the right answer for a whole category of parts where injection moulding would be uneconomical.