Plastic sheets made with sheet press don't need to be square.
Here we are showing you how to create octagonal mould to create octagonal plastic sheets. The same methods can be applied to create any polygonal mould for the sheetpress (triangle, hexagonal, etc)
You can watch the full video tutorial on precious plastic’s youtube channel here: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSZq_9a-XMQ&t=81s">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSZq_9a-XMQ&t=81s</a>
Dont hesitate to contact us if you have any questions and suggestions for the mould. You can click on our precious plastic profile for the contact information
Attachments
Resources
3D Files
Step 1 - Gather tools and material
Tools:
Sheet press set
Angle grinder
Welding tools and materials
Jigsaw
Sander (for product finishing)
Safety gears: welding helmet, safety glasses, mask
Marker
Ruler
Computer with drafting/drawing software
Material
Steel for mold: 2x2cm galvanised steel (standard size =6m)
Clean, sorted plastic with types of your choice
Step 2 - Draw
Draw the polygon in any drafting software of your choice. This will give you precise information on the dimension of the individual parts/side of the polygon. We have included our drawing in the drive link above for reference
Draw the measurement of your sheepress work area
Offset by 5 cm inwards (space needed around the mould)
Draw polygon according to the area capacity of your sheet press machines
Offset by 2 cm inwards (thickness of the galvanise steel)
Get measurement of dimensions of the mould from the drawing you’ve made
this drawing would also be useful later on when you are calculating the amount of plastic you need to make the sheets.
Step 3 - Cut
After drawing and determining the measurements, cut the 20mm hollow galvanized steel according to size with an angle grinder.
Draw the measurement with erasable marker for better precision
Cut with angle grinder
With whiteboard marker, draw out the 1:1 template of your sheets to make sure the angles and dimension line up and adjust accordingly
Step 4 - Weld
With whiteboard marker, draw out the 1:1 template of your sheets to make sure the angles and dimension line up and adjust accordingly.
Weld all the sides to connect the ends together to make your polygonal sheets
Step 5 - Finishing
Grind the excess welding materials with angle grinder
This step is crucial to make sure that the mould is completely flat against the sheets. Otherwise you will damage the steel plate and the plastic will bleed outside of the mould because it is thicker than it should be.
Step 6 - Make your polygonal sheet
It's time to make your polygonal sheet.
Use the area of your polygon (from the drawing) to determine the amount of plastic needed to make the sheet
See precious plastic sheet press "how to" for a step by step tutorial of making a sheet: https://youtu.be/TNG2f_hKc_A
