CONCLUSION

This project can be considered a success because it had achieved almost all of its deliverables and the final product was completed and tested by the final presentation date. However, the lack of time management and a few setbacks almost took this project the other way and could easily have been not completed. The skills and lessons learned throughout my time taking this course at Fanshawe College helped me create a unique product from concept to design to build and final prototype assembly as well as understanding the unique parameters and procedures required by an engineer to bring his ideas to physical form.

The skills and lessons used in this project cover mechanical design, CAD/CAM, welding, and project management in conjunction with many other lessons learned over the program duration.

At the end of the project, I got a chance to test out the vacuum forming machine I made and was able to do a first and second test with mixed results.

As shown in the pictures below, the first test was done on two hanging wall art face figures. As this was my first test, I was a little nervous and panicked when I saw little smoke coming out of the unit and shut down the heater before the plastic reached the proper height. At this point I debated whether to turn on the vacuum and droop the plastic over the form or to scrap the plastic and start over. This took up valuable time and the plastic started to cool at which point I decided to go for it and tried to get a negative mould of the two faces. However, due to some factors that were overlooked, the plastic did not create a complete seal and the plastic sheet did not completely cover the two faces evenly. This cause some warping and creases in the plastic as shown in the figures below. Also I should have used only one face at a time instead of two.

The second test was on a single wood figurine in the form of a small sun/moon/star shaped hanging mirror. This also did not go so well due to not managing the droop of the plastic correctly and not placing the plastic sheet on the buck correctly. This was due to me not being able to see the sheet or the vacuum plate from above as I lowered the sheet frame over the buck. However, I could not do this step correctly from the front of the machine as I was trying to record a video of the process to attach to this final report as shown below. This form was a little better but I believe after reviewing the video, I pulled the frame up too soon before allowing all of the plastic to cool down and solidify on the buck. Thus the creasing and deformation as shown in the last picture.

At the end of the project, I was able to successfully deliver a prototype vacuum forming machine, which was successfully tested and presented. However, there are still some variables that still need to be resolved to pull a perfect form from the table. These variables will be addressed in the next capstone course I will be taking next semester.

For the future project, I will be creating a buck again from scratch to be used in conjunction with this vacuum forming machine in order to pull a successful copy with minimal distortion or defects.

Finally, I would like to thank for the support from the advisers:

• Project Management Adviser: Prof. Martin Volkening
• Technical Adviser: Prof. Martin Volkening

If you have any question about this project, please contact:

Rish Sangar via rsangar@gmail.com