Heatsink Tips & Tricks - Purpose & Usage

by Jennifer Oden June 20, 2018

Two primary purposes of the heatsink is to protect the HD vacuum press itself from heat and to create a work platform where air can escape for your vacuum forming process.

There is a need to keep heat from migrating into the vacuum press itself since the HD vacuum formers are made of a thermoformable material. The grid and the heatsink working together mitigate heat migration into the vacuum press.

The customizable heatsink is also used as a work area platform. Unlike other vacuum formers that have vacuum only in the center, our design allows vacuum under the entire work surface. This gives you the option to optimize for the item you are vacuum forming.

Drilling holes in the heatsink around the item you are vacuum forming allows air passages to be placed precisely to your specifications. There is no need to drill holes in the entire heatsink. Only drill holes where you need them to accomplish your vacuum forming needs. Holes should be 1/8” in diameter or smaller to allow passageways for air to escape your mold area. Trapped air is your enemy as far as definition in your vacuum formed product.

Another customizable aspect of your heatsink is to allow you to attach your mold directly to the heatsink itself. You can drill holes and have a heatsink with attached mold for each item. This gives you the ability to increase speed in production and the convenience of easily changing out molds from one item to another.

Extra heatsinks are available on our website. The heatsinks are designed specifically to fit our HD vacuum former.