Make Magazine - Volume 11

FO R M IN G LA S T IN G
IM P R ES S IO N S

From take-o ut coffee Iids to airplane
interio r panels,vacuum -fo rm ed plastic
is everyw here.A nclforgooclreason:
vacuum form ing m akes Iig ht,durable,
ancjcool-looking 3 D parts.H ere's how
to coo k som e up in yo ur kitchen.

M y favorlte ch IIclhood toy w as the M attelVac-tJ-Form .
T he pungentsm elIofm eltlng plastlc fIIIeclr'ny beclroom
as lspent r'nany hours r'noIclIng IIttIe cars,bugs,ancl
slgns.The w ay the fIat plastlc changeclshape by Invlslb le
vacuurn pow er w as r'nag lcaIanclfun to w atch !

Toclay,luse vacuurn form Ing to m ake toy prototypes In
r'ny ow n shop.lusualIy use a professlonaIIy rnacle vacuurn
forr'ner,but In a pInch l've useclthIs u Itra-cheap,hor'ne-
brew rIg w lth great resu Its.

Large,com m erclaIm ach Ines have buIlt-ln vacuurn pum ps,
acljustab le p lastlc-holclIng fram es,overheaclraclIantheaters,
anclpneum atlc p latens.T he G uerrlIIa Vacuurn Form er
Is m uch slm p ler.ltuses your oven to m eltthe plastlc,and
a househoIclvacuur'n cIeanerto supp Iy the suctIon .A II
you have to buIIclIs a sIm ple w ooclen frarne ancla hoIIow
box.l'1Ishow you how to clo It,then use the clevlce to create

1 atIkIr'naskthataIso r'nakesa greatJelI-O r'nolcl
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B IR D S H O T

B irds m ake Iousy subjects fo rd ig ital
photog raphs.T hey're fearful,fidgety,
ancj,w ell,flig hty.B utyou can im prove
yourocjcjs ofgetting aw eso m e avian
photos by m oving yo urcam era closer
to the birds - ancjyo u fartheraw ay.
A ncjw hile you're at it,w hy notget
them to pose fo ryo u?

S lnce convertlng from fIIr'n to clIgltalphotography rnore

than ten years ago (lboughtan Epson Photopc w lth
ahalf-m egaplxelresolutlonfor$500 In1996),l'vesought

w ays to take aclvantage ofthe ''tons o'shots to get
a w lnner''phenom enon.Recently ldlscovereclthatblrcl
photography clefInItely faIIs Into that category.

B utclIg ltaIIy shootlng blrcls taxes a cam era's resolutlon
Ilr'nItb lg-tlrne:your6 or10 M P cllglcarn suclclenly becom es
another Photo pc w hen you throw aw ay vaIuable p lxels by
cropplng .S o,ya gotta getcloser- butgettlng closerm akes
the b lrcls m ore sklttlsh anclshy.lt's a clIg ltaIcatch-22 .

W e can have our cake ancleat Ittoo,though ,thanks to
a Iong shutter-release cab le ancla gaclgetthat typ IcaIIy
contro ls m oclelvehIcIes:an R/C raclIo.

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