Hi all,

made this machine a couple of years ago, still going strong. Commercial machine was $10K, mine was ~$200. The commercial one no doubt looks a lot nicer.

In A4 and A3 size I usually work with binder booklet clear sheets. Overhead transparency sheets are designed to resist temperature and won't work. For the full size, I use polycarbonate 0.4mm sheet which is sold by the metre at the hardware store. The heaters aren't powerful enough to heat thicker plastic like clear acrylic sheet, by you can supplement with a paint stripping gun to add heat.

In the video I am moulding over carved foam blocks covered with a heat protecting material called Rosco Foamcoat. You could just as easily mould over something 3D printed, by I haven't tried it yet.

With the thin sheets, every tiny little detail comes through, so the printed pattern would need to be smoothed or sanded first.

Any questions, just ask away.