| High-pressure forming is similar to vacuum forming, however you get the cosmetic appearance of an injection-molded part. This process uses tools with the texture already on the tool, which allows you to have multiple textures or smooth areas on the same part. In addition there are many other cost, time and appearance benefits, such as: startup tooling costs are a fraction of comparable injection molding tools; extremely fast turnaround time with production tooling commonly completed in six to eight weeks and the first completed parts to ship within one to two weeks following approval of the finished tooling; highly cost efficient production runs of 50 to 5,000 units or more depending on the size and complexity of the part. The cost and affordability of running these small quantities allows you to maintain a leaner inventory and schedule more frequent runs; broad material flexibility which allows the use of many different thermo formable materials from .080 to .200 gauge; and great aesthetics that look as good or better than injection molded items with sharp edges, tight corner radii and ultra-fine detail.
How does it work? As with other thermoforming processes, high-pressure forming begins by heating a sheet of material to a point that it is soft enough to be shaped. The process accepts almost any thermoform rated material and we can work with various size sheets. After the material is heated to the desired flexibility, it’s formed to the desired shape over a high quality, precision-tooled mold which can be designed with incredible detail including undercuts and negative drafts. When the material is in place, air is evacuated from the sealed space between the sheet and the mold. At the same time up to 90 psi of air pressure is applied to the outside of the material as it is formed to the mold. Not one bit of the material nor a single detail of the mold escapes that high pressure treatment. That high pressure applied to the soft material is what helps the pressure forming process deliver such extremely accurate and detailed molding completely faithful to the original design. When the formed part is removed from the mold, it progresses through a series of fully automated secondary operations. Holes and slots are added as well as edges trimmed to perfection with precise CNC routers. Then fastening devices, decals or any other items are added if needed. Finally the most demanding step of all, the part will need to make it through Shamrock’s quality process where perfection is the goal but excellence is tolerated.
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