hdpe body forming question

[onlyonce]

Would love to hear from those knowledgeable about forming bodies for our machines from sheet hdpe. If one could find a company with the proper tooling and willing to take on the job would it be possible to form a very small number of bodies on some kind of homemade form? Thanks

[onefunzr2]

Me knowledgeable? No way. But I once viewed a TV show about making hot tubs. Basically only 2 steps: heat the sheet plastic then vacuum form it over the mold. I'd say creating that mold sturdy enough to hold the needed vacuum would be the costliest part of the project. And probably not cost effective for a 'very small number of bodies.'

[ARGOJIM]

Keith talk to Matt, he has made a few.

[onlyonce]

Thanks guys, Just throwing around a couple of different ideas in my head and as usual there is a lot of rattling around.

[john swenson]

hey keith, when i had my amusement ride buisness, i made quite a few molds for different bodies,etc. i built them out of thin plywood and bathroom board. got the general shapes and with putty and sanding got pretty close to the finished design. these were fiberglass bodies... the fiberglass co. then fine tuned them and the mold was ready.then they made the actual mold they would use for the finished production pieces off that '' wood '' mold. after about every 100 pieces or so, they would spiff the mold up and start production again. not sure fiberglass would work for your project...but i do think you could make the mold for vacuum forming with a little research. with fiberglass pieces, the glass is sprayed in the mold and pulled out. in vacuum forming , i believe it is formed over the outside of the mold. anyway...that's a little more info. johnboy va.

[john swenson]

p.s. if you want, punch in ''royal train rides,inc.'' and you will see some of the rides i designed and built back in the day. johnboy

[onlyonce]

Thanks John, you can tell those kids love those cool rides you put together. I believe fiberglass is far from the best material for our kind of machines with the abuse they take.
The HDPE just keeps springing back into shape after a hard ride as if asking for another round. Pretty amazing stuff.

[Model Citizen]

[onlyonce]

Thanks Bridget, That was a very informative thread.

[AndyL]

Like this? This thread is almost 10 years old. Might help. Even has videos.

http://www.6x6world.com/forums/attex-atvs/8591-who-owns-attex-molds.html

Bridget

I can't believe i started that thread almost 10 years ago! I still check the boards and I've been following this one too Seems like the most cost-effective method is to make fiberglass bodies. They are cheap to repair, and fiberglass has stood the test of time with these machines. The fiberglass machines were even raced in NATVA (although I'm sure they cracked at times), and even newer models that were made like the AV-4 and the Hoot were fiberglass... and Hydrotraxx too?? I think...

Anyway, the conclusion that I came up with was if I were to ever design anything and make some custom design, it would be fiberglass at least in the beginning.

There was a guy named Wazza from the Route6x6 board from 15 years ago or so that built his own home made 6x6 ATV, and he made the body out of fiberglass. He used to have the pictures of him building the prototype body out of wood, but I can't find them anywhere online. I did have a couple of pictures of the machine that he made:

[john swenson]

for all the rides we built year after year... that were pretty well abused with kids and adults climbing in and out of them all the time, my customers never complained about the quality and how well they held up. other than running into a wall and even then they could repair them , we always sent a repair kit with the different colors. there are still co.s using rides they bought back in the early 90's. from us. it is a good way to go for a guy to at least build a prototype. johnboy

[john swenson]

for all the rides we built .. that took alot of abuse from kids and adults climbing in and out of them year after year... they held up really well. there are still customers using their rides they bought back in the early 90's. and they were easy to repair. it's a good way to go atleast to build a prototype for a project. you can build a simple mold fairly easy and hand lay the glass yourself. j.b.

[eddieb1965]

Fiberglass sucked on the AV-4,not many hrs on it and cracked the drain trough....