Plastic is a highly malleable material and can be fabricated and manipulated in many different ways to suit many different needs. Here are three methods of plastic fabrication.
- Laser Cutting
Laser cutting is best suited for precise fabrication, including small objects, fine detailing and interlocking parts. Equipment and tools for various industries, including the medical field, engraving and vector cutting. For example, a business offering laser cut custom plastic fabrication Norfolk VA might be the best place from which a nearby hospital will source its plastic medical equipment and parts for its medical devices.
- Thermoforming
Thermoforming is a process by which a piece of plastic is heated until it softens and then reshaped. It doesn’t require the use of high pressure or temperature, just a steady source of heat. Thermoforming is most often employed when working with thin plastic materials, such as sheets, to make various products. These products can include packaging, trays and pop displays. It’s easy to create custom designs and shapes with this process of fabricating plastic. It’s also cost-efficient and has a relatively short lead-time compared to other plastic fabrication processes.
- Molding
Molding is one of the original methods of fabricating plastic. There are many variations on molding, including rotational molding, injection molding and blow molding. Rotational molding is a method that uses centrifugal forces and temperatures to make many types of hollow containers. Injection molding is quite a versatile method, in which plastic is injected into molds of various sizes and shapes with varying pressures. Blow molding is the glass blowing technique adapted for use in plastics, ideal for tanks and bottles.
Because plastic can be put to so many different uses, it only makes sense that there would be a wide variety of ways to fabricate and change it to better suit those uses.
