Pulling a vacuum is something every proud maker must do once in a while. Whether you’re degassing epoxy or vacuum forming parts, you’ll need a reliable pump to get the job done. [drcras… ...

Vacuum forming involves heating up a sheet of plastic and stretching it over a mold known as a “buck”. A vacuum is applied to pull the plastic up to the mold surface. The major parts ar… ...

The up-front time for tooling, for example, is longer for vacuum forming. But once in place, thin-film parts provide a dramatic improvement over coatings.

UF engineers, backed by DARPA and NASA, are perfecting laser-forming techniques that let metal sheets fold themselves into giant solar arrays, antennas, and even space-station parts right in ...