Thermoforming Plastics

Thermoforming works with various plastics to achieve diverse thermal, mechanical, and chemical properties. Below, you’ll find an extensive list of thermoplastics we use regularly. While these are our standard offerings, we might accommodate customer-supplied materials or source special plastics upon request. If you’re curious about a niche plastic, start a conversation with our sales team. At RapidMade, we embrace your toughest challenges.

Standard - Single Sheet Minimum Order

These materials are stocked at RapidMade or easily sourced locally. Availability in every thickness may vary, but usually, you can purchase a single 4’x8′ sheet. Lead time is 1-3 weeks. Custom orders offer more options for finish, color, or additives and can lower costs but require 6000 lb minimums and take 5-10 weeks.

ABS
(Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)

Lowest cost and easy to form. Impact-resistant engineering plastic and the industry standard when cost and performance are a priority. Used for automotive body parts, high wear housings and covers and moderate-load structural components.

The stock hair cell finish is ideal for hiding scratches and taking a beating.

HIPS
(High Impact Polystyrene)

Lowest cost and easy to form. Smooth, flat and clean surface finish which paints well. One of the most aesthetic forming grade plastics. Popular for packaging, material handling and signage. Less mechanical than ABS and poor chemical resistance. Available in food grade. Stock white and black colors – and take paint beautifully. The very clean, soft matte finish is famously used in iPhone packaging.

HDPE
(High Density Polyethylene)

Semi-rigid, moderate cost (HDPE prices are very volatile!) plastic with high chemical resistance. Does not off-gas at high temperatures. Chemical and thermal durability makes it well-suited for chemical-resistant containers. Highest shrink rate of any plastic, which lowers composite tool life and increases variability between parts.

HDPE is sometimes the only acceptable plastic for certain chemical applications.

Kydex T
(ABS/PVC) or Kydex 100 (Acrylic/PVC)

Expensive flame-retardant engineered plastic with extremely high impact resistance. Used for moderate-load structures, covers and enclosures that require fire resistance. Top tier mechanical properties. Kydex 100 is our go-to material for radomes due to RFI properties. Variety of colors and finishes with a 600 lb MOQ. Absolutely beautiful finish.

PETG
(Polyethylene Terephthalate) (Polyester)

Moderate cost and easy to form. High gloss surface finish. Food grade and available in medical grade. Popular for packaging, food processing and pharmaceutical applications. Stiff and flexible material. Clear plastic which easily shows the mold finish – polished molds can be expensive if high clarity is needed. Frosted finish on tool side for standard molds.

PC
(Polycarbonate)

Moderately expensive engineered plastic with high stiffness, impact strength and temperature resistance, plus options for UV and scratch resistance. Used for glass replacements on phones, TVs, lights or glasses, and high-temp applications. Harder to form, especially for fine details. Extremely difficult to work with and requires pre-drying which ads cost. Very prone to blemishes during forming – do not expect perfect aesthetic form quality!

PP
(Polypropylene)

Low cost alternative to HDPE with decent thermal and mechanical properties. Very soft plastic with a lot of flex. Slightly less shrinkage than HDPE but still has a high shrink rate.
Higher level of chemical resistance than most plastics.

Can be hard to control without temperature controlled tooling. FDA approved for direct food contact.

PVC
(Polyvinyl Chloride)

Rigid engineering plastic with great mechanical properties; high chemical and electrical resistance. Smooth surface finish. Food and medical grade. Very similar to ABS but with a higher material cost. Used for potable water, chemical processing, pharmaceutical and agricultural applications. Easy to work with, if a bit stinky. Engineers pick PVC when ABS does not have the chemical properties and HDPE is too soft.

Acrylic
(PMMA)

An inexpensive, rigid and brittle plastic molding with high UV resistance. More difficult to form than other plastic in the US. Extremely difficult to work with – not intended for tight bends or details. Requires very soft transitions and extreme draft or material can blow out while forming. UV resistance makes it well-suited to outdoor applications.
We are very selective about your design when working with this material.

Introducing: Thermoformable Carbon Fiber

Aerolite Carbon Fiber is a revolutionary new composite: real, high-performance carbon fiber offering up to seven times the strength of unfilled plastics yet moldable via traditional vacuum forming processes.

Its lightweight and durable properties make it ideal for producing complex, high-strength components. Suitable for applications in aerospace, automotive, prosthetics, heavy equipment manufacturing and robotics.

Maintaining its 3″ long fiber chains during the forming process we are able to create real carbon fiber parts by vacuum forming over a mold. This process cuts out 70% of the cost and 95% of the cycle time out of carbon fiber part manufacturing. Parts that previously took hours now can be made in minutes!

For more information, visit our Aerolite Carbon Fiber ~~product~~ page.

Thermoformed carbon fiber cuts labor costs and boosts production speeds over traditional layup methods.

500 lb Minimum Order Specialty Plastic: Bolteron

Bolteron is an incredibly exciting material that we offer. Bolteron is a trade name for serveral blended grades of thermoplastic which are equivalent to Kydex. For example Bolteron 4335 is equivalent to Kydex T. Not only does this mean they have aircraft grade mechanical properties- they are UV and corrosion resistant, FST (flame, smoke toxicity) rated, UL 94-V0 rated, and FDA USP class I-VI rated for medical devices. Bolteron, like Kydex, is more expensive per pound than lower grade plastics like ABS but can be worth it for medium production runs.

The best part? At 500 lbs Bolteron is the lowest minimum order custom run plastic we offer. That means low minimums on:

2500 lb Minimum Order Specialty Plastics

These materials are made to order with a 6 week lead time and require a minimum order of 2500 lbs. These are premium automotive plastics that possess exceptional finish and durability. These plastics can have any color and finish and even include additional features like foam and polyurethane top layers.

TPO

PC/ABS

Alloying Polycarbonate blended with ABS results in the best of both worlds. You get the ease of processing ABS and the durability of polycarbonate. This combination also improves heat deflection temperature, stiffness, and and low-temperature impact resistance. Needs paint or coating for automotive applications.

EXULTRA® TPE/TPO

Cap of partially cross-linked TPE coextruded over TPO Soft-touch TPE cap – 90 Shore A.

This material is outdoor weatherable, has excellent chemical resistance, very low gloss and offers options of HMS, FR, & Glass-filled TPO.

ONESTEP® Vinyl/ABS

OneStep® Vinyl/ABS products offer a textured, leather-like appearance and a refined feel. While maintaining dependable performance for forming applications, it retains the durability and rigidity to withstand wear and tear. A vinyl foam composite is laminated over ABS to create a piece that mimics hand-wrapped parts and is near impervious to scratches and marring.

SOFTFLEX® ASA/ABS

SoftFlex® ASA/ABS is a coextruded styrenic system that offers the weatherability & chemical resistance of ASA combined with the versatility of ABS. The high elastomer content of the ASA cap provides an ultra low-gloss look and a soft-touch feel that makes it ideal for multiple interior and exterior applications.

The Custom Run Plastic Advantage: Color and Texture

Our supplier’s state-of-the-art color laboratory specializes in producing quality colored sheet from standard gray and blue hues to dynamic, bright accent colors. Expert technicians and their in-house technology offers custom color matching in a standard lead time of less than 3 days.

You can match to a physical sample or to a color reference number such as Pantone, NCS, or RAL.

Custom Extruded Textures

In addition to being able to produce every color under the sun we can provide seven custom extruded textures shown below. These textures range from gloss to matte to satin and haircell. Our team get work with you to provide real texture images up close to help guide you on your decision or even ship samples to you.

In addition to these textures through our supplier at Simona PMC we can also provide many pressed textures at added cost.

Thermoforming Plastics

Standard - Single Sheet Minimum Order

ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)

HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene)

HDPE (High Density Polyethylene)

Kydex T (ABS/PVC) or Kydex 100 (Acrylic/PVC)

PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate) (Polyester)

PC (Polycarbonate)

PP (Polypropylene)

PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride)

Acrylic (PMMA)