Ok... HOLD ON, before you jump on buying one of these machines!!

I have been vacuum molding with these types of machines for 10+ years. I originally got the idea one day when I picked my wife up from work. She was managing an orthodontic office and I arrived a little early, during my wandering around the office I happened to notice one of these machines and asked my wife what it was. She explained they use it for vacuum forming retainers. Instantly all sorts of molding ideas popped into my head. I borrowed the machine a few times to make some custom parts for myself but found several limitations with the machine.
The biggest issue I came across was the poor clamping of the sheet holder. The machine had a very similar clamping frame to the one pictured below. The frame only provided about 1/4" of clamping around the perimeter of the plastic sheet. If I tried to mold anything with more than about 3/8" depth to it, the plastic would pull out of the frame creating a vacuum leak and poor part molding. Another annoyance was the sheet frame would not stay put when slid up for heating, you had to stand there and hold the frame until the sheet was ready for forming.
Frustrated with these results, I built my own machine on a 2' x 4' platform using the basic concepts of these small dental forming machines. I have used it for years with fantastic results.
I still desired a small unit for fabricating small parts as the dental style machines are very quick and easy to operate. After spending several months researching these machines, I found one that provided a clamping frame adequate for producing parts with some depth to them.
The machine you see pictured is manufactured by a company called Raintree Essix. It is the only unit I could find, at least at the time, that was quality made and had an adequate framework for clamping the plastic sheets. Raintree also sells the plastic sheets in precut squares, in various thickness. This makes forming a breeze as you just pull a sheet out of the box, peel off the protective coating and slip it in the machine. HOWEVER.... The Essix machine is not cheap. I believe I paid 399.00 for the unit pictured, I have yet to see this machine pop up on ebay but they may from time to time?
I dont suggest you bother with the cheap ones on ebay.... they are most likely going to be more headaches than they are worth unless you can modify the sheet frame to provide more clamping surface. If you can find an Essix machine, this is the unit to have. I do have access to essix products so if you want a machine, contact me and I can help you aquire one.
If you just need simple parts molded, I can do them for free if you supply the mold.
I will explain how I do the molds tomorrow.

The limitations of these are endless with a little imagination!

Todd