3rd May 2016

FormBox. The world’s first tabletop factory.

Mayku today launch the FormBox through Kickstarter with a mission to “Do for making, what the Mac did for home computing”. For the first time in history anyone can become a maker and create lines of professional grade products without going to a factory.

The FormBox makes 3D shapes in seconds by heating up sheets of material and forming them around a template with a regular vacuum cleaner. Now anyone can make anything from customised chocolates to one hundred piece runs of professional grade products, right from their tabletop.

The FormBox maker pack consists of a FormBox vacuum former, 30 sheets of material, a universal vacuum connector and a kit to get users started. It gives makers, designers, hobbyists and small businesses everything they need to get started making their own products

Instead of sending designs off to be made on the other side of the world, creators can take control of their production and start building hundreds of different things, really fast, from their homes or studios.

The FormBox works by softening a sheet of material with heat, draping it over a 3D form and sucking all the air from around it using a regular household vacuum cleaner. As the material cools, it makes a perfect replica of the shape almost instantaneously. This can be used as a product in itself or as a mold to cast multiple products. The process can be repeated over and over until an entire run of products is ‘microfactured’, bringing production capabilities to small independent makers that they simply haven’t had before.

Backed by the Design Council and Innovate UK, Mayku are on a mission to make the tools of manufacturing small, simple and accessible to everyone. Their aim is to empower makers of all levels and ability to create their own things with a set of simple tools that anyone can use. The FormBox is Mayku’s first creation. A simplified version of a mass manufacturing process, it helps people make short runs of products from their homes or studios. Founded by two design entrepreneurs, Alex Smilansky and Benjamin Redford in London 2016, the pair intend to change the way our things are made forever.

Quick facts:

Vacuumpowered

Uses any vacuum cleaner as its source of suction.

Compact

Measuring just 30 x 22 x 40cm, it fits on a desktop. 􏰀

Fast

Turns flat materials into 3D shapes in under 20 seconds. 􏰀

Multiply objects

Cast multiple creations using vacuumformed molds. 􏰀

Turbocharges your 3D printer

Vacuumform 3D prints to multiply them in minutes. 􏰀

Works with a variety of materials

Choose from a vast library of different substances