Vacuum Former DIY

I was thinking about making a legit sized vacuum former. I can scavenge and old oven heating element and purchase enough 90 steel to build all the brackets I need. Can anyone think of a problem with this?

Lots of people do this - if you google 'vacuum former plans' you'll find some info.

[makezine.com]
and the comments there have some links to books, web resources, and forums.

electrical problems with the heater element.
Those draw a huge amount of power and thus may need some more than just an ordinary wall socket.
And you should keep the regulator too. Finding another poti that can handle that beast may be hard

thermal problems.
be sure to have enough air around the heater to not get burnt by accident while preheating the thermoplast.

The less elegant but pretty safe idea I saw (i guess on instructables.com)
was heating the thermoplast in the oven and then applying it manually to the vacuumformer.
(wich was nothing but a box with holes and vacuum cleaner )
All you have to make then is a box and a steel frame with detachable handle.

'sid