Vacuum forming, also known as thermoforming, is a technique to shape a variety of plastics to a mold called a buck. A vacuum form table is not a complicated piece of technology — it requires mechanisms to heat plastic and pour it over a sample, and a chamber from which all the air can be pumped out to form a vacuum, ensuring that the plastic adheres closely to the buck. When the plastic is cooled, it is removed vertically from the sample. Vacuum forming does not create a form that encircles the entire mold, but only one side, because the sample must lie on the bottom of the vacuum chamber unless a special stand is used.