This is Wildcard Week! There was a wide variety of new fabrication methods to pick from, and I chose to look into vacuum forming, as I will be using it in my final project.
In my final project, I wanted to find an interesting way to make an ergonomic grip. At first, I thought I would smash some clay in my hand, 3D scan it, and virtually chop it up in SolidWorks so I could later print it. Instead, I persued this method--vacuum forming my smashed clay, creating a mold into which I could later insert parts. I chopped the clay in half to place on the vacuum bed.
I made sure the clay wasn't over the vacuum holes so that they didn't get clogged.
One nice and unexpected side-effect of the hot thermoforming material was that it took out any small surface imperfections, making a nice smooth surface for casting (at a later time).
I will expand on this later for my final project, integrating this into the design of my handle.