Acrylic Bending 101

[B NEGATIVE]

This is a simple guide to forming 90's on acrylic sheet,you can make curves and other shapes with the use of formers but im keeping this simple for the novice....which i am.

This is what you will need for this guide.

The plexi/acrylic of your choice

A heat gun.

A work bench or surface

A set of clamps and a clamping block to hold the workpiece in place.

First up,line the edge of the worksurface with the line of your bend on the workpiece.

then place your clamping block in line with your chosen bend point.

Select 'FULL POWAH' on your trusty heatgun..

Then move along the bend line,i keep around 3" away fro the plexi and move very quickly back and forth.

Push gently with your fingers until the workpiece lays flat at 90 then maintain pressure for a couple of minutes.
While the plexi is hot,it will have a springy property to it and will try to open up.

You can tighten the 90 up even more using a former to push the acrylic down.
The end result is this..

PSU covers or hide away panels are now easy to make.

You can tighten the 90 up even more using a former to push the acrylic down and in to the worktable.

Please do this kind of thing in a ventilated space,preferably outdoors,as gasses are released on heating of acrylic...you cant see or smell them but they are there.
Take fire precautions when using heat sources in this way.

 

[Pr3d4t0r]

i did resistant materials in high school :3

this stuff is really simple, i had to make a spiral out of acrylic XD now that was tricky/

nevertheless very nice and simple guide

 

[wassupdoc]

I remember this was one of my favourite things in graphics I love working with acrylic but I have always used a strip heater to do the bends, Would be interesting to do it by hand. Nice tut.

 

[B NEGATIVE]

This is a simple guide to flame polish sawn acrylic edges to get that finished look.

For this you will need..

A jet torch.
This are available everywhere,you want a blue jet to concentrate the heat

Get familiar with it first,find out how to turn it off in a hurry!

Sawn edge....not pretty.

You want the jet tip to be just floating above the sawn edge inline with the sheet.

Play along the edge you want to polish,dont linger in any one spot.

Done correctly the edge should fall to a uniform colour.

Surface scratches can also be 'rubbed out' with the same method.

As always,ventilation is a must!!

Practice on scrap before the workpiece and store the gas away from your work area.