Best way to follow a curve ?

[paulstung]

I'm coming to the acrylic stages of my Black " OOPS " build where I'm wanting to add a black acrylic panel to the front panel of my Aerocool DS, for 2 reasons one, to break up the vast amount of orange, and two, to enable me to remove a big section underneath the new panel to allow for better air flow.

My plan is, not just to slap a rectangle piece of acrylic on top, I like the idea of following it up over to top curve, and stopping just short of the IO, panel. I have given it a go with a scrap piece, but I can't seem to get a consistent curve matching the case lines.


How I did it was to mark the area on the case for the panels location with masking tape ( Painter tape ) to keep the piece square, I then heated up the acrylic, more than usual, to allow for what I thought be be a better outcome, using a heat gun. I then placed it inside the template, and bent it, but no matter how pliable I got it it wouldn't follow the case line ? I'm wondering if I will only be able to get it to a certain point and when attaching it, that will have to do the rest of the work ?

Any ideas, from the pros ? Cheers guys.

 

[JR23]

I did quite a lot of acrylic sheet forming back when I was at school and we would always get a big piece of 12mm MDF cut the contour in each one and then glue them together and sand them all flush to each other to make a big form. Bake the acrylic and then lay it over the form, great if the whole piece was curved but you really want to leave the front of the case unheated so its perfectly flat im guessing? Anyway I would make an MDF mould so you can bend it over it nicely and apply a bit of pressure, just try real hard to heat it evenly with a heatgun.

I might even consider making the outside of the bend as a form and then with gloves on push the acrylic into it so you don't mark the outside and you can make sure it properly fills out the bend.


Just glanced at the case to see the radius of the bend. I would try and find a drill bit the same radius as the bend+thickness of the acrylic. Get a sheet of chunky MDF and drill it that size, put two cuts tangential to the circle at 90 degrees from each other and boom you've made an easy to replicated contour. Make a stack of them as wide as you need it and give them a good sanding. Probably not the simplest and fastest way but i'm pretty sure I could get the results out of it.

JR

 

[paulstung]

That was my first thought, making a template of sorts, but it isn't a circular bend as such it seems to elongated, that's where I'm having the problem. The first attempt, I bent it on the case.

I might have to try it that way again and get a 2nd pair of hands to hold one of the long straight runs, probably the front run, in place whilst I do the bending. I'll just have to get the acrylic close to melting I think. Cheers buddy.

 

[JR23]

Ahh is it not equal radius, that's more complicated but I guess you could still do it with a form once you've traced it somehow. I would just prefer to be able to get it really hot and apply pressure to the inside instead of the bend instead of folding it over the outside if you see what i'm saying. A few pairs of hands with some good gloves on so you can really hold it down straight away should do it if you get the heat right. Just had another thought too could you put a piece of gasket paper over it or similar, like tough but flexible thick card and press onto that so you don't mark the acrylic. I know when I was doing one of my tubes I pushed one really hard into the form with a cloth and imprinted the texture into it.

It will be nice when it's done there's something really pleasing about bent acrylic.