'scoring' plastic sheet to make hinge - any tips?

Hi All I have a little project in mind which will use some semi-rigid plastic sheet,

2mm or so thick. Something like those thin kitchen chopping boards you sometimes see around.

I need to have part of this sheet hinged, so that it can withstand many bends of approx. 180 degrees. Any thoughts about the best way to achieve this?

Scoring is probably not going to work because the material is too thick. I thought about cutting a v-shaped channel out, but am wondering about the best way to go about that.

I could even stitch the edge in a bookbinders fashion, which would probably be very functional but look a bit retro.

Thoughts welcome...

Cheers Jon N

Reply to
jkn
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If it's thermoplastic (as opposed to thermosetting plastic) then you might consider heating it and then forming it around a mould?

Reply to
gareth

(update) - I see that they are called 'living hinges'. Reputably possible to machine them ... wondering if a dremel with some sort of jig might work?

J^n

Reply to
jkn

Living hinges are made of one specific plastic, others don't survive. They consist of a flat thin section, I don't see that being diy mouldable into a sheet. But maybe you could join suitable plastic to your 2mm bits.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

Polypropylene is the unbreakable plastic you want, its also virtually unglueable.

Reply to
Adam Aglionby

I've bought mekweld and polyweld for 'easier' plastics from shop4glue, they offer an adhesive for 'awkward' plastics.

Rather strangely they operate on pay after delivery, however they seem to be closed for the summer due to moving premises ...

Reply to
Andy Burns

You could try ring binding if it's not got to be airtight closed fit.

Reply to
Kipper at sea

Hi all perhaps I didn't explain myself very well - I'm hoping to take an existing flat sheet of thin ?polypropylene?, and socre or otherwise cut away part of the thickness, leaving me with a thin 'living hinge'. Any advice or experience of trying that?

Gluing, moulding, etc. etc. are only possibilities if there's no mileage in the original idea.

As mentioned, I've seen a page which suggests using a ball end cutter in eg. a Dremel; I also wondered about heating sown sort of v-shaped implement (like a lino cutter) and dragging it along the desired hinge line.

FWIW I have sent email enquiries to 'shop4glue' via their web form a couple of times in the past (for different projects) and never had a reply, so they are not top of my book for anything ;-/

Thanks J^n

Reply to
jkn

Model aeroplane builders use lots of these hinge types. One of the best materials for hinging flying surfaces on ultra light models was mylar, which comes in awkward packaging called a 'floppy diskette'. But it does come precoated with a surface to which superglue will adhere.

Its also available in long strips in 'cassette' packaging.

Reply to
The Natural Philosopher

Yes they do appear somewhat "half-hearted", I suspect the pay after delivery system is in lieu of a web shop that knows what's in stock and what isn't so you only pay for what they've been able to send you! Not many web shops would close down for months due to moving premises.

Reply to
Andy Burns

Piano hinge? Brian

Reply to
Brian-Gaff

Maybe it's down to all the solvents ...

Owain

Reply to
spuorgelgoog

the use a router with a flat ended bit. V is totally thwe wrong shape.

NT

Reply to
tabbypurr

Have an Aldi version dremel that has a collar for spacing the drill off a surface, think its meant for tile cutting, that and ball end cutter dragged down a straight edge might do.

Reply to
Adam Aglionby

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