POT: Acrylic Bending Jig

[Richard Cline]

Also you might try your wife's hair dryer. You might have the super model designed for peeling paint. That would have lots of heat.

Dick

[Roger Shoaf]

IRRC the cal-rod heating elements are a nominal cost. That way you can get one rated for line voltage and avoid all of the experimenting.

[Rick]

Hi Bill,

I've been traveling and am coming into this late ... but my question is why are you using Plexiglas? If you use Polycarbonate, you can bend it without heating.

The ONLY disadvantage to polycarbonate over acrylic is that polycarbonate surface will scratch much easier than acrylic. Acrylic, on the other hand, will shatter when struck or bent, but is very hard to scratch (well, compared to polycarbonate).

I was at a local machine shop the other month, and they were working polycarbonate with their sheet metal working tools ... shear it, put a 90° bend in it, mill it ... all without problems.

Regards,

Rick

[Bill Stock]

I'm rather new to this stuff. So most of my information comes from a buddy who did a some Acrylic work 15+ years ago. Although I was doing some reading on Lexan my original post. It certainly sounds like it's easier to work with, cost being the major down side.

Does the Lexan discolour (turn white) when you bend it without heat?

[Billy]

I've worked extensively with Lexan at work. It will snap or shatter if bent more than a couple degrees without heating. Also, the heating must be done gently, or air bubbles and\or white discoloration.

[Billy]

Will result. "must be done gently, or air bubbles and\or white discoloration will result."

my bad.

[Rick]

Hi Bill,

No discoloration that I noticed. Your best bet is to try some scraps first, before spending money on a sheet of material. For scraps, check your local sign shops, glass shops, etc.

HTH

Rick

polycarbonate

[Rick]

Billy,

Acrylic (Plexiglas) has that characteristic, while Polycarbonate (Lexan) does not.

These two items are completely different products with different properties.

Regards,

Rick

[Billy]

Then perhaps what we used wasn't Lexan, sure said that on the sticky-paper. It was quite brittle, and bending had to be done with heat. I made dozens of guards and screens with it over several years time.