How To Shape Plexiglass Sheets

Since plexiglas acrylic sheet is opaque to most wavelengths in the infrared spectrum the surface exposed to the heater absorbs almost all the energy.

How to shape plexiglass sheets.

The sheet will eventually soften along the bend line. Use a plastic cutting knife to cut the sheet down to the general overall size. Have another person hold the sheet on either side of the desired bend. Most scale models won t need bends in acrylic more than 1 16 inch thick.

If you have a toaster oven set it to about 200º and leave the door slightly ajar. Wait about 10 minutes for it to warm fully. Acrylic sheet for better energy efficiency. In both instances you would use a marker or ruler to indicate where you intend to cut it.

For instance the smallest complete circle you could form with a sheet of plexiglass 1 32 inch thick would have a radius of 5 6 inches. The size shape and optical requirements of the formed part generally. To cut the material with a scoring knife you should make a small cut in the marked area. Attempting to create a smaller radius would snap the sheet.

Fab glass and mirror also gives you the opportunity to project self made designs on your plastic with a few simple steps. To create bends for small scale projects in plexiglass perspex or acrylic 1 8 inch and thinner you can use a small torch butane kitchen torches work well a paint stripping heat gun or an embossing heat tool which is a wand that works very similarly to a paint stripping gun. Lay the sheet on a flat surface and. If you don t have a toaster oven you can carefully use a heat gun to heat the acrylic.

Then place the sheet on a table with the marked side facing up. Place the part of the acrylic to be bent just above the open door wait for it to soften enough and then bend it to the angle desired. Since plexiglas acrylic sheet is an excellent insulator the surface. Have the other person apply slight pressure as you slowly bend the sheet.

Plexiglass can be cut by hand using a scoring knife or a dremel tool. For a thin sheet of plexiglass that is material up to about 3 16 inch thick use a scoring method not dissimilar from a technique used to cut actual glass. Moreover clear acrylic sheets can easily be cut down to accommodate whichever shape and size you want. Hold the heating gun approximately 4 inches from the line and direct the heat jet slowly back and forth along your line.

This should include any interior cutouts corners etc. Note that the minimum radius of the bend you create is 180 times the thickness of the plexiglass sheet. The difficulty with small projects having tight bends close together is control of the heat source so the adjoining curve isn t affected. The rest of the sheet is heated largely by conduction.

It is also easy to clean plexiglass sheets and maintain them.