Cold Forming Plastic Sheet

Sheet too hot.

Cold forming plastic sheet.

This article uses a sheet about 1 4 thick so all times are about 10 to 15 minutes per step. Sheet too cold inadequate vacuum heat sheet for longer time period check vacuum system for leakage increase vacuum. I am forming plastic not metal but i am applying metal bending principles to my application after a few years of iteration we have developed an accurate flat pattern method for our tank bending operations. Uneven heating check heaters screen hot areas.

Sheet too cold to form heat sheet for longer time period. Incomplete part formation detail. Uk educational supply center centre mindsets online sells variously sized 3mm thick sample sheets of eastman s spectar copolyester at not completely outlandish prices. This is a type of vacuum forming where thin or thick gauge plastic sheet is placed over a die heated to a temperature that allows the material to become pliable then is stretched over the surface of the die while vacuum pressure pulls the sheet down and into its final shape.

Spectar supposedly looks and handles much like acrylic but with the surprising property that it can be cold formed without breaking or whitening and exhibits a memory effect holding a cold bend until reheated. Thick thinned in the bent areas along the circumference and wrapped into a rectangle with radiused corners. Cold forming plexiglas sheet can be cold formed bent at room temperature in a smooth arc and held to a radius by forcing the material into a curved channel support. The only major variable that can affect the forming process is the thickness of the plastic sheet.

The recommended radius of curvature should be a value greater than 180 times the thickness of the sheet for plexiglas g sheet and 300 times the thickness for plexiglas mc sheet see table below.