Bend Radius Acrylic Sheet

This radius is applied in all cold bending procedures.

Bend radius acrylic 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. Preparing hot air gun w. Set up plastic or acrylic sheet in a simple bending jig. In the image above the values are all in inches but the principle often holds even if the units are in mm.

Ensure good ventilation because heated acrylic creates mildly toxic fumes. Cold forming is possible. 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 freight on a 1 2 x 48 x 96 sheet of clear acrylic is 0 0.

Before you bend acrylic set it between 2 pieces of scrap wood and clamp them together with a vice. Once you go past a 48 x 96 sheet costs can skyrocket. Acrylic sheet for better energy efficiency. Ideal for perspex acrylic plexiglass polycarbonate.

To set up your plastic or acrylic sheet to bend simple curves for your miniature and model projects you need to first remove the protective covering from the material you wish to bend. Since plexiglas acrylic sheet is opaque to most wavelengths in the infrared spectrum the surface exposed to the heater absorbs almost all the energy. The freight for 1 2 x 48 x 96 sheet of gray acrylic is 90 00 sometimes there is a 65 00 pallet charge. Please keep in mind the bigger and thicker the part is the more it cost to bend.

This is the completed form you will use to bend your acrylic sheet. Mark your plexiglas sheet along the line where you want to bend it. Bending shaping plastic with hot air gun heat gun. Screw the boards together through the second board straight into the base board placing a screw every 6 inches.

Since plexiglas acrylic sheet is an excellent insulator the surface. Never heat acrylic sheet in a kitchen oven. Tutorial for how to. Use long thin 1 inch or so in width test strips to practice your technique and learn how your particular heat source affects your chosen thickness of plastic.

To calculate the minimum bend radius of curvature multiply the thickness of the sheet to be used by 330. Minimum cold forming radius sheet thickness x 100. Then aim a heat gun at the point on the acrylic you want to bend. Line bending or thermoforming a brasion resistant acrylic sheet is not recommended.