I'm looking to make a small piece out of plastic about 1/16 in. thick, 2.5 in wide, about 4 in. long with routered edges and need to be able to heat it to arch over a wood form yet retain the shape of the routering and become rigid again once it cools.
What kind of plastic should I look for that will do this and where should I look for it?
Thanks for all input.
Most thermoplastics will fit the bill, with PMMA (Plexiglass) being the easiest to come by. Depending on the wood form, the routed edges may not follow the form as exactly as you would like.
You could also consider casting the PMMA to the final shape, if you can make a mold for it.
John
Can you be more specific. There are many thermoplastics that will work. How rigid, weatherable, break resistant, chemical resistand does it need to be?
Plexiglass, but after routing you should insert a core made of a material that will not 'melt' as you heat the plexiglass over the mold - something like silicone tooling material which is very much like rubber.
Wayne
Mitsumi has a line of SMP's that may fit the fill for this (Shape Memory Polymer). Some grades, the Tg is fairly low, one could rub it between their hands and make it warm enough to form it.
I have used acrylic with good results in that thickness. The trick is to use an oven to heat evenly, and do the bending within the oven if possible, so that the thin 1/32 edges do not cool before the 1/16 section. The bending jig needs to be able to hold the bend in place while it cools. If the entire piece is to be bent to an arc, then a piece of fabric can be used to clamp the acrylic over the rigid convex form. Hope this helps.
It doesn't need to be particularly rigid or chemical resistant, it's only being used as a space filler to make a mold. It's in the shape of the final piece which I plan to make by injecting fiberglass or epoxy.
PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.