In modern design, organic glass (plexiglass) is becoming increasingly popular. The ability of this lightweight and durable material to bend causes its wide application in many areas of industrial production and in everyday life. Plexiglas is successfully used in construction, automotive industry, radio-electronic engineering. The high light transmission of the material allows it to be used in the device of lamps for various purposes.
The ability to bend plexiglass with your own hands at home allows owners of their own houses and apartments to create a unique interior in their rooms without investing large amounts of money.
Advantages of organic glass
Plexiglas is a sheet material that has a high degree of transparency. Organic glass is made using various polymer components, so it has a lot of advantages compared to ordinary glass.
To suchmerits include:
- luminous flux of about 92%, which does not decrease over time, while the original color of the glass does not change;
- resistance to physical impact is five times that of traditional glass;
- high moisture resistance;
- simplicity and ease of material processing;
- when burning, it does not emit harmful gases, as it is an environmentally friendly material;
- has a high resistance to chemical weak substances;
- good bending ability of plexiglass allows you to give the material any shape, while its optical properties do not change;
- high insulating properties;
- Plexiglas is a frost-resistant material;
- material easily transmits ultraviolet rays (up to 73%), while yellowing is not observed.
The disadvantage of organic glass is considered to be weak scratch resistance, so care must be taken during operation.
Plexiglas cutting
For the manufacture of a certain product from organic glass, it is first necessary to cut parts of the desired size. Cutting using an electric jigsaw or hacksaw is not recommended, as the mechanical processing of Plexiglas generates a lot of debris and can scratch the glass.
It is best to cut and bend Plexiglas using hot nichrome wire. Such a device is easy to make yourself.
The main components of such a device are a nichrome spiral and a power source, which must be selected according to power. The wire can be purchased at the distribution network, you can also take it from a soldering iron, heater or variable resistor. For normal operation of the device, the length of the spiral will have to be selected experimentally, since the resistance of nichrome is different. To avoid smoke and smell when cutting, it is not necessary to heat the spiral to red.
Next, we make a homemade handle with two insulated metal pins. A wire is soldered to one end of the pins, which is connected to a power source, and the other will hold the spiral. For convenience, you can install a switch on the handle.
Key features of the cutter
The cutter of this design has a number of positive qualities:
- no debris after the cutting process;
- the ability to fully control the process of cutting plexiglass, so you can cut any shapes;
- cutting with a spiral does not scratch the surface of the sheet, unlike mechanical sawing;
- Plexiglas edges are even, so there is no need for post-cut processing;
- no need to exert physical effort in the process of doing the job.
This method can cut almost any plastic material, not just organic glass.
Methods of bending Plexiglas
Plexiglas bendingat home can be done in several ways:
- using a building hair dryer;
- using nichrome wire;
- using metal pipe of different diameters;
- hot water bending.
All of these methods are easy to implement on your own at home, and sophisticated equipment and tools are not required. The main condition for high-quality flexible plexiglass is strict adherence to the technological process and safety measures.
Equipment and tools for work
Depending on how the work is planned to be done, the following equipment is used for bending plexiglass:
- cutting fixture;
- clamps or vise for secure sheet fixing;
- a sharp knife or cutter for trimming the ends of a part;
- liquid container;
- electric power supply;
- template of the future part, which will be used for bending a certain radius;
- material surface heating source (blowtorch, gas burner, building dryer);
- heat-insulating gloves to protect hands from burns.
After preparing the equipment, it is necessary to prepare the material for the work.
Preparing Plexiglas for the bending process
To eliminate deformation in the process of bending plexiglass, it is necessary to remove all oil and grease stains from its surface, that is, to make a complete cleaning of the material. This action is the main one in the preparation of plastic material.
All surface contamination is clearly visible upon close visual inspection of the sheet. Then you need to rinse the surface of the plexiglass with warm water with a detergent dissolved in it. For greasy stains, gasoline or kerosene can be used.
Do not use any abrasive materials to clean the surface as they may scratch the Plexiglas.
After treating the material with a detergent, it must be dried well. Drying should be carried out at room temperature, with the drying time depending on the thickness of the material. It is recommended to spend one hour of drying per one millimeter of material thickness. Then you can start the process of bending plexiglass.
Bending plexiglass with a hair dryer
If you need to bend a large piece of plexiglass, then a special building hair dryer is used to heat the bend. Thick parts need to be heated from both sides, but workpieces of small thickness are heated from one side, opposite to the bend.
The work order is as follows:
- The workpiece is securely clamped with clamps or vise.
- Mark the desired fold line.
- Heat the nearby bending area with a hair dryer. In this case, it should be taken into account that the width of the heating section should be twice its length.
- As soon as the fold is heated to the desired temperature, you need to substitute the template and quickly bendplexiglass until it cools down. It is desirable to carry out the process of bending plexiglass with a minimum number of movements.
If the material cools down a little, then when it is bent, microcracks may appear in its structure, which will destroy the material in subsequent operation.
Bending with nichrome wire
This method is considered the most technologically advanced. For its implementation, you will need a special nichrome wire and a DC power supply, preferably with the ability to adjust its value.
The workflow is as follows:
- We clamp the prepared workpiece in a vise or, if the dimensions do not allow this, we use several clamps.
- Above the bending line we stretch the string for bending the plexiglass. The height of the wire above the surface of the material should not exceed five millimeters.
- Then we connect the wire to the power supply. Gradually increasing the voltage, we achieve a glow temperature of 150 ℃. At this temperature value, the material is deformed.
- When the bend line becomes softer, the sheet will begin to tilt down. We give the part the necessary bending angle.
At the end of the operation, give the curved workpiece time to cool.
Bending plexiglass with a pipe
This method is considered the most effective if you need to bend the plexiglass along the radius. For these purposes, a metal pipe is used, diameterwhich corresponds to the bend radius.
Sequence of actions when using the pipe:
- A sheet of organic glass in a cold state is placed on a fixed pipe along the required bend line.
- We clamp the workpiece with a wooden rail using tie-down clamps.
- Gradually heat the pipe with a gas burner or blowtorch.
- When the material becomes plastic, carefully turn the material around the pipe to the required angle.
Bending plexiglass in hot water
This method is most effective for bending small parts. Ease of operation and low energy consumption make it widely used.
The bending technology is as follows:
- Bring water to a boil in an appropriately sized container.
- We lower the workpiece into the water.
- Keep the workpiece in water for a certain time, depending on the thickness of the part.
- After heating the workpiece to the desired temperature, it is removed and given the desired shape of the bend.
To protect against burns, all operations must be carried out in special thermal insulating gloves.
Bending machine
To process a large number of parts, you can use a special machine for bending plexiglass (with your own hands in this situation, work less efficiently). The use of such machines is most economically justified in industrial enterprises.
Nichrome thread in machines is not used in its naked form, it is placed inspecial glass flask. The whole process of heating, as well as bending the workpiece to a predetermined radius, is automated. The drive of machines can be mechanical or pneumatic.
To increase productivity, the machines are equipped with several heating elements that can be moved to the desired distance.
Of course, the advantages of using a machine are many, but at home it is not economically viable to use it.
The use of manual methods of giving organic glass blanks the required shape will solve many design problems. Just remember to take precautions when working with hot material.
