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Hey guys,
Whats a good way to bend polycarb? Ive got a couple of pieces here that I need to bend but not sure of the best way to go about it. Im guessing some form of heating it up would probably work but the only things Ive got are a heatgun (550 degreesC, would this be too hot?) a soldering iron or a hair dryer :lame:. The most Ive got to secure the polycarb with is a workmate bench. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and just for reference its 5mm polycarb.
Cheers,
Jamie
Stick it in the oven.:)
Heres a cut and paste of some info.
Drape Forming can be done without pre-drying, but this also requires accurate control of the temperature If the sheet is not pre-dried. only accurately controlled air circulation ovens should be used in order to prevent local overheating It is necessary to examine the sheet and its shrinkage, since, in this method, the sheet is not attached to a frame that prevents shrinkage.
. Hot Line Bending can be done without pre-drying. but this also requires accurate control of the temperature. Initially, overheating will be detected at the edges of the bending line where the sheets heat more rapidly. Extreme care should be taken not to force the bend at a temperature below 155C (maximum temperature 167°C). Failure to do so will induce internal stress that will cause the sheet to lose most of its impact resistance. It is highly recommended to experiment with small pieces. After they have cooled, check them for impact resistance by hitting the bend line with a heavy hammer while the piece is lying on the floor or work table with the bend line up Breakage of the piece indicates that the bending temperature was too low (This is a good test for any thermoformed product)
When bending sheets of more than 3 mm thickness, only two-sided bending machines will produce satisfactory results. Hot line bending can be performed with the PE masking foil on the sheet, except when working with a thickness of 6 mm or more. In such cases, heating time and temperature on the surface of the sheet will be too high. causing the PE to melt locally. It is possible to remove the PE along the bend line before forming, thereby eliminating melting of the PE, while protecting most of the sheet surface for convenient handling after forming. If the results are unacceptable, it is necessary to pre-dry the sheets as described on the previous page. The sheet should be bent to an angle several degrees larger than the desired final angle, whose magnitude depends on the degree and rate of cooling. It is recommended to determine this value by a series of trials on small samples before proceeding to production.
(Message edited by woody on March 25, 2006)
What the pressure guys do is cut it then weld it back together using a soldering iron. This isnt the solution to use if you need curves but is one for bending lines.
(Message edited by geeza on March 25, 2006)
Ive been able to do up to 6mm polycarb on the single-sided line heater/bender at my school - The temperature range is particularly accurate though. I dont know if bending this thickness caused any structural damage, but the bend was very uniform and tidy.
Line heaters are expensive things though, having looked briefly for a supplier. Anyone found any places that do them a little cheaper?
I used a heat gun. Keep the temperature setting as low as possible and be patient to avoid bubbles.
At last! Some decent info on heat forming polycarb, particularly the correct temperature range. Nice find Woody. Can you give the source? The pre-drying info would be useful.
Personally I totally avoid heat forming polycarb. Its just so tricky to maintain the toughness.
There you go.....:)
http://www.madscientists.co.uk/polycarb.htmhttp://www.madscientists.co.uk/polycarb.htm
Arhhh, I hate the background of that page...
copy + paste it into word
http://www.paltough.com/media/uploads/PALSUN%20Technical%20Manual.pdfhttp://www.paltough.com/media/upload...l%20Manual.pdf
(Message edited by woody on March 30, 2006)
you can always select the whole text with ctrl-a, makes reading a lot easier.