Cold Forming Plastic Sheet

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.

Cold forming plastic sheet.

The only major variable that can affect the forming process is the thickness of the plastic sheet. Our tanks are formed from sheet stock typically 0 25 in. For thicker sheets it will take longer and for thinner sheets it will take less time. 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.

Incomplete part formation detail. Sheet too cold inadequate vacuum heat sheet for longer time period check vacuum system for leakage increase vacuum. Sheet too hot. Sheet too cold to form heat sheet for longer time period.

This article uses a sheet about 1 4 thick so all times are about 10 to 15 minutes per step. 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. Modify the timing as necessary. 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.

Uneven heating check heaters screen hot areas.