Re: Acrylic Forming Oven

From: Frank Logullo (frankDOTlogullo_at_dol.net)
Date: 03/27/05 

Date: Sun, 27 Mar 2005 19:48:27 GMT

"benj420" <benj420@chartermi-dot-net.no-spam.invalid> wrote in message
news:4246d28b$1_1@127.0.0.1...
> I have read the post about an acrylic annealing oven, which raises a
> few questions about acrylic forming. I have done quite a bit of work
> with un-formed acrylic sheets in making aquariums and have been
> successful. I would now like to branch off a bit and investigate
> formed acrylic as there are several parts that I have made out of
> flat acrylic in the past that I would have preferred to to use a
> curved ***. I have seen the 'heating strips' that a DIY'er can use
> for straight bends, up to like 1/4" thick acylic. I would like to
> learn more about how an acrylic forming oven could be made and safely
> used in my basement so that I can attempt bending thicker sheets or
> make a gentile curve over the length of a *** (to make a bowfront
> tank if anyone knows what that is).
>
> I'm an electrical engineer, so I know I can do any wiring involved. I
> have an area where I can cut a vent to the outside, and probably have
> all of the tools to do the job, just don't know how to build one
> because I don't know how one works. Can someone shed some light on
> the subject? I'm looking at this from a DIY standpoint, not a
> production shop.
>
> Also, what prompted the questions are a post I read about acrylic
> annealing. I have worked with aluminium in the past and know what
> annealing is in that case, but am not sure I understand it as it
> applies to acrylic. It appears that there is a certain amount of
> water that needs to be 'dryed' out of the acrylic? How does
> annealing fit in with forming?
>
Plenty of stuff on the internet. Here's a first hit:
http://www.designnews.com/article/CA85859.html
If you do this at home, make sure you have good fume venting as this can be
a problem since you have to heat the sheets to temperatures near
decomposition point. Quite large shapes like spas are made by thermoforming
acrylic ***:
http://www.bathworld.com/
Frank