I would like to mold the plastics, what is the best way to mold the plastic materials that are the allowable materials?
I don’t have much equipment, but will be seeking out resources to mold the plastic once I find the best method.
Thanks.
With the polycarbonate sheeting, the most common way used in FTC so far has been to use a heat gun (pretty cheap at Lowes) and form the plastic around something with a similar diameter/curvature/what have you. Without heat, in a regular bender, you should be fine with thicknesses of sheeting up to .125".
You could use a heat gun and lexand
sorry, it is Lexan, another name for Polycarbonate sheeting.
Most of what I have read reports it is quite difficult to mold lexan/polycarbonate with a heat gun. they talk about heat ovens and such. any other tips or tricks out there for molding the polycarbonate?
Thanks.
There is such thing as I lexan bender I think, its just a manual thing, though I’m not completely sure how it works
Lexan bends really nicely in sheet metal working tools, such as the box and pan brake. If your school has a metal shop… give it a try on a practice piece.
If you are wanting compound curves, however, you might want to try vacuum forming. There is a very extensive write up here http://support.knowlton.ohio-state.edu/files/FormechVacuumGuide.pdf But it is actually fairly easy to build your own small vacuum former.
Just google vacuum forming diy for some ideas.
Jason
This is probably off topic from what you are looking for, but nonetheless it’s pretty cool and could be useful for some.