Forming Acrylic Sheet Oven
Plexiglass or acrylic sheet this system works well for small pieces of plexiglass in thicknesses of up to 1 8 inch.
Forming acrylic sheet oven. Attempting to create a smaller radius would snap the sheet. May not work for gas ovens. Note that the minimum radius of the bend you create is 180 times the thickness of the plexiglass sheet. To reduce the length of the forming cycle pre dry the sheet in a spare oven and transfer it directly into the forming oven at 176 f 80 c after the drying period.
The only major variable that can affect the forming process is the thickness of the plastic sheet. So it happens that you have to use a separate mold on top and bottom platens. Twin sheet forming polycarbonate. Generally the whole piece of plexiglas acrylic sheet is heated before forming in a hot air oven with forced circulation figure 1 the basic elementsof such an oven are an insulated chamber of suffi cient size which is provided with a means to force circulate the air and a means of heating which may be either gas or electricity.
How to oven form acrylic from home. For instance the smallest complete circle you could form with a sheet of plexiglass 1 32 inch thick would have a radius of 5 6 inches. Acrylic oven baking sheet aluminum foil timer felt for handling the acrylic and to prevent scratches tools for forming tools for forming may include. I can t recommend for.
Twenty four hours at 176 f 80 c dries most sheets. A mold any object shape you can press the acrylic into to give it shape mallet and or a peen for shaping caution i ve only tried this in an electric oven. We manufacture high qualitythermoforming equipment. Sheet temperature is one of the most critical elements of the thermoforming process.
Modify the timing as necessary. It is important to provide sufficient clamping of the sheet during the forming process. For thicker sheets it will take longer and for thinner sheets it will take less time. For thicker acrylic you will need to use a metal bar clamped very securely and you may only be able to work with narrow strips of material as your heat source may not be able to heat wider areas of thick material.
Force the plexiglass into the desired shape. This refers to the process of vacuum and pressure forming of two sheets of polycarbonate simultaneously. After the plastic sheet is molded it stays in the molds then the two molds are brought together of course under high pressure.