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Forming lexan

sniper

RCC Addict
Joined
Jun 21, 2006
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Has anyone tried to heat up a lexan sheet to form it ?
I am trying to put a radius in my truggy side panels to match the 1:1 version better. Any help or suggestions??
 
what kind of curve are you looking for? A simple bend is easy enough, but you start to do compound curves you'll have to have to make either a press to give it its shape or setup a vacuum table
 
I am looking to form the side panels as close to this as i can. probably gonna have to make some kind of wood block to do it
 

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If you feel like making a wood plug to form the lexan around i would work, although it would be really time consuming. Gettong the nice round edges in the 1:1 pics are going to be rather difficult no matter how you go about it.
 
Get a nice piece of aluminum, bent it to shape, lay the lexan over it then use a heat gun to get it warm, it will bend and mold itself to the aluminum, once it cools it's good to go. Go slow to much heat and you'll melt it.
I recommend using a scrap to get an idea of how much heat to apply. I've used this method before to make battery trays and other items.
 
Get a nice piece of aluminum, bent it to shape, lay the lexan over it then use a heat gun to get it warm, it will bend and mold itself to the aluminum, once it cools it's good to go. Go slow to much heat and you'll melt it.
I recommend using a scrap to get an idea of how much heat to apply. I've used this method before to make battery trays and other items.


I found steel is better to form. I use a body hammer, a dollie, and a spoon.
 
I found steel is better to form. I use a body hammer, a dollie, and a spoon.

id have to agree on that point. im a mudslinger by trade as well and steel is much easier to work with.

also easier to find in stores.
alu streches and bends too easily, steel holds shape better too imo.

jim
 
id have to agree on that point. im a mudslinger by trade as well and steel is much easier to work with.

also easier to find in stores.
alu streches and bends too easily, steel holds shape better too imo.

jim

What the hell are you talking about? :shock:

He asked how to form lexan, you bend the aluminum cause it's easy to bend, the heated lexan will bend and curve to match the aluminum you bent by hand. He's not making a 1:1.
 
What the hell are you talking about? :shock:

He asked how to form lexan, you bend the aluminum cause it's easy to bend, the heated lexan will bend and curve to match the aluminum you bent by hand. He's not making a 1:1.

He was talking about forming steel. Its easier (from my experience) to for the steel around a dollie than aluminium.
 
He was talking about forming steel. Its easier (from my experience) to for the steel around a dollie than aluminium.

His original queston, in case you didn't READ....

Has anyone tried to heat up a lexan sheet to form it ?
I am trying to put a radius in my truggy side panels to match the 1:1 version better. Any help or suggestions??


He's asking about LEXAN, not steel. Stay in school and always read the first post in a thread.... you might understand the question better.
 
here is just a suggestion. i had some inserts made for my feet made out of some plastis sheets. all they did was heat it up in water and mold it to my foot and it has held its shape for a couple of months now. not real sure where to get it or whats it called but if are interested i could ask my doctor for the supplier
 
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