making a curved footboard/cabinet for childs bed and want to
make curved 'glass' doors. is it possible to heat lexan and mold or
will it scorch? Thanks

"abt" wrote...

is it possible to heat lexan and mold or
will it scorch? Thanks


Lexan is polycarbonate sheet, which is a little more difficult to work than
acrylic sheet such as plexi or acrylite. Either can be heated and bent to a
radius. They will scorch and bubble if overheated.


--
Timothy Juvenal
www.tjwoodworking.com

My limited experience is with making a small box for an aquarium from
acryllic, not sure it it was Lexan. Aquariums are built from many plastic
materials, not sure about Lexan.

I expect Lexan is able to be molded with heat. You need to control the
heat. I used a heat gun which is an electric heater element with a fan to
blow the hot air. The challenge will be getting the same heat across the
material so that it molds consistently.

Too much heat and you will see bubbles before scorching. Using a propane
torch is likely to be too high a temperature and could scorch or melt the
Lexan.

You could try making a plywood mold, laying the Lexan over the mold and then
gently applying the heat gun until the Lexan starts to drop into/over the
mold as the temperature reaches the point where the Lexan is flexible.

Tight radius is possible, but will take practice.

Dave Paine


"abt" wrote in message
...
making a curved footboard/cabinet for childs bed and want to
make curved 'glass' doors. is it possible to heat lexan and mold or
will it scorch? Thanks

"abt" wrote in message
...
making a curved footboard/cabinet for childs bed and want to
make curved 'glass' doors. is it possible to heat lexan and mold or
will it scorch? Thanks

Possible? Sure
Practical? Not so easy.

You can build a "mold" or mandrill to wrap the softened plastic once heated.
I'm not sure, but polycarbonate softens at about 270 degrees. If the sheet
fits in your oven, you could heat it, shape it, then let it cool in place.

I think you have that backwards as for working properties.


"Hambone Slim" wrote in message
...

Lexan is polycarbonate sheet, which is a little more difficult to work
than
acrylic sheet such as plexi or acrylite. Either can be heated and bent to
a
radius. They will scorch and bubble if overheated.


--
Timothy Juvenal
www.tjwoodworking.com

"CW" wrote...
I think you have that backwards as for working properties.

"Hambone Slim" wrote...

Lexan is polycarbonate sheet, which is a little more difficult to work
than
acrylic sheet such as plexi or acrylite.


Years back, when I was working with plastics, we usually worked with acrylic
and were familiar and comfortable working with it, as well as with styrene.
We weren't as familiar with polycarbonate, and it didn't work well under our
usual acrylic techniques. In particular, I remember polycarbonate having a
greater tendency to burn while cutting, and clog the blades, and it being
impossible to score and snap. I seem to recall it was difficult to flame
polish also. Maybe thermoforming is easier? which of course is what the OP
wanted to do, but I don't recall.



--
Timothy Juvenal
www.tjwoodworking.com

The polycarbonate is a bit easier to work if you're not used to plastics. Is
won't crack when cutting. As a matter of fact, you can cut it in a sheet
metal shear. It hot forms well and can be cold formed too.

"Hambone Slim" wrote in message
...
"CW" wrote...
I think you have that backwards as for working properties.

"Hambone Slim" wrote...

Lexan is polycarbonate sheet, which is a little more difficult to work
than
acrylic sheet such as plexi or acrylite.


Years back, when I was working with plastics, we usually worked with
acrylic
and were familiar and comfortable working with it, as well as with
styrene.
We weren't as familiar with polycarbonate, and it didn't work well under
our
usual acrylic techniques. In particular, I remember polycarbonate having
a
greater tendency to burn while cutting, and clog the blades, and it being
impossible to score and snap. I seem to recall it was difficult to flame
polish also. Maybe thermoforming is easier? which of course is what the
OP
wanted to do, but I don't recall.



--
Timothy Juvenal
www.tjwoodworking.com

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 07:36:02 -0400, abt wrote:

making a curved footboard/cabinet for childs bed and want to
make curved 'glass' doors. is it possible to heat lexan and mold or
will it scorch? Thanks


How far do you need to go. what radius. If it is in a frame you can
cold bend it a fairly good bit.

It also cuts and shapes well with standard woodworking tools.

Frank

abt wrote:
making a curved footboard/cabinet for childs bed and want to
make curved 'glass' doors. is it possible to heat lexan and mold or
will it scorch? Thanks

You 'll want to make a mold against wich you'll press the heated lexan
sheet.
The process doesn't require any extraordinary skills, as long as you
heat it over a large surface.
If you make many of those curved doors, you could build a heater for
that at very little cost - something similar to the heating element
used in this DIY vacuforming table http://www.tk560.com/vactable4.html
..
Using a hot air gun for a large surface won't be very good, but it's
still possible.
Depending on size, you might want someone to help you hold the lexan
sheet / press it onto the mold. Another usefull thing is to screw two
1/1" pieces of wood on the long edges, that would help you get an even
pull on the sides (you'll leave that sheet bigger anyway - trim it
after it's been formed).
I hope I've made myself clear, even though english is not my native
language :-P

Oh, and DON'T use a flame torch to heat it.

We used to vacuum form Lexan. Two minutes in the oven and pull. Not a
problem.
"klaatu" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 21:32:13 -0400, wrote:

Lexan must be baked at a low temp. befor raising the temp
enough to bend it. Try 150 to 200 degrees for 12 hrs on a test
piece. The reason is that Lexon has a lot of water in it that
must be driven off at a low temp. That is the same reason
that oil or gasoline make Laxan brittle. They replace the
water. Plexi doesn't have this problem.

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 21:32:13 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 14:39:48 -0500, Frank Boettcher
wrote:

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 07:36:02 -0400, abt wrote:

making a curved footboard/cabinet for childs bed and want to
make curved 'glass' doors. is it possible to heat lexan and mold or
will it scorch? Thanks


How far do you need to go. what radius. If it is in a frame you can
cold bend it a fairly good bit.

It also cuts and shapes well with standard woodworking tools.

Frank
I made a scraper for my pontoon boat from a big lexan ice scraper. I
put it in boiling water and it was easy to mold it to the shape of a
pontoon. It is just starting to be soft at 100c

Lexan must be baked at a low temp. befor raising the temp
enough to bend it. Try 150 to 200 degrees for 12 hrs on a test
piece. The reason is that Lexon has a lot of water in it that
must be driven off at a low temp. That is the same reason
that oil or gasoline make Laxan brittle. They replace the
water. Plexi doesn't have this problem.

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 13:47:08 GMT, "Edwin Pawlowski"
wrote:

You can build a "mold" or mandrill to wrap the softened plastic once heated.

If you use a heated mandrill, it'll bite you.



Avoid Lexan / polycarbonate and stick with acrylic / Lucite / Plexiglass
/ Perspex. Much easier to work with - or rather not "easier", but much
more likely to be successful.