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.
Forming acrylic sheet oven.
This refers to the process of vacuum and pressure forming of two sheets of polycarbonate simultaneously.
This article uses a sheet about 1 4 thick so all times are about 10 to 15 minutes per step.
It is sheet temperature that dictates the process the end result being not just a better product but also decreased cycle time less scrap less floor space and reduced energy and labor costs.
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.
Attempting to create a smaller radius would snap the sheet.
Solid surface ovens and vacuum formers pvc film and structural plastics formers and high pressure laminate formers postformers.
Acrylic oven baking sheet aluminum foil timer felt for handling the acrylic and to prevent scratches tools for forming tools for forming may include.
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.
Modify the timing as necessary.
For thicker sheets it will take longer and for thinner sheets it will take less time.
I can t recommend for.
After the plastic sheet is molded it stays in the molds then the two molds are brought together of course under high pressure.
We manufacture high qualitythermoforming equipment.
Note that the minimum radius of the bend you create is 180 times the thickness of the plexiglass sheet.
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.
Plexiglass or acrylic sheet this system works well for small pieces of plexiglass in thicknesses of up to 1 8 inch.
Sheet temperature is one of the most critical elements of the thermoforming process.
Twenty four hours at 176 f 80 c dries most sheets.
May not work for gas ovens.
Twin sheet forming polycarbonate.
It is important to provide sufficient clamping of the sheet during the forming process.
Force the plexiglass into the desired shape.
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.
