• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Plastic Forming - Help

D

DIYDavrious

n00b
Joined
Feb 22, 2008
Messages
6
Hello folks,

I'm planning to make some "facings" for around my fan, basically some raised ridge around the edge of the fans. I am planning on making a woodern mold and placing a sheet of pastic over it then heating it with a heat gun until it "melts" into shape and letting it set.

Assuming that is possible, what's the best plastic to use? It's got to be paintable, but it wont have any pressure on it.

Thanks in advance.
 
you can use several types of plastics for this... 1/8" or 1/4" acrylic would be my best bet because I have worked with it so much (I do lots of acrylic work for my other hobby: coral reef aquariums). You get acrylic up to about 220-250, and its like rubber. I would just suggest using cast over the store bought stuff which is usually extruded because cast is easier to 'work'. The vinyl that records are made from is very workable when heated up as well, and cheap, no? Otherwise, there are even types of plastics you can heat up under hot water, you can shape them with your hands, but then when they dry/cool, they are hard. PVC sheet (same as the pipe, but in sheet form) is a possibility. Very easy to form, but just be careful because its also easier to burn with a heat gun (dont worry, you see it start to brown first and you know its time to stop).

With any of them, just be careful and do the work outside or in a well vented area. Many plastics, esp PVC and some of the ones coming from China now, are SOOOO nasty if they melt/burn that they have to do brain damage. US made cell cast acrylic for instance, is very hard to melt/burn, and when you drill/cut it, it almost has a 'sweet' smell to it. I was drilling some cheap Chinese stuff a few weeks ago, and just from a hole saw, it started burning and made a black smoke that has to have been the most vile smell I have smelled in years. I later found out that the Chinese use recycled acrylic for this, and use some very nasty/toxic plasticizers to melt the used acrylic. So watch out... not all the stuff you buy is safe to work with indoors anymore. It used to be you could even use your kitchen oven for doing some light thermalforming... not so much anymore unless you get the cyro (or other quality US made stuff) cast stuff made in the US.
 
yeah, but in amounts way more than what you need. you will most likely be better off finding out what local plastics distributors you can buy from. Otherwise, I would also suggest tap plastics and mcmaster.com for online orders.
 
If you get close to deciding on what type of plastic you want to use, Google info on forming or heat moulding the plastic. A lot of the plastic companies have info on this for manufacturers who might buy their products.

Be careful to check on whether the plastic you want to use requires pre-heating to dry it out. Most plastics absorb some water and if heated rapidly, the water boils and forms bubbles. These plastics have to be heated at a low temperature for a while to dry them out before being heated to forming temperature. Polycarbonate and ABS are like this.
 
Thanks folks, found somewhere to buy the stuff from, I'm buying three sheets, as I've decided to use some as side pannels, not sure if I'll use it all but any left over stuff can be saved for another mod.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top