Love my acrylic bender

[Frank Corker]

I knocked this up for a pal of mine who managed a hole in one, I needed something simple and quick. I wanted to keep the ball so that it was not glued into place so I made the hole 1000th smaller, keeps it nicely packed in place. I used 5mm acrylic, reverse engraved and then used my acrylic bender to give the whole thing a nice even balance, worked a treat with little distortion. Normally making a base for small stuff like this is just another pain so I enjoyed doing this as an alternative and a whole lot quicker to boot.

[Mike Null]

Frank

Great idea and very nice work. My bender spends most of the time in the original carton. I think I've used it twice.

[Dee Gallo]

Brilliant, Frank! Simple, elegant, functional - what's not to love?

:) dee

[Scott Challoner]

Very nice. I make awards like that quite often but for some reason never thought of it when a friend asked for a hole in one plaque. I think I may borow that one.

[Neil Pabia]

Nice job, I don't know anyone that could even hit a hole in four.

[Martin Boekers]

Maybe a "in the hole eventually" award!

More to my game. ;-)

[Chuck Stone]

my award says "Bogey Basher"

Nice job, Frank. Wishing I had a bender right now.. making a stand
that's 22" long and the torch just isn't cutting it.
(HA! get it? Torch? Cutting it? Oh, I crack me up..)

[Ron Bontz]

I was just curious how much material do you add to compensate for say a 90 degree bend on 0.25" material?

[Rodne Gold]

Ron , Depends what bender you use
A double wire bender (heats the pex on both sides with a hot resistance wire) requires no compensation , other types vary as to the radius of the bend , it's almost always a case of experiment. On anything more than 1/8th inch one *should* use a double sided bender as to get even heat into the bend and avoid distortion. Another tip is a to do a teeny notch either side of the edge where the bend is going to be so you dont get the acrylic "squeezed" out at the side of the bend. I always use the laser to score the lines where the bends are as well to make sure you bend in the right place and to ensure its straight. Lots of plans to maker a simple bender on the net , it's real cheap and they can enable you to really expand the type of work you do.

[Ron Bontz]

Thanks for the information.

[Tim Bateson]

Nice job Frank.


... My bender spends most of the time in the original carton. I think I've used it twice...

Mike, I can take that off your hands if you don't need it. :D

[Mike Null]

Tim

That's very kind of you but I think I'll pass.

[Keith Outten]

I purchased an acrylic bender from our Classified Forum a long time ago, I use it every now and then and it has proven to be an asset to my shop. I also own a host of metal benders that I use to fabricate sign hangers and other items that I can't purchase. I would love to get more involved in bending acrylic, but I expect I will need to purchase additional benders to accomplish more tasks. Sadly I don't know much about what machines are available and I have never had the time to do the research.

Maybe someone here could share some details about bending equipment and possibly some links to benders that are worth purchasing.

Can you use a heat press to heat up sheet material in order to bend large pieces?
.

[Tony Lenkic]

Keith,

Have a quick look in here........

http://www.delviesplastics.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=DPI&Category_Code=Plastic_Strip_Heaters

[Chuck Stone]

Keith, I think you'd want to localize the heating rather than spread it out like a heat press would do.
You want a small amount of material softened so that you can bend it on the line. Perhaps 1/2 - 3/4"
width.
I've been reading up on DIY line benders and tomorrow I'm picking up some parts to make one.
Neighbor's office equipment repair store is closing, so I'll probably grab a couple dozen copier
bulbs to use for the heating elements.

[Keith Outten]

Tony, that is the kind of heater that I have now. It works for simple angle bends but it is a bit slow heating on one side only.

Chuck, my inquiry about using a heat press is just a thought based on whether it is possible to heat large pieces in order to form them. Something in the neighborhood of making large radius curves or other projects that would require large areas to be formed.

Rodne mentioned a double wire heater that sounds interesting but I haven't seem them.
.

[Michael Hunter]

A heat press is far from ideal, but much better than nothing.

The attached shows something I did on my wife's range cooker.
I formed the stand on the cooker hot-plates, using cardboard to control where the heat from the plates met the acrylic.
The large tube was formed by heating in the oven and then wrapping it round a 4" iron pipe.

[Chuck Stone]

Chuck, my inquiry about using a heat press is just a thought based on whether it is possible to heat large pieces in order to form them. Something in the neighborhood of making large radius curves or other projects that would require large areas to be formed.
.

AH. Gotcha. I'll shut up now.

no, I won't! :p

Then yes, the heat press would work if you can control the temp. You don't want to
scorch it, obviously. And if both sides heat, that's even better. It will work faster
and distribute the heat more evenly. I do wonder, however, about the texture of the
press imprinting on the acrylic.. Perhaps some type of barrier might help (baker's paper?)

the double wire heater (for a line bender) will cut the heating time down considerably
and is less likely to cause surface problems because the heat stays on the plastic for
less time. The ones I've seen are really just two strip heaters.. one on top, one on the
bottom. But there could be lots of others, I haven't checked all that much.

[Frank Corker]

Wow Mike, shed load of bends in that one, good job

[Michael Hunter]

Yes, loads of bends - and I made three of them. One for the Queen, one for the Town Hall and one for the Mayor.
The kitchen was really stinky afterwards with the smell of hot acrylic and singed cardboard. Luckily the wife was away!