Acrylic Bender

[Matt McCoy]

Hey gang: I'm goofing around with a stationary acrylic bender I have, but I'm not thrilled with the results. Even with a jig, it's tedious and not very fun. I've seen a few YouTubes where channel letters are being made with a handheld tool and it looks easier (read: faster) to fabricate straight angles in the material. Would anyone have any comments or tips for me? Is there a go-to tool that is a current favorite?

This is what I have:

https://www.inventables.com/categories/machines/plastic-bending-strip-heaters

Thanks!

[Clark Pace]

Hey gang: I'm goofing around with a stationary acrylic bender I have, but I'm not thrilled with the results. Even with a jig, it's tedious and not very fun. I've seen a few YouTubes where channel letters are being made with a handheld tool and it looks easier (read: faster) to fabricate straight angles in the material. Would anyone have any comments or tips for me? Is there a go-to tool that is a current favorite?

This is what I have:

https://www.inventables.com/categories/machines/plastic-bending-strip-heaters

Thanks!

I love bending acrylic. Although if you are doing letters there is a learning curve. I make mostly cases, and it's pretty easy once you get used to it. I personally would not buy one of those. I made onemy self. Those tend to have a large heat element, and are harder to make tighter curves. You can build one for about $50.00

[Matt McCoy]

I love bending acrylic. Although if you are doing letters there is a learning curve. I make mostly cases, and it's pretty easy once you get used to it. I personally would not buy one of those. I made onemy self. Those tend to have a large heat element, and are harder to make tighter curves. You can build one for about $50.00

Thanks for the reply Clark. I probably won't be making channel letters -- I just used that as an example of the capabilities I saw. I already have the bender in the link, but was just curious if there was another method to the mayhem.

[Paul hardy]

check this thread http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?217938-Acrylic-Bender It's got a link to a small acrylic bender. We bought one like it and it works pretty easily for what little bit we've tried so far.