Doug Shepard
03-26-2007, 9:11 PM
After thinking over my warped idea for bending PVC by filling it with steam http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=54302, I think I want to take another look at going with a heat blanket. The steam idea would probably work to make it bendable, but controlling that limp piece of spaghetti to get bends where I want them seems like it could be a bit of a chore.
There's a couple of reasons I'd rather not go with the torch or heat gun approaches. I'm pretty leery of the PVC fumes risk plus both approaches seem like they're going to need 2 people to heat both side of a 6" pipe to do it. I have enough trouble squeezing in shop time without complicating it by having to work around the availability of a helper.
I started thinking about the heat blanket method again. One of things I'd like to try in the future is building some musical instruments. So I'd need a method for bending the instrument sides and using a heat blanket is one of the best methods for doing that. The purpose specific PVC bending tools I looked at a week ago are WAY too expensive but I started asking myself why the same type of heat blankets used for bending instrument sides wouldn't work.
So I started out taking a look at the heat blanket setup on
Luthiers Mercantile (http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Bending%2FHeating&NameProdHeader=Side+Bending+Blanket+%26+Timers). Hmmm - pricewise this isn't all that bad, but knowing how these luthier supply places tend to overprice some of their specialty tools I decide to keep looking.
MSC (http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/N2DRVSH?PMSECT=0002008605) has quite a large selection of heat blankets and the prices seem very reasonable compared to LMI.
Their catalog page (http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF?PMPAGE=4442&PARTPG=N2DRVSH&PMT4NO=0&PMITEM=03158060&PMCTLG=00&PMT4TP=*LTIP</p><p>)states: Heaters should be controlled by either a temperature control or a externally mounted thermostat. Watt densities from 2.5 watts per sq in to 10 watts per sq in have sheath temperatures from 150 degF to 350 degF respectively
So I looked on their site for temperature controls Ouch - even the cheapest are a bit pricey and everything I've seen looks like they're designed to plug into some sort of specialized rack and socket setup.
This stuff is quickly getting beyond my Ken (and my Barbie too).
But I head over to eBay and find this
Omega #6102 Socket Mount Controller (http://www.omega.com/Temperature/pdf/6100_CONTROLLER.pdf)that goes from 0°F to 500°F. The eBay listing isn't clear if the socket that normally comes with is included but it looks like I can order that direct from Omega for $8.
Would this work? Is there something else I'd need. If this will work, I think I could end up with a 6" PVC bending setup for under $100 and have it available for instrument side bending in the future.
There's a couple of reasons I'd rather not go with the torch or heat gun approaches. I'm pretty leery of the PVC fumes risk plus both approaches seem like they're going to need 2 people to heat both side of a 6" pipe to do it. I have enough trouble squeezing in shop time without complicating it by having to work around the availability of a helper.
I started thinking about the heat blanket method again. One of things I'd like to try in the future is building some musical instruments. So I'd need a method for bending the instrument sides and using a heat blanket is one of the best methods for doing that. The purpose specific PVC bending tools I looked at a week ago are WAY too expensive but I started asking myself why the same type of heat blankets used for bending instrument sides wouldn't work.
So I started out taking a look at the heat blanket setup on
Luthiers Mercantile (http://www.lmii.com/CartTwo/thirdproducts.asp?CategoryName=Bending%2FHeating&NameProdHeader=Side+Bending+Blanket+%26+Timers). Hmmm - pricewise this isn't all that bad, but knowing how these luthier supply places tend to overprice some of their specialty tools I decide to keep looking.
MSC (http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/N2DRVSH?PMSECT=0002008605) has quite a large selection of heat blankets and the prices seem very reasonable compared to LMI.
Their catalog page (http://www1.mscdirect.com/CGI/NNPDFF?PMPAGE=4442&PARTPG=N2DRVSH&PMT4NO=0&PMITEM=03158060&PMCTLG=00&PMT4TP=*LTIP</p><p>)states: Heaters should be controlled by either a temperature control or a externally mounted thermostat. Watt densities from 2.5 watts per sq in to 10 watts per sq in have sheath temperatures from 150 degF to 350 degF respectively
So I looked on their site for temperature controls Ouch - even the cheapest are a bit pricey and everything I've seen looks like they're designed to plug into some sort of specialized rack and socket setup.
This stuff is quickly getting beyond my Ken (and my Barbie too).
But I head over to eBay and find this
Omega #6102 Socket Mount Controller (http://www.omega.com/Temperature/pdf/6100_CONTROLLER.pdf)that goes from 0°F to 500°F. The eBay listing isn't clear if the socket that normally comes with is included but it looks like I can order that direct from Omega for $8.
Would this work? Is there something else I'd need. If this will work, I think I could end up with a 6" PVC bending setup for under $100 and have it available for instrument side bending in the future.