Living Hinges: An exploration in acrylic and plywood

Made on a Glowforge
21

Acrylic is very notch sensitive. If you round all your internal corners it will be less likely to crack when stressed.

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Wow. That’s a lot of really cool exploration. Thank you. (I am wondering also whether that’s small enough that you might be able to rely on steam bending for the wood, or gentle softening of the acrylic for most of the bend.)

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Had not heard of annealing before, but now have found some references relating to acrylics and other materials:

http://www.boedeker.com/anneal.htm

and

http://polyfab.biz/annealing-acrylic.php

Also a really interesting technical paper about cutting, bonding and handling of plexiglass/acrylic:

https://airandspace.si.edu/rfp/exhibitions/files/j1-exhibition-guidelines/5/Acrylic%20Sheet%20Fabrication%20Manual--Plexiglas.pdf

Amazing what members bring up that sends me down another rabbit trail… or is that SQUIRREL :wink:

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Bookmarked, thanks!

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Would “laminating” the interior of the curve with a cloth backing help to prevent possible breaking? (Typically used for something that flexes repeatedly ) :thinking:

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Keep the suggestions coming. They are all valid and valuable.

I am especially interested in suggestions that would be able to use the design as is. Assemble right after the print and not do any post processing. It’s my “the Glowforge is the only tool I need” design philosophy.

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i think you’re better off using a heat gun to get acrylic bends instead of trying to make a living hinge for that material; it doesn’t seem like you’re using the hinge as a hinge but rather as a means of bending the acrylic.

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You were a perfect choice for a beta tester. Wonderful stick to it and incredibly informative!

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Great write up on the process… Love the way you go through the different stages and learn and change. :laughing:

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Thank you @marmak3261 I’m learning alot !

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Good point ! The cloth laminate suggestion was thinking mainly for the wood attempts (like some book covers with a living hinge use (at least I’ve seen some) since they open and close frequently.

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Really good work here. Great tests, especially for the size and radius you are trying to do. Thanks for sharing!

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Wow🤩such dedication!!

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