My newest prototype

I’m trying to design this so that it can stand up, with the shadow part as the base at a 90° angle, that way it can be reversible.

I’m thinking small clear acrylic struts on the attachment points for reinforcement?

20 Likes

maybe if this was one piece and have a little bit of acrylic in between the feet, so you can carefully heat if up so you can bend it 90°? might work

3 Likes

Here’s an update

He’s a bit ugly because I didn’t have the right kind of glue but i think the concept will probably work?



20 Likes

If you make it out of one piece (black) you can heat bend the piece and it will also keep it’s shape

4 Likes

Ohhhh I’ll have to try this! Would a hair dryer be hot enough to do this?

2 Likes

yes. Take your time and distance with a blowdryer. instead of just keeping it on point sweep the part with the blowdryer and gradually heat it up.

6 Likes

Thank you I’ll give that a try!

2 Likes

This looks good. Let us know your results with the hairdryer!

4 Likes

Sadly I don’t think my hair dryer is getting the acrylic hot enough

It snapped and broke :<

Do you think I’d have more success if I bought a heat gun?

2 Likes

I have a heat gun and it gets really hot…might be worth a try. I use it for all sorts of things.

4 Likes

If you search for slump bowl you’ll find plenty of topics were people placed acrylic over an inverted bowl, stuck it in an oven or gas grill, and let the acrylic sheet assume the form of the over turned bowl. Presumably you could try doing the same with a wedge to get your 90 degree bend. I don’t know how much stretch you’d get, but it may be worth a shot. You’ll find time and temperature discussions as well as a lot of debate about whether or not any outgassing of the acrylic is safe for your oven. Or you may just want to try a wedge and a heat gun. That way you won’t have to force a bend and snap it.

Here is an example of a slump bowl post:

5 Likes

you were impatient. Get the part hotter by applying the blowdryer for longer. The acrylic WILL heat up. When it’s too hot to touch you can try to bend it. If it resists apply MORE heat until it bends as easy as a warm mars bar on a hot day.

I tend to apply heat on both sides and have the part that needs to bent stick out of the table. When it starts to droop you’re almost hot enough.

5 Likes

(Nice to see you here again…it’s been a long time)

2 Likes

It can heat the acrylic up faster than a hair dryer. Try to get one where you can control the temperature. You don’t want to heat it much more than about 300F.

You could also try using a pair of rectangular bread pans in a gas grill. Heat the grill up, put one pan in, open side down. Place the pieces flat on the top of the pan (which is the bottom of the pan since it’s upside down) so the line you want to bend at is on the edge. The part that is going to bend down will be sticking out into space.

Take the 2nd bread pan and place it on top of the first pan. It will be resting on your acrylic. You can put a small metal weight on it. Close the top of the gas grill. Just check every 5 minutes or so.

As the acrylic heats up it will reach the point where it will bend and the top bread pan will start to slide down over the lower one and bend the acrylic pieces as it drops.

An 8" and 9" loaf pan will provide enough space between the two pans for the acrylic to fit as it bends down. The 8" pan would be the one on the bottom.

6 Likes

I use an older model butane torch that I did small brazing with. Here is the current style. Mine is about half the size of the one shown, so maybe worth searching deeper.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L8YPYQK/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&aaxitk=b119bf08755e7dd244a9150d24cd5015&content-id=amzn1.sym.552bcbb2-81a1-4e8b-b868-3fba7d5af42a%3Aamzn1.sym.552bcbb2-81a1-4e8b-b868-3fba7d5af42a&hsa_cr_id=4733358470701&pd_rd_plhdr=t&pd_rd_r=06c2cc87-a49d-4360-8814-0dd1f61f30ac&pd_rd_w=mJfev&pd_rd_wg=3Mco4&qid=1670646976&ref_=sbx_be_s_sparkle_lsi4d_asin_0_title&sr=1-1-9e67e56a-6f64-441f-a281-df67fc737124

2 Likes

Here’s a link directly to the timecode (2:19) in this video where I am using a $10 USD heat gun to bend 1/4" Proofgrade acrylic to ~90 degrees:

4 Likes

Thank you for the practical example. Sometimes I know a thing can be done, just not how to do it.

3 Likes

Just lurking and liking.

Happy Holidays, which reminds me that It’s that time of year to get the farting Christmas tree out. :grin: :santa:

1 Like