We bend plexiglass at home - new opportunities for creative work. We quickly and efficiently bend plexiglass at home

The use of materials of various building groups in the arrangement of housing is caused by the desire of consumers to recreate in own home unique interior with minimal investment... That is why recently such type of material as plexiglass has been increasingly used. However, quite often it becomes necessary to bend it, and we would like to talk in more detail about how to bend plexiglass on our own.

The benefits of organic glass

To begin with, it should be noted that plexiglass is a sheet material (with high degree transparency), made on the basis of various polymers. It is thanks to the presence of artificial components in the composition of this material that it has received a lot of advantages in comparison with traditional glass.

So, for example, plexiglass does not break (resistant to mechanical stress), is easily processed (plexiglass is easy to cut, drill), can take the required shape (bends). It is thanks to all of the above advantages that the scope of application of plexiglass is constantly growing. After all, it is used when conducting finishing works(decorations, frames), when zoning space (partitions), to complement furniture elements (shelves, racks, etc.).

Sometimes organic glass needs bending, so let's look at how to make it at home in the most optimal way.

Preparatory operations

In order to ensure high-quality bending of plexiglass, the first step is to perform a series of preparatory work. Namely:

Clean the plexiglass from any contaminants and foreign objects (the transport film should be removed). The quality of subsequent work depends on the performance of this procedure, and if you do not clean everything properly, then in the process of bending, irregularities, defects (air bubbles), etc. may appear on the sheet surface. deviations.
Perform high-quality drying of the plexiglass, leaving it for a couple of hours at room temperature.
Prepare a template (for example, made of cardboard or plywood) for easy bending control.

Plexiglass bending options

Several methods are currently used to produce bending of organic sheeting.

Bending with an industrial hair dryer

It is the simplest and safest option for processing organic glass at home. After all, all that is needed for this is an ordinary building hair dryer and a flat plane. The bending technology itself, in this case, assumes the following:

The sheet material is laid on a flat surface and the place of the intended bend is marked with a construction pencil;
With the help of a hair dryer, the bend is evenly heated along the entire length to a temperature of + 80⁰С;
Bending of the sheet is smoothly performed through a right angle of the surface (for example, a table).

And it should be remembered that when working with relatively thin materials (up to 5mm thickness), the sheet should be heated from the side opposite to the bending direction. Whereas for thicker products, double-sided heating is justified.

By the way, in order to keep the bending radius as small as possible, it is recommended to limit the heating area. For this, even before the moment of warming up, in all places that do not need heating, cover the plexiglass with a heat insulator. Thus forming only a small open area for heating the material.

In order for the plexiglass not to unbend, it should be fixed in this position until it cools completely.

Boil bend

It is applicable for working with small-sized elements, and assumes their complete immersion in a container with water. Then the liquid is brought to a boil (over low heat) and a piece of material is removed.

To exclude burns, all subsequent work should be carried out in special gloves.

And the element is simply bent by hand through any right angle of the tabletop or stool.

How to bend plexiglass with nichrome

Considering physical properties nichrome wire (heating when passing an electric current), it can also be used to bend plexiglass. This is done as follows:

Nichrome wire is stretched under the plane of the plexiglass (at a distance of 5 mm from it);
It is passed through nichrome electricity by connecting the leads to a step-down transformer;
As the nichrome heats up, the plexiglass will begin to bend on its own under the influence of its own weight.

The main thing in this case is to exclude direct contact of nichrome and plexiglass, as well as to ensure the accuracy of the location of the heater (in a given place).

Plexiglas is a hard synthetic transparent material made from organic polymers. Plexiglas is used for the construction of aquariums and shelves, as well as glazing for greenhouses, doors and decorative finishing... Since this material belongs to thermoplastics, it becomes plastic when exposed to high temperatures. It is thanks to this property that the plexiglas is flexible.

The process of bending organic glass: 1 - warming up, 2 - bending at a right angle, 3 - bending into a tube.

The main methods of bending plexiglass

To bend plexiglass at home, it must be heated to a certain temperature (145-165 ° C), which will allow bending with minimal stress on the material. For flexion, 100 ° C is enough, but in this case more effort will be required. It should be remembered that it is not necessary to heat all the material, but only the intended bend point.

Do-it-yourself plexiglass bending is carried out in the following ways:

Boiling. The material is immersed in boiling water for some time, where it is heated. After that, the heated glass is removed from the boiling water and bends. This method is not suitable if you need at an even angle.
Using a building hair dryer. To do this, you will need: a building hair dryer, a large ruler and a pencil. First, a bending line is drawn on the glass, which is warmed up with a building hairdryer. After heating, the material is bent. If the fold line has long length, then this method is not recommended, because while you heat in one place, the plexiglass will have time to cool down in another.
The use of nichrome wire. The simplest device for bending organic glass at home is a string. Nichrome wire, when heated, heats the material. One end of the string is fixed rigidly, and the other is thrown over the roller, and a weight is attached to it for tension. After that, a voltage is applied to the wire from the regulated power source, as a result of which it heats up. It should be noted that about 1000 watts of power should be supplied to 120 cm of wire. The heating level will depend on the Plexiglas manufacturing technology. After the desired temperature is reached, the material softens, which will easily bend at the required angle.

Figure 1. An electromechanical drive bending machine is used to bend organic glass.

For bending organic glass, you can use a special bending machine (Fig. 1). Such equipment allows you to work with material with a thickness of 0.3-200 mm with unlimited width. On the market today construction equipment you can find machines with manual, foot, pneumatic and electromechanical drives, which work according to the same principle: first, the glass is heated, after which it is given desired shape and then cooled down.

The machine can be equipped with several heating elements that can be installed on different distance apart. Depending on the thickness of the sheet, one-sided or double-sided bending equipment can be used.

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Bending of organic glass of large sizes

The methods of shaping the organic glass as described above allow the processing of small sheets. But sometimes it becomes necessary to bend a large enough sheet of glass at home. For this there is a method called radius bending. For its implementation, an unpainted and not rusty metal pipe is used, the diameter of which must be equal to the required bend radius.

The pipe is equipped with clamps to hold the processed sheet and is fixed on a stand. After that, using a blowtorch, the pipe is heated to 95-100 ° C. At the same time, the glass is bent around it.

Before you start bending the plexiglass, it must be treated with a soda solution.

Durable and lightweight, Plexiglas is gaining more and more popularity in modern design and the construction industry. This allows you to easily expand the possibilities when creating artistic solutions, because by giving it various, even the most bizarre shapes, you can achieve a fresh and elegant atmosphere in any room.

Not only for interior decoration plexiglass can be useful, it finds its use in creating unusual interior items. Unlike natural glass, its artificial counterpart boasts one amazing advantage. The fact is that it is easy to bend, thanks to which, even at home, you can get the necessary shape to embody any idea.

What is worth stocking up on before the fold?

Before getting to work, it is worth stocking up on some tools that will come in handy for the described method. In addition to the blank itself, you will need:

a device for heating a sheet of plexiglass, such as a building hair dryer, gas burner or a blowtorch;
a shape or pattern for bending of the kind that you want to get from your workpiece;
hand protection - heating to a high temperature can be fraught with burns, so it is better to protect yourself and prepare silicone tacks or heat-insulating gloves.

Preparatory stage

The main stage in the preparation of the workpiece is to clean its surface. Any greasy or oil stains must be removed from the surface in order to avoid negative consequences for the plexiglass during its subsequent deformation, namely warping and the formation of air bubbles, which will no longer be possible to remove.

All these spots are clearly visible during a detailed examination, so it will not be difficult to remove them. It is often enough to rinse the workpiece warm water with the addition of a small amount of synthetic detergent... If it becomes necessary to remove complex greasy stains, you can use kerosene or gasoline - they break down fat molecules at a time.

Be sure to remember not to use hard abrasive materials when cleaning. They contribute to the appearance of scratches from which there is practically no escape. A regular kitchen soft sponge will do a good job of cleaning the plexiglass.

At the end of the wash, the plexiglass must dry. At room temperature, the drying time will vary depending on the thickness of the workpiece. It is accepted to proceed from the calculation of 1 hour per 1 millimeter of glass thickness. Only after the plexiglass has dried can you start bending it.

Before bending the plexiglass at home, make sure that you are satisfied with the size and shape of the workpiece. If desired, a plexiglass blank using a hacksaw for wood. Check that the hacksaw blade is not dull, because only well-sharpened teeth will allow you to obtain the required quality of the processed edge.

Plexiglass bending rules and process

After the preparatory work it is necessary to determine the place that should be bent. Be sure to draw a line with a marker along which you want to bend the workpiece. Let's pay attention to several points that must be observed before direct work:

Since plexiglass acquires the ability to bend under the influence of high temperature, heating equipment should be selected based on the size of the surface that you intend to bend. This means that it is not necessary to heat the entire piece of glass if you have marked one fold line - local heating is sufficient for this.
The area to be heated should have a width that is two or more times the length of its length. Compliance with this point will significantly reduce the internal stresses of the glass after it has cooled down.

The choice of a heating source also depends on the size of the plexiglass piece. So, for example, for thin sheets (up to 3-5 mm), a simple electric stove is well suited. For thick workpieces, it is better to prepare a building hair dryer, with which you will quickly reach the required heating temperature. It is 150 degrees for plexiglass.

In addition, it is worth remembering that such thick workpieces must be warmed up on both sides - this is necessary in order to prevent cracks from appearing during bending.

Let's move on directly to how to bend plexiglass at home. The process can be broken down into several stages.

The whole piece of plexiglass or a separate area is heated. To do this, for some time it is necessary to act on the material with a heating device, and so that the heated side is opposite to the direction of bending. In the case of thick sheets, the latter heats up the side on which the outer corner bending.
Reaching the required temperature is determined by eye - the material will become more pliable and slightly cloudy from the inside.
Keep a pre-formed shape or bend template handy, which can be either rectangular or circular.
As soon as you understand that the material is ready, it must be bent immediately, it is advisable to use the minimum number of movements and get the required shape as quickly as possible, without allowing the material to cool. If you miss this moment, then microcracks may appear in the structure of the plexiglass, which will subsequently begin to destroy the part from the inside.

The workpieces are very small size can be modified by simply leaving them in boiling water for 5-7 minutes. The material will have time to soften so much that you can give it a completely different shape with your own hands. A prerequisite here is to work in special gloves that will not allow the high temperature to damage your limbs.

By the way, it is worth noting that plexiglass can also be melted at home. Only for this it is necessary to warm it up even more - at least to 180 degrees. This can be done for polymer glass castings.

Molds prepared in advance can be different, but the glass itself in the molten state flows well and completely fills even the thinnest parts of the mold. Before casting, it is necessary to ensure that the mold is free of dirt to avoid both an unsightly appearance of the resulting casting and possible defects that dirt can cause.

After fold

To complete the instructions on how to bend plexiglass at home, you can describe the final stage, which is cooling the finished part. There is no need to create special conditions for this, it is enough at room temperature for a couple of hours. But it is important to insulate the material from possible sudden temperature fluctuations. Violation of the slow cooling can lead to the formation of cracks on the surface or in the structure of the plexiglass.

After cooling down, you get a new product that has retained everything positive traits plexiglass. Safe and beautiful material who received new form, can still very long time please its owner, while it took quite a bit of time and effort to create it.

Instructions

Take a sheet of organic glass that you are going to bend and dry it. Drying should be carried out at a temperature of about 80 degrees and the duration should be one and a half hours per millimeter of thickness. Otherwise, the moisture present will form bubbles at the bend.

After you have bent plexiglass, cool it down. Cool slowly and gradually.

You can attach plexiglass to wooden template right angle and fix it in this position. Only after complete cooling, separate the finished part.

Prepare the glass you need in size, wipe it with a soda solution. Roll a large sheet of plexiglass into a tube or round it with metal pipe a certain diameter and length. Attach it to the stand. Blowtorch heat the pipe from the inside to a temperature of 90-100 ° C.

After cooling, the curved glass will take on its proper appearance.

A little about the material

The named material is a polymer alloy with high strength and at the same time maximum ductility (provided that high temperatures are used). Plexiglas contains amorphous polymers, which mainly consist of unfolded and linear macromolecules. This composition of the material allows you to achieve its absolute transparency, strength and lightness.

New material that has significantly expanded the capabilities of builders and designers

The advantages of plexiglass used as a material for creating decorative elements interior are:

Therefore, organic glass is becoming more and more in demand among handymen.

It is worth noting that completely different intricate gizmos can be created from plexiglass. These can be pretty shelves and fancy shelves, small aquariums or pots under houseplants, semicircular partitions in the room or simple countertops. In this case, in some cases, a procedure for bending the plexiglass at a given angle may be required.

You can carry out this task at home, observing the basic rules for working with plexiglass.

Several principles of working with plexiglass

Before you start melting and bending plexiglass, you need to learn a few principles that will help you get the job done as efficiently as possible and without unnecessary waste of material.

So, to form a part the right size it is necessary to cut off a piece of material of the desired parameters from the whole plexiglass sheet. This will allow you to get an economical consumption of material at the output and a higher productivity of the work performed.
For work it is necessary to use only pure plexiglass. For this purpose, it is recommended to wash the material.

It is important not to use abrasive materials to clean the plexiglass. Only a soft cloth and natural drying of the polymer cloth. Otherwise, noticeable and unsightly scratches and stains will form on the plexiglass, which spoil appearance material and reduce its transparency.

After washing the plexiglass, do not immediately start bending work. Let the material dry. This will take at least a day in a dry room at room temperature. Or, dry it with a hair dryer at 80 degrees Celsius.

The principle of calculating the drying time of plexiglass with a hair dryer should be as follows: 1 hour per 1 mm of material thickness in each area.

When starting to heat the plexiglass in order to deform it at the desired angle, please note that the heat treatment of the material must be carried out from the opposite side relative to the bending angle. That is, we warm the top of the material and bend it down.
To bend the plexiglass, it is enough to use a heating temperature of 150 degrees, and to melt the material and pour it into the prepared forms, a temperature of at least 170 degrees is needed.

Important: for correct bending of plexiglass at home, you need to warm up an area of the material three times its thickness. That is, if your plexiglass has a thickness of 3 mm, then for its even and beautiful bending, you need to warm up such an area along the line of the supposed bend, the width of which will be equal to 9 mm. With this thickness of plexiglass, it will be enough to treat with a heat device on one side of the material. If the thickness of the plexiglass exceeds 5 mm, then it will be necessary to carry out the process of heating it from both sides along the line of the supposed fold.

After bending the plexiglass, it is important to let it cool naturally. Do not use water or cold air as a cooler. It can be harmful finished product in the form of cracks, bubbles, etc.

Home bending techniques

Necessary materials

In order to give orsglass the desired configuration, you can use one of several popular methods:

Heating the material with a building hair dryer;
By boiling;
With the help of nichrome wire.

Depending on how the plexiglass is folded, you will need a heating element(building hair dryer, nichrome wire or a saucepan with boiling water). In addition, prepare:

A hacksaw for metal;
Vise for secure fixation of the plexiglass plate;
Thomas for bending (pipe, bar, countertop, etc.);
Abrasive material for grinding the edges of the product;
A little water (to cool the material while cutting).

Preparatory work

If your future product requires the use of a small piece of plexiglass, then first you need to cut it off from the common canvas. To do this, securely fix the plexiglass in a vice and cut off the desired piece with a metal hacksaw. Do not forget to lay in the fixing points soft material, which will prevent damage to the plexiglass.

For cutting plexiglass, you can use both a hand hacksaw and a jigsaw

Important: use only a sharp hacksaw. Otherwise, the material may be damaged and deformed. When cutting plexiglass, cool the cutting line with water. This will avoid overheating of the plexiglass and its possible melting.

If the material cracks during cutting, don't worry. It can be removed with a little trick: treat the edges of the split with chilled acetic acid. Allow the acetic acid to penetrate deeper into the pores of the material by shearing the plexiglass at the split. Then squeeze the plexiglass at the crack. The material will fuse and the polished crack will not be visible.

Boil flexion

This is the easiest way to bend plexiglass, requiring virtually no additional tools.

Remember to use protective gloves to avoid burns.

5. Leave the part formed from plexiglass until it cools completely.

Using a construction hair dryer

If you have to bend enough big piece plexiglass, then for these purposes use a building hair dryer. Its power will allow you to process large area organic polymer material in an extremely short time.

Using nichrome wire

With the help of a nichrome wire carefully stretched under the plexiglass, it is possible to achieve bending of the material in a straight line without effort. To do this, follow these steps:

Video: bending plexiglass with nichrome wire

We bring to your attention small video, which will clearly demonstrate how to bend plexiglass using nichrome wire.