Shaping ABS sheet w/out a Vac-Table?

[cayman shen]

I'm looking at a sheet of black 3/32 (that's almost 1/10, right?.) ABS to shape around a 1 1/8 tube and cut to size for Yoda grips. I don't have a vac-table. Hairdryers have never worked for me on styrene. Will boiling work? Heat gun for paint removal? Or is this project doomed?

Thanks.

 

[Great_Bizarro]

You could try it in an oven, but start at a low temp and work your way up till you find the temp required to make it pliable. It will curl up & worse if it gets too hot. Fumes kinda burn the eyes too.

 

[Darth_Nickel]

I have done the boil, but it's pretty tough (just finding a boil safe container large enough was a challenge). It worked well for some of the smaller pieces I've done. I've not found anything big enough to do large pieces. For the pieces I did boil, they float, so you have to be right there pushing them down, steam, heat, not real fun... (perhaps not 100% necessary, but hey it's what I did). Then when taking them out, the cool down fast, so I found that I had re-boil many times to finally get the desired shape (which may be reduced if you let it boil for a while to get it good any pliable.) It took a while for the pieces to get warm.

 

[clonesix]

Boiling = 212 degrees. I think you need 300 degrees for the ABS. Your oven would be your best bet.

 

[cayman shen]

Is there a way to use the oven without a frame or something?

 

[motman241]

Use the heat gun, or a propane torch. As the plastic starts to warm, it will naturally curve around the tube. Just go slowly, so it doesn't burn or bubble.

 

[cayman shen]

D'OH, a TORCH. Hadn't thought of that--thanks. I'll make sure to have plenty of extra in case I screw up.

 

[chris08234]

Not the greatest idea, but you could rent a conduit heater from a rental store. They are used to heat and bend PVC conduit and could be used to heat up flat surfaces too.

 

[Darth Lars]

I have used ovens, candles and torches to bend ABS or styrene, and I have mostly messed things up. :$

I would cut the sheet into smaller pieces. place each piece on top of a 1 1/8" tube and place it all into the oven and let the edges droop down. Then cut out each grip from the middle of each piece.

 

[cayman shen]

I was able to cut styrene to about 1.5 wide (for the grips' length) by about 8", which let me stick it in a pot of boiling water, yet still gave me the leverage I needed to bend it. Is that kind of what you're saying Darth Lars, just in an oven? Think that'd work?

 

[NakedMoleRat]

I've done it on the stove top. Just keep moving it so that it heats evenly. And oh, yea. Use oven mits. Or else you may get some nasty little burns.

 

[cayman shen]

I tried it on the stovetop and it seemed to more or less work. I cut a strip, held it over the burner until it drooped, and then pressed it down over the tube. Cut out a rectangle and viola. a Yoda grip.

But...maybe I didn't heat it or smooth it evenly, because it conformed more closely to the tube on one end, so the final grip seems a bit warped.

 

[motman241]

Wear some leather gloves, and go back over the "warped" part with a torch (just to heat it up in that spot) and straighten it out. You can also use shaped metal pieces in the forming and shaping of your plastic. Like, flatten it out with a flat piece of metal, or make it curve with a metal pipe, etc.

Got any pictures?