Plans for building a DIY strip heater for forming acrylic sheets. Thought this was pretty cool so figured I’ll share with the community!
make me think about 2 related very old posts :
Nichrome Wire :
https://plus.google.com/117750252531506832328/posts/XrRFJm8XJuR
oven forming :
https://plus.google.com/117750252531506832328/posts/TJmofUXK5or
to a great maker @Nedman
@StephaneBUISSON Cool, I’ve been considering making a small bender for some things I want to make. I like the nichrome wire setup.
My acrylic bender has been one of my most popular tools. I have found that I can bend almost any part I want. It works easily with up to .22" material. It uses a nicrome wire and a modified (added power control) HF battery charger that I also use for DIY woodburner tool I made.
Note: The vacuum port in the back of this picture has nothing to do with the bender. I got the basic design from YouTube and added the protractor to the left for precise angles.
Examples of bending boxes and brackets is here: http://donscncthings.blogspot.com/2017/06/dox-power-controller-module.html
http://donscncthings.blogspot.com/2017/05/wiring-tinyg.html
That’s really cool Don, so it’s just one strand of nichrome wire providing the heat for the bend? Does the wire actually touch the acrylic?
@Madyn3D_CNC_LLC Yes
… one strand of 20ga nichrome wire. Easy to get as its used for vapes.
… one 3/4 aluminum extrusion the width of your table
… reflective duct tape inserted into the extrusion for reflective surface
… 2 x 1/4-20" adjustment bolts on either end of the table with a slot cut in the head to guide the wire and set the elevation of the wire above the extrusion
… 2 x threaded inserts to hold the adjustment bolts in the wood base
… 1 x 1/4-20 bolt to hold a spring tension on the wire while it heats. Note: do not run the current through the spring as it will get angry, heat up and loose its temper :).
… various scrap woods to make the table.
The wire does not touch the acrylic but adjusted as close as possible.
You need to match the wire diameter with your power source for max heat:
http://www.jacobs-online.biz/nichrome/NichromeCalc.html
Thanks Don! I have all of that stuff on hand, multiple spools of nichrome from 30AWG-20AWG. I’m going to give it a shot, bending acrylic would be a huge benefit to the workshop.
@Madyn3D_CNC_LLC its one of my favorite tool and I made most of my OX wiring brackets using it. Some very complex. Enjoy!