Methods of bending plexiglass along the radius

Plexiglas is a polymer of synthetic origin. When working with it, you often need to bend it along the radius. For example, when installing a greenhouse, a good material for which is plexiglass. To do this is not at all difficult if there are tools and theoretical knowledge.

For bending, you will need a workbench, blowtorch and an iron pipe of the required diameter. The sequence is simple:

1. Plexiglas should be cleaned - washed with soap and water. Then let it dry for an hour and a half. It must be dry in order to avoid the appearance of defects and bubbles.
2. A sheet of glass is fixed in a workbench. A metal pipe is applied to the bend point.
3. The material is slightly heated with a blowtorch, which is why it itself bends along the diameter of the pipe.

There is another way, where instead of a pipe a nichrome wire is used. After cleaning and drying the plexiglass, the nichrome wire is attached to the edges of the workbench at a distance no closer than half a centimeter from the edge of the glass. After connecting to a power source, the wire glows to a temperature of 150 - 190 ° C. Glass heats up and begins to bend under its own weight. True, the exact radius is as difficult to maintain as in the case of the pipe.

There are also options for flexible plexiglass:

1. Small and medium pieces can be dipped in boiling water for a minute. Then you need to get them by wearing silicone gloves. Hot sheets bend immediately.
2. The glass can be heated with a gas burner closed with an empty tin can. Only a small gap is cut through the bottom of the can. Heating is carried out only where it is planned to bend. It should be heated to a temperature of 150 ° C.
3. You can bend plexiglass qualitatively using a soldering iron. First, you should conduct an experiment on a piece of plexiglass sheet. The soldering iron must be cleaned of tin before use.

The soldering iron tip is applied to the glass at the bend point. The glass is heated to its melting point. This can be determined by the characteristic cracking of the material.

As soon as a crack appears, the soldering iron is removed and the glass is manually bent.

1. To roll a large sheet of Plexiglas into a pipe, take a metal tube of the desired diameter. The prepared Plexiglas sheet is fixed on a stand above the pipe, and the pipe itself is heated from the inside with a soldering iron to a temperature of 100 ° C. Glass bends and takes the desired shape.