Thread: how to bend large sheet of plexiglass!

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I've seen this discussed a little, but no one has ever talked about bending a 4x8 sheet of thin plexi into a semi circle.
Any idea ?

If I had something the shape I wanted.... then lay the plexi on top of it.. would there be any way that a HOT summer day would slowly bend the latex if it was our in the sun ?
Or if I did this AND used a heat gun on it... I just didn't know if the heat gun would do the job on such a large piece of plexiglass.

Ultimately, I want to make a TUBE out of plexiglass. 2 sheets of plexi would give me a circle about 2 1/2' in diameter. Big enough for a body.

Sorry Lynn, but plexi needs to get up to about 180-225 degrees to get a smooth bend out of it and a heat gun is too localized to do what you're looking for. you can buy plexi glass piping and tubes up to a 12-14 inch diameter in any length you could possibly want. What are you going to build, and what size pipe do you need?

oops... scratch that last sentence I should learn to read the posts all the way through, you should be able to find what you are looking for from a plexi glass manufacturer, you can look them up on line. Most will sell items to the public. Good luck.

A heat gun might work. Just slowly work your way around. I have used a torch held above the surface to heat smaller pieces. The trick is if you heat it too much it will shrink and then start to curl.

You may want to give the hot summer day a try, but keep in mind if the plastic is resting on grass you will create a green house that is remarkably efficient at killing grass.

For ease, I would recommend a bank of heaters so the surface is evenly heated making bending much easier. Plexi sets up remarkably quickly and I don't think you could get even bends with a single heat gun.

Edit: Another alternative you may want to look at is rotocasting with clear resin.

here ya go:

How to: Build a heater strip to bend acrylic for 30 bucks or less! - MP3Car.com

to create a bend...just make a jig with the curve you want using nails like so:


works on pvc too..

A radiant heater might do the trick. I have one that i bought from home depot for 60.00 that attaches to a propane tank. It Kicks out about 30k BTU. what you could do is either set the Plexiglass in front of it and slowly bend it that way. Or, you couldgo over it since heat rises. this would allow the heat to weaken the plexi glass and gravity would create your bends and curves.

This is what i have and it gets HOT! in fron of it and above when its cranked all the way up.

I've done this before by laying the sheet on top of a cardboard concrete tube then placing some weight on either side of the tube then using a heat gun to slowly and evenly heat the plexi where it covers the tube. The tubes can be found at Home Depot or Lowes cheap and come in diameters up to 12" and 3 or 4 ft. long. Laying the sheet on some black paper in the sun might help the process along but I think the heat gun will be needed to get it to the bending point.

Hey a cheap way to pick up plexi glass is go to your local hockey arena and ask if they have old plexi glass that they are looking to get rid of.
It has to be a indoor arena too.

Please I'd just like to say to all of you before you go and start heating up plexi glass with heat guns and radiant heaters - plexi gives off noxious and carcinogenic fumes when heated , please if you do this do it in a well ventilated area, and use extreme caution as plexi is also very flamable when heated also. I've had a great deal of experience with plexi glass over the years. It's a great material but just proceed with caution.