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Esay way to bend/curve Lexan??

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JDXNC

Member
Joined
Jan 16, 2002
I have a little project going here, I wantto make a small scoup of sorts so my V9 will .. well "scoup" up the air blown in from the 120mm intake fan at the back of my case... as seen here:


hsf.jpg


Now the scoup:

lexan.jpg


only one of the curved pieces is seen here, but obviosly there are 2(identical) and I want to bend the straight piece to the curve of the other peices and bond them all together. Now this is all made of 3/16 Lexan.... I assume heating it would be the only real way of bending it? And what sort of "glue" should i use to bond the pieces together? If it works I will probably make a base plate for this with and 80mm whole in it and to line up with the screw holes to mount the whole thing to my volcano 9. I'm trying to make this look as professional as possible. Any input/suggestions gladly accepted.
 
I propane torch also works, just dont hold it close enough for it to burn it. Also you might be able to stick it in boiling water for a little bit so it will become pliable however I have never tryed that method.
 
I tried my gf's hair dryer, it gets too hot to touch, but it won't bend... easily anyway.
 
Get a pair of leather gloves and get it a lot hotter than that :p 3/16s is some thick lexan and itll take a lotta heat to bend it.

There is actually special bonding cement for lexan that youre supposed to use but nobody does... You can pick it up in the hardware store. It actually melts the 2 pieces and they rebond together. Pretty much welding for lexan. Though super glue and epoxies will work well enough if you already have them on hand.
 
JDXNC said:
I tried my gf's hair dryer, it gets too hot to touch, but it won't bend... easily anyway.

I would suggest something a little bit stonger..........perhaps a ........10 or 12 amp heat gun
 
Will take the pieces to work and use the heat gun we have there.... I know it has a rotary dial on it that goes up to 600C! that out to bend that sucker ;)

Any thoughts on how this might help? I know my temps are already quite good, 38C @ 100% load, but what the heck, its somethign to tinker on :)
 
Mark620 said:
BTW Lexan is very tough it can be bent even folded without breaking.

I know, that's why its the only stuff they use where I work. I would have used thinner but this is scrap stuff I got at work and it was either 3/16 of 1/2 :eek:
 
JDXNC said:


I know, that's why its the only stuff they use where I work. I would have used thinner but this is scrap stuff I got at work and it was either 3/16 of 1/2 :eek:

1/2" Lexan??

I want some!!!

PM if you're willing to ship a few of these "scrap" pieces to me for the price of shipping a couple 3"x3" pieces would be enough, but I'd be willing to take all you could send my way. :D
 
JDXNC said:

Any thoughts on how this might help? I know my temps are already quite good, 38C @ 100% load, but what the heck, its somethign to tinker on :)

It should help a lot. Most of that air thats coming in from the 120 mm is shooting right past the fan you want to be feeding it to. Once you finish your scoop you'll be blowing cool air from outside the case onto the heatsink rather than warm case air onto it. From what I've seen with other scoop mods like this, I wouldnt be surprised if the difference is 5C or more!
 
TheGhengisKhan said:


1/2" Lexan??

I want some!!!

PM if you're willing to ship a few of these "scrap" pieces to me for the price of shipping a couple 3"x3" pieces would be enough, but I'd be willing to take all you could send my way. :D

We don't get much scrap 1/2". well because its not cheap, but I will let you know if I see any scrap pieces big enough to be worth while. I would think it would make great stuff for topping a water block.
 
The thickest sheets I've helped heatware were only 1/4. And each bend only got us 4 or 5 degrees.
It takes ALOT of time ALOT of patience, and the right equipment. LEXAN/polycarbonate can be heat-warped, but it's a time consuming process. We're talking about a matter of 15 minutes per 5-degree bend.

So instead of wasting your time and energy, find a simpler duct application. You could always make an angular one.
 
I already had an anglular duct,. and it worked ok, but I want my case to get some fresh air as well... its a small case and with the window in the side there isn't really any other way to put an intake. Time is not a problem, I am very patient.
 
its easy

just put it in the oven 4 a few mins till its flexable

find somthing the same shape as you want (like a drain pipe or something)

and then just lay it around the pipe and let it cool and then you have a perfect bend - its easy ;) i did it at skool all the time
 
Slater3333uk - Nice idea; that one hadn't occured to me before. Any suggestions for the temp to run the oven at? I'm going to be undertaking something similar to JDXNC soon, although I'm going to be building a custom water rez for my new case. The oven sounds like a great way to do it (since it heats quite evenly), but how hot do you need to get it for what thickness of Lexan to pull this off? I don't want it to turn into goop ^_^
 
UPDATE! W00t!

Finally had some time... and violla:

lexanw00t.jpg


Let me just say... toaster oven set to 350F works like majic... in just under 5 mins I had a jelly like piece of lexan and after a few heats and attemps(after finding the correct template to maold it to) i got it just how i wanted. I guess I under estimated the length a tad but thats no prob, i will just shorten the sides a bit.
 
that turned out REAL nice.....


it didn't deform at all it looks like...

sweet..

How long did you let it cool? Also what did you bend it over? Like a pop bottle or something? Did you notice if it sprang back after it cooled to try and straighten out?

Also post some completed pics.
 
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