hotwire

bending acrylic plastic with a hot wire

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• tigwelding
• hotwire
• plastic
• bending
• acrylic

[LongIslandEddie]

The music is the Paragons, a classic oldies group. Blondie was really responsible for popularizing this song but I used it because of the single lyric: "I'm not the kind of man who gives up just like that". It was descriptive of my need to succeed when set to task.

I served as more than just the detailer and the machinist for the company, I also have a great love and understanding of plastic. I'll just bet that you are glad to know that, yes?

Well, a year later, thanks for watching!

[cheeseboat15]

Interesting, Eddie!

[LongIslandEddie]

Cb15

It was an "on the fly" setup, I wanted simply to demonstrate the induction heating strip (wire) and how it can be easily set up on a power supply to create a tool for bending plastic.

The jig was assembled of scraps, the only part that I made was the ground end post (copper/brass). The power was about 30 volts@ 20 amps from a welder using .062 (1/16") NiChrome wire and a clamp spring to provide constant tension since the wire stretches when softened by heat. Thanks for commenting!

[LongIslandEddie]

This hookup took no more than 5 minutes and I was bending acrylic plastic with my Miller Synchrowave. Sometimes, the shit I do amazes even myself!

[boogerhead0]

Beautiful!

[cheeseboat15]

Thanks much for the specifications. However,the wire was heated due to resistance (NiChrome does not like to let electrons move at all)

The Jig is ingenious and when I first started watching, I thought "Holy crap! That's gonna burn the acrylic.!" Then you removed it and bent it and I thought "Damn! That was pretty slick. I wonder what else can be done with just the collet and collet body attached to a tig torch"

Again, amazing and I look forward to more

[zincdustdust]

great vid, shit music.

[mrepugnant]

Pure genius!