Is there a good way to make a crisp 90 degree bend in plastic pattern sheets such as plastruct? Example, if I wanted to create a brick chimney and wanted to wrap plastic pattern sheeting around all 4 corners?
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To create a sharp bend in styrene you would have to heat it, otherwise it would snap.
IMO it would look better if you cut each side individually. You would get a true 90 and you could better match the brick at the corner, sides to ends.
Pete
rogerpete the problem with bending something into 4 -90 degree angles is when you try to bend your last 90 whatever your bending the plastic with hits the edge of your first bend and you cant make A full 90 degree bend on your last side. Choo Choo Kenny
Originally Posted by Norton:
To create a sharp bend in styrene you would have to heat it, otherwise it would snap.
IMO it would look better if you cut each side individually. You would get a true 90 and you could better match the brick at the corner, sides to ends.
Pete
I agree on all points. I've snapped more parts than I want to admit to. You can try to use a heat lamp or blower to heat the plastic and bend it (I dont' recommend trying to use a candle or a stove), but that tends to be uneven and often to bubble or oversoften and distort the plastic. It is best with brick ,siding, etc., to just cut and glue, but you get good results if careful.
Rogerpete,
For a chimney, I would use .030 or .040 styrene backing and construct the chimney box. Than glue the plastruct brick material on each side extending each piece so you can cut off the overhang at each corner. This method works fine and you will have a good result.
Alan Graziano
What about a curling iron? I have been pondering this issue for quite sometime, for when I start this project:
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Apologies to you guys...I missed the "sharp bend" part. I'll need to curve it.
Rogerpete,
I have made cones and shapes shown on the house using .010 and .015" styrene. I have then covered it with styrene patterned sheets. Sometimes I have cut the patterned sheets into segments and glued them to the base styrene.
The cones I made were hand formed. They are not heat formed. .010 and .015" styrene is flexible and can be formed cold. You can also make breaks in it using a straight edge. In real life, steel is often " break-formed to create cones and hoppers.
Alan Graziano
In commercial shops they use what's called a "Strip heater". It provides heat in a concentrated narrow band so the bend is sharp. If the heated area is too wide, the bend will be a shallow curve, or a sharp bend with lots of distortion around it. I agree with Al. Build a box and cut the sheets to join at the corners. This will also enable you to properly match the "half-brick" to the "full-brick" so it looks like a real brick laying job. At the corners you see the ends of the bricks running on the other angle.
