"Bending materials with a simple hot wire forming tool"

[CoryBee]

Thought some of you acrylic benders out there would like this read.

http://hackaday.com/2013/02/28/bending-materials-with-a-simple-hot-wire-forming-tool/

[shponglefan]

That's pretty awesome.  I'd be actually thinking recently about how to go about doing more precise bends with acrylic than can be had using a heat gun.

Thanks for posting this!

[Howard_Casto]

My problem was never with the bends, it was getting the plastic/acrylic/whatever at just the right temperature.   

[RandyT]

That's a good write up.  The spring is very important (as I found when trying this on my own a long time ago) and you can also use an old timey heavy duty battery charger, instead of a battery.  You want to be careful not to get polycarbonate hot enough to smoke when trying to bend it.  The fumes are pretty toxic.

[ChadTower]

What does the spring do?

[CoryBee]

What does the spring do?

When the wire heats up it flexes\droops, the spring pulls it straight again while it is on.

[ChadTower]

When the wire heats up it flexes\droops, the spring pulls it straight again while it is on.

Oh, nice.   

[selfie]

Nice one! The heat is very confined so bending thicker material can be a problem if the wire is too close to the material.

If you are looking at running a longer wire you can step up to an arc welder to power the wire. With a heavy duty ampage regulator the arc welder can run short wires too.

My problem was never with the bends, it was getting the plastic/acrylic/whatever at just the right temperature.   

Frequently flipping the material can help with even heating. Also check the distance between the wire and the material