softening plastic

what would be the best way to soften this lens?hot water?i think a heat gun might mess it up.

trying to make a lense for these 2 holes;

thanks.

 

yea probably hot water, not boiling or you may warp the piss out of it

 

Will it take the "whole" Lens to do what you want???

My reason for asking is: If it will take half of the lens to do both openings, I would clean up the inside of your "3rd brake light" housing, take half of my lens, and prop up the whole shooting match in the oven,(turned where you can see it), and maybe try to let the lens "slump " into the opening................I would start with a pre-heated oven @ about 250 degrees, and go from there.................If that is not enough, bump it up in 25 degree increments, until something happens................Just decide if you have enough lens material to attempt it, although you can find another lens at N A P A, etc...... I think it'll work!!!!!!!

 

that's a neat idea stealth.i only need half of it but i have to use 2 pieces that are opposite of each other due to writing on the lense.

 

I know MEK will work to soften the plastic but make sure you use gloves .You can pick it up at Lowe's or Home depot.My 2 cents

 

Try hot sand. Put it in the oven at about 350 - 400 deg. in a bowl, and put lens in it after it's heated. I've done this w/plastics, but it depends on the type of plastic...........

 

Looks like a dead plastic lens How sad

In plastic shops, they use a long electric heating element to make bends in acrylic. They hold the plastic about an inch over the element, and wait until the plastic gets a little soft in the area and then make the bend. It's a long straight element similar to the element in an electric oven. I think you want to try to heat the whole thing very evenly until the whole thing starts to soften just barely enough to curve it into the shape you want. Maybe make a wood buck and drape the part over it and put it in an oven and heat it slowly until it's just barely soft enough to drape down over the buck to the shape you want, but not so soft that it just dribbles into a puddle. A little toaster oven might work great if it's got an adjustable temperature control.

I think a heat gun won't work very well. It'll heat it too unevenly.

 

should i cut it before i try and heat it?im going to start with 1 method and proceed till i find one that i like.i have alot of sand from this winter the only thing i dont have is the mek.the vent is derusting right now.hope i can start on the lense tonight or tommorow.

 

Do not use mek if you want to use the lens.
try it on one of the scrap pieces.watch it frizz.

 

thanks for the warning,frizz sounds bad.

 

How 'bout cutting it like you showed, and then experimenting on the scraps from the middle part with the X X dead eyes. That should give you an idea around what temp in the oven starts to soften up the plastic.

Use a fine tooth blade, like a coping saw or a scroll saw or a narrow fine tooth band saw blade. You could cover the whole thing with masking tape first to help keep from scratching it all up.

 

good ideas rusty,thanks i'll do that.

 

Boy, I'd have a look at some truck side marker light lenses and see if any would come close to fitting those slots. I bet you can find one that's close enough it just needs a trim and save yourself a lot of hassle.

 

well good news-bad news
good- i cut the lense without cracking it, and the housing is out of the deruster bucket.that things pretty cool,i got my e brake assembly in it right now.plus the rest of the tail light assembly lines up almost perfectly with the back of the vent.
bad-

need to find a different lense to use.
good-now i got 4 pieces to practice bending.

 

Frizz ? I have used MEK on plastic to soften and also glue pieces together .I do not recall the pieces frizzing .I would still try it on a small sample piece .My 2 Cents

 

Maybe instead of a round lens you should locate a rectangular lens. Maybe out of an 80's era Mustang, or something similar. That way your prisms would be symmetrical.

 

Don't you find that you get a hazing of the plastic? MEK melts plastic pretty quickly.

 

I did a quick check and found an interesting video on how to build a plastic heat bender, very informative. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkjsPrWT0Ic

 

So, did you sucessfully bend it ? I can't tell from the picture......Just not happy with the way the "flutes" line up?..........Elaborate, please sir.

 

cool vid.could come in handy with another hobby i have.

 

no i cut the pieces as big as i could and the pieces are to small to span the openings.i think im going to look for a long rectangle lense as per smschriefers suggestion.

 

Article on make your own lenses for tail lights in car craft within the last 24-36 months. Something w/casting resin, pigment, and other junk. Sorry to be so hazy on details but my memory don't work good

 

Looking at the shape I say you need to make a template from thin cardboard of the lens you want to end up with.. Make it so its a single piece big enough to cover both the openings.
Get some red Perspex and cut out your pattern. then lay it on a piece of wood the shape you want and bake it in the oven. It will bend to the shape.

 

sounds like the best plan so far.where would i get red Perspex?

 

Definitely do not use MEK (Methyl Ethyl Ketone). It will work ok for gluing pieces together, but it will DESTROY the plastic lens if you soak it in it (or even splash any on your lens for a quick second).

 

Check out the how-to's on this site...

http://www.alumilite.com/

Someone on here did a how-to about slumping his own lenses, use the search.

 

I must be wrong Thanks for the info .

 

This isn't the thread I was thinking of, but it's pretty damn cool...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48504&highlight=casting+lens

 

Here is what I did to make a custom lense. I used a heat gun and it worked pretty well for me.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=243977

 

thanks everyone,now i got to do some reading.