Acrylic Displays 103: Joining Acrylic Sheets

(Author: Savey Bakarne | Article Views: 30 | Word Count: 460 | Published: Oct 2nd 2007)

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Every form of plastic can be reformed after heating. This is the reason while plastic is being used so much these days. As other plastics acrylic can be heated. On heating acrylic becomes malleable and again solidifies on cooling. Special type of heaters is available in the market with acrylic dealers for heating of acrylic plastic. They are known as strip heaters. Strip heaters only form straight line bends which is very useful in case of acrylic. These heaters heat just area to be formed. A strip heater’s heating element extends along the length of the strip and releases extreme heat whenever turned on. Acrylic can be bent at different angles by using a strip heater. The sheet of acrylic is heated till it starts sagging along the bend line. Accessories like jigs or clamps can be used for better results. Also thicker sheets of acrylic will require heating on both sides. If we want to form special shapes other than straight line bends then specialized equipment and jigs are required. Acrylic plastic should not be heated in the kitchen oven as that can produce explosive fumes. These fumes can accumulate in the oven and can cause ignition. This is very dangerous so should be avoided.
After the formation of bends sometimes there is requirement of joining the produced work pieces. A special type of solvent cement is advised for joining acrylic. There are two methods namely capillary dip and soak methods by which solvent cementing can be performed. Among these capillary dip is used more often. The constraint of using capillary dip is that both the pieces of acrylic to be joined should fit perfectly else results are not as desirable. The method of capillary dip involves few easy steps. Once it has been verified that two parts to be joined fit perfectly with each other then they should be joined with masking tape or should be clamped together. This is done so that both pieces hold each other firmly. That it should be ensured that the joint is in the horizontal plane else the cement will rum out of the joint. The cement is applied on joint carefully. The pattern to be followed while applying cement should be from inside of the box corner joint while moving on to both sides of a flat joint. Cement can be applied by using a needle nose applicator bottle. By using this bottle applicator, the cement will be able to reach till the end without leaving any area. This thin cement runs in the joint to form a strong joint. This joint hardens to its maximum extent in a day to two days. The second method that is dip cementing is used for thicker acrylic sheets.

About the Author

Savey Bakarne is a professional retail display specialist and teaches store owners how to gain profits from utilizing the proper Custom Retail Store Displays .

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