How to make it from plexiglass with your own hands. How to learn to make crafts from plexiglass with your own hands

Where and for what purposes it is not used - you can make hulls, front and decorative panels, used for “modding” computer cases, making three-dimensional figures, letters and much more. This material It can also be used for dynamic light installations (flashing lights, running lights, etc.), the light in plexiglass spreads directly and evenly, resulting in very bright and beautiful things that look impressive in the dark.

The main advantages of plexiglass are:
- high light transmittance - 92%, which does not change over time, maintaining its original color.
- Impact resistance is 5 times greater than that of glass.
- resistant to moisture.
- environmentally friendly, does not emit any toxic gases when burned.
- easy to process.
- the ability to give various forms using a hot air gun, without disturbing the optical properties, with excellent detail.
- mechanical processing is carried out with the same ease as wood processing
stability in the external environment.
- frost-resistant material.
- passes 73% ultraviolet rays, while UV rays do not cause yellowing and degradation of acrylic glass.
- stability in chemical environments.
- electrical insulating properties.

But there is perhaps the most important drawback - plexiglass scratches very easily, so you need to work with it carefully.

How to cut and process plexiglass?

Many people cut plexiglass using a jigsaw or a hacksaw, i.e. canvas. I don’t like any of these methods, primarily because a lot of debris appears during cutting, and the glass can be accidentally scratched, even though there is a protective film on it.

I want to offer you another, more advanced, simple and “functional” cutting method, after which not a single chip will remain - this is cutting using a hot spiral. This method Most suitable for thin types of plexiglass.

The advantages of this method:
- after cutting there is no debris left behind
- when cutting with a blade or jigsaw, plexiglass can be scratched or it can even crack, especially if the glass is thin.
- when cutting with a spiral, you can completely control the process and cut out any shape.
- after proper cutting, plexiglass usually does not even need processing, but if molten parts of the glass remain on the edges, they are cut off with a knife or processed with a file.
- in this way you can cut almost any plastic, not just plexiglass.
- none physical activity, sit in your chair and enjoy the cutting process =)

Now I’ll tell you how to make such a “cutter” and what you need for it.

First of all, we need a spiral, almost any will do, the main thing is that your power source can heat it. For example, you can get a spiral from old variable resistors, soldering irons, or buy a spiral for heating devices in the electrical goods department. The length of the spiral is selected experimentally, because They all have different resistance. For example, I used a spiral from a burnt soldering iron, with a diameter of about 0.3 mm, with a length of 7 cm and with a power supply of 12 volts, it becomes almost red hot (it consumes 1.5 amperes). By the way, we don’t necessarily need to heat the spiral until it’s red hot, otherwise when cutting the plexiglass will smoke and stink.

The spiral at both ends must be secured to metal pins, and the pins themselves must be soldered to the cable that will connect to the power source. If you want to get perfectly straight edges after the cut, then the pins need to be secured to something so that the spiral stays straight during cutting and is not bent like mine below in the photo. It is better to use a power source with an adjustable output voltage.

I made myself a design like the one below in the photo, I have already cut a lot of glass this way.

Cutting video:

How and with what to glue plexiglass?

Generally speaking, the technology for gluing plexiglass is not simple and is very different from gluing ordinary glass. If ordinary glass is glued with silicone glue or hot glue gun, then when gluing plexiglass this will not give the best results.

Plexiglas should not be glued, for example, with cyanoacrylate glue; the glass at the gluing points may turn white because of this, and this is impossible to clean. This kind of glue is liquid and flows where it is not needed, and it grabs in a second, which is also not very good. The only advantage of cyanoacrylate glue is that it sets very strongly.

For gluing plexiglass I recommend using dichloroethane, this is a clear liquid, highly poisonous, so no need to snort it! Dichloroethane dissolves almost any plastic and glues them together. You can buy dichloroethane in radio parts departments, or where they sell adhesives.

Before gluing, the plexiglass joints must first be leveled and cleaned, then dichloroethane is evenly applied to the surfaces to be glued and they are connected without allowing them to dry. Then you need to prepare a mixture of plexiglass shavings and dichloroethane, take the shavings or pieces of plexiglass and dissolve them in this liquid. The consistency of the mixture should be similar to jelly; the seam should be filled with this mixture.
For the first time, it’s worth practicing on unnecessary pieces of plexiglass.

I repeat, dichloroethane is very poisonous, they shouldn't breathe! Work should be done in a well-ventilated area or outdoors. After work, you should wash your hands well warm water with soap.

Plexiglas bending

Plexiglas is a plastic, it acquires plasticity when high temperatures, you can bend it 90 degrees, or give the glass a certain shape. The most difficult thing when bending plexiglass is to bend it in the right place, as planned.

Plexiglas can be bent in boiling water using gas burner, in an oven or with a hot air gun. I'll tell you about bending plexiglass using a hot air gun and a spiral. To begin with, you need to draw, or better yet, scratch a line on the plexiglass; you should not use markers because... After warming up, marker marks will be difficult to remove. Next, fix one half of the plexiglass on a flat table using a vice, take construction hair dryer, or hair dryer from soldering station and begin to heat the glass along the line we have drawn. The temperature of the hair dryer should be set to around 150-180 degrees - depending on the type of plexiglass. As the heating progressed, as soon as the glass began to give in (by the way, this will optimal temperature) we begin to bend, you should not remove the hairdryer during the process, you need to maintain the temperature and warm it up further. In general, I advise you to heat it better from both sides, with two hair dryers, if the plexiglass is thick, 5-6 mm. You need to bend in the direction away from the heat source.

In order to heat only the section of glass we need, I advise you to cover the rest of the section with something, just in case, leaving only a narrow strip open for heating and bending. Don't forget about the various cylindrical objects, metal pipes for example, which can be used as a template according to which you can make a bend of the desired radius, or even make a tube from plexiglass.

Using a hot air gun you can make various shapes made of plexiglass for small structures, it is convenient to make forms from wood, we grind, saw out the required form, put plexiglass on it and heat it with a hairdryer, the glass will melt and begin to fit into shape. After bending, the glass must be cooled smoothly and evenly.

Just the other day, I came across another interesting way. Thin types of plexiglass can be bent using the same spiral; to do this, we stretch this spiral in the place we need, at a distance of several mm from the glass, and heat the wire. You will feel the moment when the glass begins to give in.

The word "plexiglass" is used when mentioning polymethyl methacrylate sheet domestic production. The term “acrylic” is often used, behind which lies a foreign-made radical polymerization product of methyl methacrylate. Essentially, it's the same thing.

Plexiglas is used in roof glazing of greenhouses, in industrial and civil glazing, in various types of protective fences, as protective glazing for paintings, reproductions, drawings, in decorative design interiors and shop windows, trade and exhibition equipment, illuminated advertising.

Made from plexiglass bathroom accessories, bathtubs, shower cabins, parapets, window sills, railings, shelves, advertising signs, canopies, awnings, volumetric illuminated letters and stained glass windows, dishes and much more.

Due to such a wide application, as well as ease of processing, sheet plexiglass is used by many to develop their small business, making various products: price tag holders, stands for printed materials, for booklets, leaflets, menus, stands for business cards, display cabinets, storage units, stands for Cell Phones, pens, stands for jewelry and cosmetics, stands for hair dryers, plates.

Plexiglas has a whole range distinctive features : It has the same transparency as glass (92%), impact resistance 5 times higher than glass, density 2.5 times less than glass, requires less care when handling, highly resistant to external influences (moisture, low temperatures, chemicals), is a dielectric, does not emit toxic gases when burning, has high temporary durability (retains its original color and transparency, while transmitting up to 73% of ultraviolet rays), allows you to apply images, does not lose optical properties When thermoformed, it is processed easily, like various types of wood. Plexiglas is produced in various color variations thickness in the range of 1-24 mm.

Tools for work:
In order to make small products from plexiglass (for example, various stands), it is not at all necessary to purchase equipment and tools. When making plexiglass products at home, you can use more simple devices and techniques. So, using the force of friction, with the help of an ordinary, but very strong thread, you can cut out any, even the most complex, shape from plexiglass.
To begin with, you will need a spiral of nichrome wire, a step-down transformer from an old electrical appliance, a table, a ruler, and a specially sharpened knife.

You can make your own thermal cutter:
This cutter is a U-shaped wooden frame with inserted into it nichrome wire about 0.5 mm in diameter. The cutter operates on constant or alternating current voltage 6-12 V. If bending is necessary flat sheet in a straight line, it is enough to carry out local heating of the plastic along the bending axis using one or more straight lines heating elements, for example, nichrome string. A sheet 2-3 mm thick can be cut using a special knife - a cutter made from an old hacksaw blade. The cutting edge of such a knife is ground on an emery stone. For ease of operation, it is advisable to wrap the cutter handle (the second end of the blade) with a wire of the MGShV type with a cross-section of 0.5 square meters. mm, and then with insulating tape. The sheet must be cut on a table with a smooth surface. Applying a ruler to the sheet at the cut site, draw the tip of the cutter several times along the cut line, then, deepening the cut line a little, remove the ruler, and finally, using the cutter, without deviating to the side, cut the sheet. In this case, the edges of the cut workpiece are smooth and require almost no additional processing.

Consumables and prices:
A sheet of plexiglass, depending on the thickness, costs 700-3500 rubles. You can find and purchase the material in your region. Those involved in this business claim that it takes 15-20 sheets of various thicknesses per month to produce plexiglass products; the price of the product is 200-300% of the cost of the material.