Help with "plastic"

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Hello all,

Bought some polished black acrylic from ebay , from which I intended to fashion a bracket for my mtb front light.

Although I have cored, drilled, and cut it to the shape I wanted, it's too hard and glass - like if I'm honest.

With me not knowing how such stuff is graded, could anyone link me to something a bit more pliable / elastic / less likely to fracture?


Thanks in advance :)
 
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I'm not too bothered about heating or bending, just something that has a bit more "give", so it won't crack or splinter.
 
If it is acrylic, it forms easily when heated.

Assuming it is the same as perspex, round about 100C to 160C

Put it in a low oven to soften, lift it out and drape it over a mould or form, it will hold that shape when it cools and stiffens.

If you put it in the oven over your mould and heat slowly, you will see when it sags to shape.
 
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If it is acrylic, it forms easily when heated.

Assuming it is the same as perspex, round about 100C to 160C

Put it in a low oven to soften, lift it out and drape it over a mould or form, it will hold that shape when it cools and stiffens.

If you put it in the oven over your mould and heat slowly, you will see when it sags to shape.
Thanks, but no chance.
Even while hand sawing it in the garage, with the door wide open, it was emitting some unpleasant solvent-like fumes.
I'd hate to think how bad it would be inside an oven. Especially in the house.
 
If it's small enough, you could put it in a pan of boiling water outside. I don't remember at what temperature perspex starts to soften.
 
If it's small enough, you could put it in a pan of boiling water outside. I don't remember at what temperature perspex starts to soften.

Unless it would make the cooled article more pliable, no use I'm afraid.
Yes, it is tough, but it is too glass - like in character for what I intended.
Chopping board material is probably closer to the elasticity I'd intended.

This is why I'd asked on here ; I lack the materials knowledge to be able to adequately spec / describe the material I want.
This is where online shopping falls down ; you can buy anything, but unless you can describe what you want accurately, you are taking pot luck.
 
Good call on the chopping board material by MM - they are generally polyethylene so completely inert and heat safe up to 80 deg. Available up to 25mm thick too.
It's unlikely for acrylic to smell too bad unless it gets scorched but it will exude phenolic fumes.
John :)
 
Not heat needed nor applied (apart from coincidental warming up during core drilling, and hand sawing).
 
I have made many brackets and even a custom shower tray from ABS ( Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene )

It can be bent using heat and welded using solvent welding "glue"

It has enough "flex" to tolerate significant stress loading without breaking or splintering.
 

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