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jkustel

Bending Lexan

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Anyone have a good method for bending lexan. I'm working on some wakebaits and want to insert the lip out ahead of the bait and attach at the mouth. This will require a 90 degree bend. I've quick heated some lips with a flame and it really weakened the lip substantially. I'm guessing a slower method may be best??

Any thoughts.

JK

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I bent some Lexan for lips a couple months ago using a heat gun and the edge of my workbench. While making sure the lip was square to the edge I clamped it in place with the edge of the bench being where I wanted the bend. A sharp edge works best for this so you can make a tight bend. It was then slowly heated until soft enough to start the bend. Not sure how it will work with a 90 degree bend. The angle of the bends I made were only about 45 degrees. If you don't get the Lexan hot enough, or you bend it too fast, it may crack. You could also try bending it by sticking it into some boiling water. Pete (Hazmail) also posted how to bend Lexan using hot oil. He may have even posted a tutorial. You might do a search of Pete's posts and see what you come up with.

good luck,

Ben

Edited by RayburnGuy
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Thanks guys for the input. I used a vice and just cold bent a few. I was surprised to see how flexible the stuff really is-I'm sure acrylic would just snap like a twig. Thats why I don't use acrylic for anything anymore. As mentioned I did have to overbend it a few degrees to get it to settle around 90 degrees. So far so good-have about 5 hours on the lure and no breakage. (1/8" lexan). While I'm sure the slow heat method can work fine I chose to not alter it with heat fearing that it would weaken it more. Moving the lip out front and running the line tie dead center really made this plug come alive. I do like that additional 45 degree bend you placed at the bottom of your lip wooden feather. I bet it will really push some water. I'm running a very wide lip to get that "brickwall" effect so that this thing almost swims in place.....slowwwwwwww and wounded is what I'm after. I also liike the idea of running the screw eye through the lip to give some additional support.

Edited by jkustel
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I chose to not alter it with heat fearing that it would weaken it more.

The lexan will have more strength and last longer, if you use a heat method. It is a bit like annealing metal, it removes all the stresses. It is a molecule thing. Check out the link posted by Lincoya, of Pete's method.

If you are just making a few for yourself then what you have done is fine.

Dave

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Vodka,

Everytime I make a blind guess your always there to mess it up with facts. Appreciate that information as I do want as much of the inherent strength the lexan has to offer. I guess the heat will allow the molecules to reorient as oppose to fracture...something like that business....

JK

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Everytime I make a blind guess your always there to mess it up with facts. Appreciate that information as I do want as much of the inherent strength the lexan has to offer. I guess the heat will allow the molecules to reorient as oppose to fracture...something like that business....

That is exactly it, but I did not know how to explain it without getting techy.

Dave

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JK,

Vodkaman is correct. The proper way to bend lexan is to heat it. I work in a sheet metal shop and we bend a lot of regular and textured lexan. We take our 1/4" thk lexan and put it in 105 degree water. We leave it there for 20 minutes. We then take it out with gloves and put it in a press brake to bend it. It works like a charm. We learned this from some goverment specs we had dating in the 1950's. When the lexan is bent in the hot state and cools all the molecular properties are intact and there is no stress or fractures in or on the lexan. So bending1/8" or 1/16" thick lexan in hot water will be a piece of cake. Just some mindless info for you. I also attached a pic of a tool I found very handy to bend lexan, aluminum, steel and stainless steel. I have 2 of these and they are something that I would not do without.

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Edited by cadman
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