Where and for what purposes it is not used - you can make hulls out of them, front and decorative panels, use for "modding" computer cases, make three-dimensional figures, letters and much more. This material can also be used for light-dynamic installations (flashing lights, running lights, etc.), the light in plexiglass spreads directly and evenly, due to which very bright and beautiful things that look spectacular in the dark.
The main advantages of plexiglass are:
- high light transmittance - 92%, which does not change over time, keeping its original color.
- impact resistance is 5 times higher than that of glass.
- resistant to moisture.
- environmentally friendly, does not emit any poisonous gases during combustion.
- easy to handle.
- the ability to give a variety of shapes using a hot air gun, without disturbing the optical properties, with excellent detail.
- mechanical processing is carried out as easily as wood processing
stability in the external environment.
- frost-resistant material.
- transmits 73% of ultraviolet rays, while UV rays do not cause yellowing and degradation of acrylic glass.
- resistance in chemical environments.
- electrical insulating properties.
But there is perhaps the most main drawback- plexiglass is very easy to scratch, so you need to work with it carefully.
How to cut and process plexiglass?
Many people cut plexiglass with a jigsaw or a hacksaw for metal, i.e. canvas. I do not like any of these methods, primarily due to the fact that a lot of debris appears during cutting, and the glass can be accidentally scratched, although there is a protective film glued to it.
I want to offer you another, more advanced, simple and "functional" method of cutting, after which not a single chip will remain - this is cutting with a hot spiral. This method most suitable for thin types of plexiglass.
The advantages of this method:
- no debris remains after cutting
- when cutting with a blade or jigsaw, the plexiglass can be scratched or even cracked, especially if the glass is thin.
- when cutting with a spiral, you can completely control the process, cut any shapes.
- after correct cutting, plexiglass usually does not even need processing, but if melted glass parts remain at 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.
- no physical activity, sit in your chair and enjoy the cutting process =)
Now I will tell you how to make such a "cutter" and what is needed for this.
First of all, we need a spiral, almost any will do, the main thing is that your power source can heat it up. You can get a spiral, for example, from old variable resistors, soldering irons, or buy a spiral for heating devices in the electrical department. The length of the spiral is selected experimentally, because resistance is different for all of them. For example, I used a spiral from a burnt-out soldering iron, with a diameter of about 0.3 mm, with a length of 7 cm and when powered by 12 volts, it heats up almost to red (consumes 1.5 amperes). By the way, we do not have to heat the spiral to red, otherwise the plexiglass will smoke and stink when cutting.
The spiral at both ends must be fixed on metal pins, and the pins themselves must be soldered to the cable, which will be connected to the power source. If you want to get perfectly smooth edges after the cut, then the pins must be fixed on something so that the spiral is kept straight during cutting and is not bent like mine below in the photo. It is better to use a power supply with an adjustable output voltage.
I made myself such a structure as in the photo below, I cut a lot of glass in this way.
Cutting video:
How and with what to glue plexiglass?
Generally speaking, the technology of gluing plexiglass is not simple and is very different from gluing ordinary glass... If ordinary glass is glued with silicone glue or a 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, it is impossible to clean it. Such glue is liquid, and flows where it is not necessary, and it grasps in a second, which is also not very good. The only plus of cyanoacrylate glue is that it grabs very strongly.
For gluing plexiglass, I recommend using dichloroethane, it is a transparent liquid, highly toxic, so you don't need to smell it! Dichloroethane dissolves almost any plastic and sticks them together. You can buy dichloroethane in the radio parts departments, or where adhesives are sold.
Before gluing, the joints of the plexiglass must first be leveled and cleaned, then dichloroethane is evenly applied to the surfaces to be glued and, without allowing them to dry, they are connected. Then you need to prepare a mixture of plexiglass shavings and dichloroethane, take shavings or pieces of plexiglass and dissolve them in this liquid. The consistency of the mixture should be similar to jelly, the seam must be filled with this mixture.
For the first time, it is worth practicing on unnecessary pieces of plexiglass.
I repeat, dichloroethane is very toxic, they shouldn't breathe! Work should be done in a well-ventilated area or outdoors. After work, you need to wash your hands well in warm water with soap.
Plexiglas bending
Plexiglas is plastic, it acquires plasticity when high temperatures, you can bend it at 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 the oven or with a hot air gun. I will tell you about the bending of plexiglass using a hot air gun and a spiral. To begin with, you need to draw, or it is better to scribble a line on the plexiglass, you should not use markers because after warming up, it will be difficult to remove the traces of the marker. Next, we fix one half of the plexiglass on a flat table using a vise, take a hair dryer, or a hair dryer from a soldering station and start heating the glass along the line we have drawn. The temperature of the hair dryer should be set in the region of 150-180 degrees - it depends on the type of plexiglass. In the course of warming up, as soon as the glass began to give in, (by the way, this will be optimal temperature) we begin to bend, in the process, you should not remove the hair dryer, you need to maintain the temperature and warm it up further. In general, I advise you to warm it on both sides, with two hair dryers, if the plexiglass is thick, 5-6 mm. You need to bend it 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. Do not forget about the various cylindrical objects, metal pipes for example, which can be used as a template by which you can make a bend of the desired radius, or even make a tube of plexiglass.
Using a hot air gun, you can make various forms made of plexiglass for small structures, it is convenient to make shapes from a piece of wood, we grind, cut out the desired shape, put plexiglass on it and heat it with a hairdryer, the glass will melt and begin to fit in the shape. After bending, the glass must be cooled smoothly and evenly.
Just the other day, I stumbled upon another interesting way. Subtle views Plexiglas can be bent using the same spiral, for this we pull this spiral in the place we need, at a distance of several mm from the glass, and heat the wire. The moment when the glass begins to give way, you will feel.
The video course describes in detail how to make transparent plexiglass supports for booklets, jewelry, cosmetics, cell phones, wallets, shoes and other products made of plexiglass (acrylic). And also transparent holders for price tags - price holders. You will find out what tools (with a minimum price) and materials are needed for this, where to get them and how to process them.
"How to make money on Plexiglas products"
The video course describes in detail how to make transparent plexiglass supports for booklets, jewelry, cosmetics, cell phones, wallets, shoes and other products made of plexiglass (acrylic). And also transparent holders for price tags - price holders.
You will find out what tools (with a minimum price) and materials are needed for this, where to get them and how to process them.
What can be made of plexiglass?
WATCH A VIDEO!
Does anyone need these gizmos and is it possible to make money on them?
WATCH A VIDEO!
Here are approximate calculations of the cost of products and the price for the customer:
- 1 sq.m. PVC transparent 0.8 mm costs 163 rubles.
- 1 sq.m. Plexiglas 1.5 mm. costs 378 rubles.
- Price tag 3 cm by 5 cm.
- The total area of the material is 0.003 sq. The cost price is 0.57 rubles.
- Price for a client 5-6 rubles:
- Wallet stand (or other product).
- The total area of the material is 0.023 sq. The cost price is 8.7 rubles. Price: 52 rub.
- Mobile phone stand.
- The total area of the material is 0.015 sq. The cost price is 5.7 rubles. Price: 33 rub.
Prices for materials and prices for finished goods may vary depending on where you live. But all the same, you saw that you can earn money by making such products. Moreover, such products are ordered in tens, hundreds, and sometimes thousands.
You can make such products yourself:
What's inside the course?
You will see a menu:
And 12 video lessons lasting 1 hour 10 minutes:
Lesson 1. Materials and tools:
Lesson 2. Where to get materials:
Lesson 3. How to make the markup and calculate the materials correctly:
Lesson 4. How to properly cut plastics at home:
Lesson 5. How to make a plastic bending device:
Lesson 6. How to bend the head correctly:
Lesson 7. Choosing a transformer:
Lesson 8. Making a price tag (price tag):
Lesson 9. Making stands for wallets:
Lesson 10. We outline the workpieces and models in the CorelDraw program:
Lesson 11. Making beautiful numbers, tokens, tags:
Present!
Lesson on making decorative mirrors. How to make a plastic mirror. + Ready-made mirror templates
Now it has become fashionable to decorate the interior with curly mirrors. Unlike glass mirrors, plastic mirrors are lightweight and safe. Even if a child or you miss or accidentally hit such a mirror, the risk of injury is minimal.
Decorative mirrors give the room great view and volume. Moreover, any of your fantasies can be realized. Mirrors can be made in any shape and size.
Will the owners of online stores selling mirrors share the secret of their manufacture? Unlikely!
If you are interested in the technology of making interior mirrors and small mirror fridge magnets, then you will learn about this from my video tutorial.
For buyers of a video course on Plexiglas I give this video lesson and ready-made mirror templates for free!
Lesson 12. Making interior mirrors from plastic:
Mirror templates that you will receive as a gift!
At home, cutting of plexiglass is required very rarely. Typically, this work is carried out by specialists in the workshops. However, this skill can be useful in everyday life. Indeed, sometimes there is a desire to make a vase, an aquarium or a small decorative table with your own hands. So, the subject of our review is plexiglass. How to cut such material?
Material features
Not everyone knows what plexiglass is. How to cut it at home and what features does it have? First of all, plexiglass possesses performance characteristics durable plastic, and also looks like ordinary glass. This material is transparent. However, unlike glass, it does not break.
Thanks to these properties, plexiglass has become popular. How to cut it in everyday life? In this case, not everything is so simple. The material itself is quite durable. Plexiglass is widely used. Indeed, in some cases, using ordinary glass is dangerous and problematic. The material can be processed by almost everyone available methods... However, there are some nuances that should be considered when working with plexiglass.
Plexiglas laser cutting
How are plexiglass products made in production? Typically, a laser is used to cut this material. This is the most convenient method. However, it is simply impossible to apply it at home. Thanks to the thin laser, a precise incision can be made. In this way, even small parts future products. but this method cutting has certain limitations: laser ray creates high stress on the material. In the future, it is simply impossible to glue the individual parts together.
Plexiglass products can only be cut in an industrial environment. If necessary, you should seek assistance from the appropriate organization. The main thing is to make all the drawings in advance. It is also worth picking up an experienced craftsman.
Plexiglass: what to cut?
In some cases, the use of a saw is allowed. It can be tape or disk. The last type of saw is designed for straight cuts. In this case, the seam is neat and clear. As far as it is concerned, it is suitable for the manufacture of blanks. Cutting clear edges with such a tool is unlikely to work. To make the surface smoother, it is recommended to use a cutter.
It is worth noting that this method of cutting plexiglass can be used not only in production, but also at home.
Special equipment
Plexiglas products are cut with a high-speed tool. This allows you to get an even and high-quality seam. The speed of such equipment can be up to 4 thousand revolutions per minute. After that, the plexiglass undergoes additional mechanical processing.
However, do not forget that this material has low thermal conductivity. Cutting at high speed can quickly heat up the edges. Some instruments have a Plexiglas mode.
A hacksaw for metal will help out
If you need to cut plexiglass at home, you can use This is the most affordable tool. However, this method has a serious drawback: the cut site remains rough and rough. To eliminate such a defect, it is required additional processing... To smooth the cut site, sandpaper or a file is usually used.
We cut plexiglass with a cutter
The methods for cutting plexiglass at home can be very different. Someone uses a hacksaw for metal, and someone uses a cutter. Basically, this tool is a saw with just one tooth. To cut the plexiglass, you need a metal ruler of a certain length. This tool must be placed on the sheet of material where you want to split it. After that, you need to hold the cutter along the ruler.
When the cut reaches ½ the thickness of the sheet, you can stop and then gently break the material. If defects have appeared, then they can be smoothed out. To do this, sandpaper the edge of the plexiglass. If desired, the cutter can be made independently from an emery cloth. Some experienced craftsmen pieces of glass are used to cut plexiglass. This method requires reliable protection for hands.
Using simple tools
If cutting plexiglass with a laser is an expensive pleasure for you, then you can cut the material with scrap materials. Very often, a nichrome thread is used for such work. Before starting cutting, it must be heated. This will require a transformer with a power of 24 watts.
As a result of simple manipulations, you can carefully cut the plexiglass. When heated, it simply melts the material. This allows you not only to cut the plexiglass, but also to cut out curly details.
Also, some craftsmen use this option is suitable for cutting plexiglass at home. A screwdriver is usually pressed against the material with the butt end. In this case, the tool must be held by the very edge of the handle. After that, the screwdriver blade is heated with a soldering iron, the power of which is 25 watts.
The plexiglass should start melting. The tip of a screwdriver simply draws a line where the cut should be. After that, the plexiglass breaks easily. To get a straight line, you can use a metal ruler or a hacksaw blade without teeth.
In addition to the above methods, you can cut the plexiglass with a cutter or circular saw. The blade thickness in this case should be no more than 1 mm. It is worth considering that smoke may appear during the cutting process. In this case, the edges of the material often foam due to the increase in temperature as a result of friction. This can be avoided. It is necessary to cool the working surface of the tool.
A material such as plexiglass is widespread and used in many areas.
human activities. It is used in roofing glazing of modern greenhouses; the material is also in great demand in industrial and domestic glazing, different kinds protective fence also made using this durable material, production is also not complete without durable acrylic.
In stores you can find huge selection products made of plexiglass, these are:
- bathroom accessories;
- shower cabins;
- kitchen aprons;
- all kinds of shelves;
- advertising posters;
- boxes;
- awnings, canopies;
- tableware;
- stained glass windows and various other elements.
Products made from this durable transparent material in offices, in advertising, trade, these are price holders, stands for various products, holders for menus, stands for business cards, stands for mobile phones, holders for jewelry and cosmetic products.
It is convenient to make products made of acrylic and plexiglass, because it is quite simple to process the material, there is no need to use special tools... It is thanks to these characteristics that plexiglass is actively used in the manufacture of various decorative elements, both on a production scale and with your own hands.
DIY acrylic products
If you wish, you can independently, without special equipment, make a plexiglass product at home. Making such an item will require you to have this very acrylic, you may also need a cutter or jigsaw for cutting, prepare a special glue based on acrylic chips for gluing. If you are not going to work with a new plexiglass element, then you may need to complete the stage of polishing, grinding, in order to remove the existing damage, scratches from the surface of the material.
Plexiglass phone stand
A product such as a phone stand can be made at home. You can come up with custom design, for example, by adding a round or other geometric element. Below we will consider what is required to make such a stand, and we will directly describe the manufacturing process.
You will need:
- wire, it should be nichrome, 0.5-1mm thick, length within 30-50cm;
- 12V power supply;
- a flat board, a furniture board is suitable;
- plexiglass.
The peculiarity of the selected material lies in the fact that products from plexiglass and even acrylic can be made with a smooth bend. In order to make a homemade cutter, you need to fix the prepared wire along the flat end of the board. On the one hand, you can hook it onto the self-tapping screw, on the other hand, it is worth providing a "tensioner", this is necessary in order to exclude the possibility of the wire sagging when it is heated. As a "tensioner", you can use the spring available in the "farm".
When the thread is fixed, we connect it to a power source, it is better if it is with the ability to adjust the power. At this stage, you have already finished a product for bending plexiglass.
Now you need to prepare the workpiece of the desired size. Process its ends with sandpaper, this will be the first stage. In order to get a really neat edge, use GOI paste and a soft piece of matter at the final stage of processing. After processing the ends, your workpiece should have neat edges, without grooves and snags.
Next, you need to carefully bend the future stand. It is necessary to place the part on the edge of the bending board, the fold line should be located directly above the tensioned wire. Turn on a heating element and wait about five minutes. When the workpiece is warmed up, start bending.
Important!!! You need to bend the workpiece in the opposite direction from the heater.
Performing each new fold, give the work piece time to cool down, so to speak, fix the action. As a result of such simple manipulations, you can independently make your own acrylic phone holder with your own design.
Money earned by one's own labor always evokes a feeling of pride (it turned out to be a product that was useful to people) and joy (the plan came true, it was possible to please both myself and my family with the long-awaited profit). There are many options for making money. There are things that are always in demand, as they are necessary in Everyday life... That's exactly what they are hot commodity... Why not try to mend production of plexiglass products? They can really captivate with their charming appearance and will sell easily.
What can be made of plexiglass?
Nice coasters for plates, aquariums for fish for private customers, strict price holders, transparent or original colored trays, on which goods in store windows look so advantageous, or jewelry, perfumes, accessories and shoes for shops. This is what you need to focus on when setting up production.
For industrial enterprises and small firms order in documents is a sure guarantee of accurate work. If they are stored in beautiful transparent binder folders plexiglass, and even made in different colors, to make them easier to find, such products will continue to be popular in this direction.
Numbers, tags, lottery drums and plexiglass tokens v in public places(theaters, restaurants, entertainment establishments) create the image of the organization, because they start not only with hangers, but also with numbers. Many self-respecting shops and businesses will gladly purchase the necessary little things for different needs. Plexiglass Is, in fact, hard material, which was created on the basis of polymers. It is obtained by the most complex chemical reactions from acrylic acid. This is where this name came from. In other words, the material is called plexiglase. The prefix "org" in the word "plexiglass" means organic origin, since the production of the material is entirely based on the reactions of organic chemistry.
Plexiglas is very unpretentious. It is easy to handle: sawing, cutting, planing and sharpening to create the desired shape. Devices and tools with which products appear under skillful hands masters are the most familiar: cutters, drills, cutters, chisels, blowtorch, a circular saw, lathe and milling machines... Even gluing the individual parts is not difficult, and the seams are practically invisible. It is a pleasure to work with the material: it softens easily when heated, it is easy to process it both on machines and by hand, and with many locksmith tools.
Several types of plexiglass production
- Casting. It is a compound of methyl methacrylate and other substances, which are poured into a mold made of silicate glass. The result is excellent plexiglass. It is durable, and thanks to the production method (casting), it can withstand a sufficient load. The material lends itself well to processing, molding, polishing without sufficient effort.
- Extrusion is a slightly different method of obtaining plexiglass. Polymethyl methacrylate, which is in the granules, is heated in an extrusion machine and extruded onto special devices.
Many people master this type of craftsmanship, since plexiglass is environmentally friendly. pure material, has a high light permeability. No matter how much time has passed, this quality remains unchanged. The same goes for colored items. Plexiglaz is lightweight and weighs less than conventional glass, so there is no need to spend money on supports during assembly.
An excellent quality is the fact that the material is not afraid of moisture and various microorganisms, therefore it is installed in showcases, on water transport, on protective devices as glazing, and for small fish it serves as an aquarium. Glass resists frost and has electrical insulating properties. It is not affected chemical substances, and breaking it is very problematic.
When a transparent sheet with a completely smooth surface and a beautiful shine lies on the table, many ideas are born in the designer's head. Frosted plexiglass it can be white and colored. The first has excellent light scattering properties, and the second is an evenly colored sheet that is used to create teaching aids and advertising, on the catwalks, as well as suspended ceilings.
White corrugated plexiglass has a convex surface in the form of drops, waves and honeycombs on one side. At the same time, the other side remains perfectly flat. They use this view mainly to create original interior: different interior partitions, doors, as a piece of furniture and in shower stalls.
You can create a lot of amazing things from plexiglass by setting up your business. Of course, you will have to find worthy partners, artisans, purchase equipment, but all the costs will pay off over time.