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Bending foamex
Hi all, has anyone ever tried to bend / form foamex 5mm with a heat gun? im manufacturing some spinning signs and they need a 22 degrees curve adding to each long side if you see what i mean, is it possible without scorching or effecting the foamex too much?
rich (?)
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13 Replies
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Yeah, I’ve done it.
Only to make some fairly small mounting brackets though.
I sandwiched the foamex between two pieces of timber and clamped them together, so that I got a nice straight bend, and gently applied heat. Not much happened to begin with but if you keep a light pressure on the foamex you can feel the point at which it starts to become flexible and to give way. Remove the heat immediately and bend to the angle you want.
If the foamex cools down and stops bending easily don’t try to force it. Just give it a bit more heat and go again.
Exactly the right amount of heat is the key to making the foamex formable without damaging it so I would practice on some small scrap pieces first. It took me three goes to get the technique right but now I can do it every time.
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Cheers John, Ill give it a spin tomorrow (pardon the pun).
rich 😎
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anybody got a pic of what’s possible with this…..sounds interesting for a job I have coming up.
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would foamex still be durable or more likely to fail over time?
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quote Dave Rowland:would foamex still be durable or more likely to fail over time?……….. you just read my mind there Dave ………that’s exactly what I was thinking. I would have thought it would weaken it (?)
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I would prefer to use dibond, or powder coated ally for a job like this, foamex can be bent as said. But may be a bit of a false economy in this case, jmo
Depends on how the pivot point will be mounted also, and the size of the panel.Peter
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Not sign related, they are mounting brackets for comms equipment in my bike, but they do show that it is possible to make some quite complex shapes.
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hmm 2mtr or 70cms?
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I don’t think I would worry about durability.
Those brackets were made about eighteen months ago and show no sign of weakness, despite being subjected to a fair amount of vibration and stress.
The bends do not appear to be any weaker than the flat sections, although if they were overheated it may be a different story.
I would venture to suggest that foamex bends are stronger than dibond bends. How strong is dibond when one face has been routered out?
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Bought some spinning type things as a job lot 5p each there perfect for the job, even came with bearings in end!! I used to have an injection molding company so i know the tools alone must have cost thousands to make, seemed a shame to let them go to re-grind. ill post a pic when the prototypes done.
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quote Dave Rowland:hmm 2mtr or 70cms?
Neither Dave. PMR.
Unfortunately. 🙁
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😕
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Dibond can easily be bent to 22 degrees without routing, if using a press brake with formers 90 degree can be done
Peter
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