Questions about plexiglass visors and vacuum forming

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Manu

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So i am planning to build a EVA C-Variant Helmet for my Spartan Armor, and since i do not
own a toast oven for heating up the plexiglass sheets, i just wanted to ask, if it is possible to heat up the glass
with my heat gun.

evac.jpeg
 
It is absolutely possible to heat the plexiglass with a heat gun. However, It's crucial that you heat the whole sheet equally, and you are definitely going to struggle with that. The plastic will cool too fast and you wont be able to maintain equal temperature throughout the sheet. Do you have everything you need to vacuum form minus the heating element? If so, I've heard of people using their actual oven to soften the plastic. Although, please research into this because I'm not 100% sure on the health and safety of putting certain plastics in your oven.
 
Thank you for your reply. Sadly, my normal oven would not be qualified for the job, because it might be possible that the sheets release unhealthy fumes when heated (I guess thats why everybody is using toast ovens for vacuum forming).
I might try heating the sheets with two heat guns at once and see how it turns out.
 
I was wondering what would be the best investment and come out with the best result: vacuum forming, motorcycle helmet visors, or any other alternative
 
Manu Good luck it's worth a shot.... and yes agreed, don't use your oven that you cook your food in due to the chemicals and toxins released when heating the plastic ..... I know you can find toaster ovens for $20. That's pretty cheap for a very important tool if you plan on vacuum forming visors. Actually that helmet you posted is going to be quite a large sheet of plastic. A toaster may not be large enough for that one. So maybe your heat gun experiment is definetly worth a shot
 
Thank you for bringing that up. I didn`t even consider that the sheet for the EVA Helmet might be too big for a regular toast oven. I guess i have to just try my heat gun theory and see how things turn out.
 
Manu Please post your results if you do try this. I'd love to see how it goes for you, and it might encourage others in your position to give it a go, too! Good luck. :)
 
Manu Please post your results if you do try this. I'd love to see how it goes for you, and it might encourage others in your position to give it a go, too! Good luck. :)
I will definitely share my results once i have something worth showing but sadly, that might take a while, since im gonna be very busy with school soon.
 
First, don't use plexiglass or acrylic. Use petg. I can be found on amazon in 12x12 and larger sheets. Plexiglass requires pretty high temps to form and acrylic is very brittle after being formed (the reason I mention acrylic is lowes and Home Depot carry sheets of it, don't be fooled into using it).

Next, yes a heat gun is more than adequate to heat petg to elasticity, but the EVA visor is exceedingly large, and getting the whole sheet heated at once would make the job very difficult, if not outright impossible. It could be worth a try, but be prepared to fail without the right tools.

Clear worbla may be a workable option though- but then again, it may be exactly as frustrating as the reasons I stated above.

Source: I did this. The pics in my thread here probably don't work anymore though... my instagram or Facebook page have pics of both. They're both @roshprops, and the pics will be a couple years back on both
 
First, don't use plexiglass or acrylic. Use petg. I can be found on amazon in 12x12 and larger sheets. Plexiglass requires pretty high temps to form and acrylic is very brittle after being formed (the reason I mention acrylic is lowes and Home Depot carry sheets of it, don't be fooled into using it).

Next, yes a heat gun is more than adequate to heat petg to elasticity, but the EVA visor is exceedingly large, and getting the whole sheet heated at once would make the job very difficult, if not outright impossible. It could be worth a try, but be prepared to fail without the right tools.

Clear worbla may be a workable option though- but then again, it may be exactly as frustrating as the reasons I stated above.

Source: I did this. The pics in my thread here probably don't work anymore though... my instagram or Facebook page have pics of both. They're both @roshprops, and the pics will be a couple years back on both
Thank you very much for your suggestion !
Once i have time (probably the next holidays) im wanted to start with the visor, and your advice may have saved me a lot of time and frustration.
Thanks again and have a nice day
 
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