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bending polycarbonate to make a windshield
zappaddles	#1  Posted on 12/07/10 - 4:34 PM
Member Posts: 478 Comments: 2 Joined: 06/03/10	Anybody have advice on bending polycarbonate to make a windshield? Mostly I need to know if there is an easy way to make a strip heater or if one of you guys has one they've used to make a windshield and no longer need it. Zap
CES	#2  Posted on 12/07/10 - 6:02 PM
Member Personal Page Photo Albums Project Albums Posts: 2681 Comments: 7 Joined: 04/27/07	What I would do is take the heating element out of an old hair dryer and place it between two 2x4's that are mounted about 1/2 inch apart. What this will do is localize your heat to a very specific part of the material you're trying to bend. Cliff 1966 13' Sport with a 1993 40hp Yamaha 2 Smoker
jaxtownwillie	#3  Posted on 12/07/10 - 8:35 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 28 Comments: 0 Joined: 11/14/10	did a lot of bending lexan in my 30 some years of sheetmetal experience, mostly we bent lexan on power brakes for salad bars and a lot of other things for navy ships. worked at Norfolk Naval Shipyard for 20 years, and we bent all thicknesses of lexan not plexiglass. the only problem with bending lexan is it distorts clarity, but only in the bend. Shouldnt matter on a windshield. Make a paper pattern from a windshield u like, buy u some lexan , transfer pattern to lexan, cut out on bandsaw, deburr, take to your local sheetmetal shop, i am sure they will bend it for u for little or nothing. good luck
Fishmore	#4  Posted on 12/07/10 - 10:36 PM
Member Personal Page Posts: 270 Comments: 0 Joined: 11/20/07	I don't have a lot of experience doing this but to make my Montauk windshield I cut out the pattern I wanted and then set it on the edge of my porch. Allowing the part I wanted to bend to hang over the edge of the porch. I placed a weight on the portion that sat on the porch in order to hold that down. Then used a heat gun to warm it up along the part I wanted to bend. I kept the heat gun moving constantly along the bend line and eventually it bent right where I wanted and produced a right angle due to gravity. The other side was a little more difficult but I set it on a milk crate (again with a weight to hold it down) the milk crate provided the height and drop I needed. So I heated that side up until it bent also. Make sure you keep the heat on until it completes it's bend and do not try to force the bend or it will crack.
Gamalot	#5  Posted on 12/08/10 - 5:38 AM
Member Personal Page Posts: 1086 Comments: 3 Joined: 06/21/10	Make absolute certain you are using Lexan/Polycarbonate and NOT Plexiglass! Plexiglass cracks and breaks while Lexan bends. Just as Jaxtownwilly said, you can bend Lexan with the proper bending breaks or you can DIY with a little help from a heat gun after clamping the piece in to a jig. I would suggest a bit of experimenting with extra cut off pieces before attempting the full shield. Too much heat and your bend will grow. We made windshields for our S X S ATVs and found it was better to just warm the bend a little to help the process and avoid over heating it. There should be a protective film on the sheet and you would leave it on while working it.
ecoboy	#6  Posted on 12/08/10 - 7:04 PM
Member Posts: 1 Comments: 0 Joined: 04/07/09	Hi Zap, I use to make replacement windshields for CC's and have an extra commercial bender sitting in the garage. Its basicly a 2 x 6 x 48 metal box with a thermostatic controlled heating rod. Will bend 1/4 plex in the summer in about 7 min, Winter 15 min. and lexan Its yours for 20 bucks. Savannah Ga. Frank
CES	#7  Posted on 12/08/10 - 7:24 PM
Member Personal Page Photo Albums Project Albums Posts: 2681 Comments: 7 Joined: 04/27/07	ecoboy wrote: Hi Zap, I use to make replacement windshields for CC's and have an extra commercial bender sitting in the garage. Its basicly a 2 x 6 x 48 metal box with a thermostatic controlled heating rod. Will bend 1/4 plex in the summer in about 7 min, Winter 15 min. and lexan Its yours for 20 bucks. Savannah Ga. Hello Frank. If Zap is not interested in the bender, I certainly am as I am in the process of making a windshield from Lexan too. Thank you. Cliff 1966 13' Sport with a 1993 40hp Yamaha 2 Smoker
zappaddles	#8  Posted on 12/09/10 - 5:10 AM
Member Posts: 478 Comments: 2 Joined: 06/03/10	Ecoboy, Thanks for the offer. I found out that I have a neighbor who works with this stuff for a living and has offered to help me out. Thanks to all for the advice. SYOTW. Zap
CES	#9  Posted on 12/09/10 - 5:50 AM
Member Personal Page Photo Albums Project Albums Posts: 2681 Comments: 7 Joined: 04/27/07	ecoboy wrote: Hi Zap, I use to make replacement windshields for CC's and have an extra commercial bender sitting in the garage. Its basicly a 2 x 6 x 48 metal box with a thermostatic controlled heating rod. Will bend 1/4 plex in the summer in about 7 min, Winter 15 min. and lexan Its yours for 20 bucks. Savannah Ga. Ecoboy, Private Message sent. Cliff 1966 13' Sport with a 1993 40hp Yamaha 2 Smoker
CES	#10  Posted on 12/09/10 - 5:51 AM
Member Personal Page Photo Albums Project Albums Posts: 2681 Comments: 7 Joined: 04/27/07	zappaddles wrote: Ecoboy, Thanks for the offer. I found out that I have a neighbor who works with this stuff for a living and has offered to help me out. Thanks to all for the advice. SYOTW. Zap Zap, I'm glad it worked out for you. Cliff 1966 13' Sport with a 1993 40hp Yamaha 2 Smoker