strip heating

STRIP HEATING

Strip heaters are used to heat the Chemcast® GP to forming temperature along a straight line so it can be bent along that line. A strip heater is usually an electric heater made from a nichrome wire resistance coil. The wire should be insulated and protected with china clay tubing or porcelain beads and can be further enclosed in a copper, Monel, or Pyrex tube. Flexible Fiberglasnichrome wire tape strip heaters are also available.

The heater should be equipped with a thermoregulator to prevent overheating the Chemcast® GP.

The strip heater should have supports on both sides to hold the Chemcast® GP sheet. The supports should be parallel to and above the heater so the heater does not touch the surface of the Chemcast® GP. Direct contact with the hot strip heater will destroy or severely distort the surface of the Chemcast® GP. Therefore, the material should be kept at least 1/16" from the tube. To form a bend with a large radius, a wider band of Chemcast® GP is heated by holding the sheet at a greater distance from the heater or by using a wide strip heater.

For forming material over .250" thick and for fast production, two heaters should be arranged to heat the sheet from both surfaces.

Methods of Heating Acrylic Sheet