Dan K wrote:
Lookin' good, Gary. Lookin' real good.
I have zero experience working with acrylics, and my tired, old eyes can't quite make out the product name of the window material you're using. I'd be thankful if you'd elaborate on what you're using, and why you prefer using it.
Or is that just a hunk of cardboard you're using to get the fit right?
TIA
Excellent question! That is the protective coating on a sheet of polycarbonate plastic...better known as Lexan. Well, actually, this is a different brand name, but still the same stuff. The Lexan type products are good in the fact that they're quite strong and can be bent in virtually any configuration (with some effort). I don't have a large enough oven here to put the blanks of these particular windows in, so I just used one of those jet-style heaters to warm it up. Then, as a fat boy, I was able to "lean" on it a little bit to get the curve I wanted. What you see in the previous pictures is my third attempt to get it right, and if the optics aren't quite as good as I'd like when I take the coating off, I'll probably make another one, until I'm satisfied. I'll get someone to take photo of the process in which I bend the next one. The downsides to Lexan type products is that it's expensive and it tends to craze a little faster than the acryilc type products. I'm sure there are other "goods and bads" with this stuff, but that's all I can think of at the moment.
As far as the "cardboard" portion of your comment goes, that is also a good question. I do indeed use posterboard to get the exact size and shape of the part I'm building in order to keep from wasting sheet metal and time. Below is a photo of the posterboard piece I'm working with right now. This is the "Mk.1,Mod.1" version, as I still have some trimming and other adjustments to make, but I think you'll get the idea.
By the way, keep the questions coming! I ain't skeered.
Gary
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