Bending Lucite

[zanthal]

Hello everyone, been a bit ... Anyone miss me?
But enough about me... I've got a couple of real nice bronze pearlized Peterson-style stems on the way so I can make my sandblasted Erik Nording FS into the awesome puffer it should be.
I've done some looking into bending methods.
It appears the popular way is to use a "heat gun", whatever that is, but I have no intentions of buying a special tool for the job.
I read about one fellow having success in the oven at 325 degrees, and another in boiling water for 5-6 minutes, using a pipe cleaner to prevent the draft hole from collapse during the bending.
I'm all ears if anyone has suggestions. I intend to try boiling water, unless I come across a better idea.
Happy puffing all ::

 

[crpntr1]

Steam maybe?? Like from a tea kettle. And ya we all missed ya.

 

[tokerpipes]

I have had to rebend lucite once. I used the boiling water method. I suggest putting a couple pipe cleaners in the draft hole one may not be wide enough. I did it with a single and had trouble getting it out once the stem cooled.

 

[puffy]

I put a lucite stem over a candle flame once.It got too hot.The lucite caught on fire and got bubbles in it.It was a total loss.I ended up getting a the stem replaced.

 

[cajunguy]

If you have a hair dryer (or know someone who will loan you one) that will substitute for a heat gun. The process won't be nearly as fast, because there isn't as much heat generated. But lower heat also means less risk: you can control it better.
Hold the stem by the tenon and turn the hair dryer on "high." Move it back and forth along the body of the stem, both top and bottom. Keep the hair dryer about 6-8" away from the stem. Test the stem occasionally. After a few minutes, it should become flexible. When it does, bend to the desired angle and immediately place in cold water to "lock" it into its new shape. Having a pipe cleaner run through the stem is a good idea to prevent the air draft from collapsing.
Go slowly and methodically. It's better to take a long time learning the process. Too fast and you'll char the lucite or, worse, melt it into a glob of goo.

 

[martiniman]

Boiling water is a very controlled heat 212/no higher. Bring it to a boil, remove it from the boil for 3 min and you've got 195 (serious tea and coffee drinker here) :D heat guns and open flame will vary greatly depending on heat contact (moving the object around in the heat zone).
I'd agree with Toker on everything.

 

[martiniman]

P.S. I missed seeing the puffing avatar... :lol:

 

[nsfisher]

I just bent a stem this morning, boiled the kettle, poured a cupfull, stuck the stem in halfway (make sure u have at least 2 pipe cleaners in the stem), after about 8-12 seconds took it out of the water and bent to desired angle, run it immediately under the cold water tap while keeping pressure on stem. Much easier than other methods!

 

[zanthal]

I figured that there'd be a few tried and true methods!
martiniman yep I thought the same thing about boiling water ... it's just a matter of how much time spent in it.
, what I've read suggested to stay away from open flame with lucite (vulcanite is a different story, it doesn't melt so fast)
But cajunguy now that you've suggested a hair dryer, I think I will go that route for the first try, simply because it should be easier to control the heat.
Good info, thank you all.

 

[docwatson]

Zan, I always use an alcohol burner flame, because it is lower in temperature than other flames but still need to be careful not to overheat. The safe bet is the hair dryer like others have said. You still have the best avatar on the forum, keep on puffin!!!! :worship:

 

[baronsamedi]

I was gonna suggest an alcohol burner too but I can see where steam would be better.

 

[pentangle]

I use a tool similar to an hair dryer, used to remove varnish .It's hot and could burn but distance will save the lucite.Pay attemption if you'll see bubbles on the lucite surface stop.Then bend the lucite gently in more steps.Of course at finally lucite needs to be sanded with 1000 grit and polished with a wheel and abrasive paste at 1000 rpm

Maurizio

 

[zanthal]

Maurizio's back :: thanks, good to know the professional method specs.
The first time I did a custom stem, I used a Dremel tool with considerably coarser grain, and it did not turn out too great.

 

[nsfisher]

Boiling water = 0 possibilty for damage, no burns, no bubbles, no flame and takes 15 seconds, but.....

 

[pentangle]

never forget that after bending lucite and vulcanite needs ALWAYS to be sanded and polished if you want a perfect result

 

[zanthal]

15 seconds? Really? Guess I shouldn't be surprised that another forum post (on another forum, mind you) said 4-5 minutes, but that still seems quick to me. If it's really that fast than maybe my Mom can hold on to her hair dryer.
I bought two stems, in case I mess the first attempt up.
I will post pics of how it turns out.

 

[ejames]

I generally use a hair dryer,my heat gun took a dump. Boiling water is OK for lucite but you may not like what it will do to some vulcanite stems--they sometimes oxidize INSTANTLY,turn a real nice shade of brown!

 

[waznyf]

I saw a video on youtube in which the guy said he just used a lighter to heat the area and then he bent the stem.

He had three examples and by his third try it looked very well done.

 

[zanthal]

Decided not to bend it. Turns out the angle of the briar suits a straight stem just fine, and as an added bonus, it's also a sitter now. I'm pretty satisfied with it ::