sgraber
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| posted on 18/11/07 at 03:03 AM |
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perspex covers on my headlamps - finally!
I finally, finally got the headlamp covers thermoformed from lexan. That stuff is hard to bend! Here are a few shots from today.
If you want to hear what it sounds like, click to watch my latest youtube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nwho1986aaQ
Steve Graber
http://www.grabercars.com/
"Quickness through lightness"
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nitram38
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| posted on 18/11/07 at 06:03 AM |
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Your car looks the Mut's Nuts!
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RazMan
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| posted on 18/11/07 at 09:19 AM |
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Good job Steve - how did you form them?
*edit* Just read your post again and see that they were thermo formed. Is that a compound curve?
[Edited on 18-11-07 by RazMan]
Cheers,
Raz
When thinking outside the box doesn't work any more, it's time to build a new box
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sgraber
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| posted on 18/11/07 at 02:52 PM |
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I used a heating lamp and 2 heat guns set on high, a positive mold and a negative mold both covered in suede and a couple of large clamps. 2 of us
heated on the plexiglass which was resting on top of the negative section of the mold for about 10 minutes until it was very floppy, then the positive
side was pressed down and the whole thing clamped until cooled. the positive mold was the exact size of the cover and while the plexi was soft the
outline was scribed with a sharp point. Once removed from the molds the plexi was then cut close to shape with a bandsaw and then drum sanded to final
shape. Any imperfections were then sanded, buffed and polished.
Each one takes a while!
I have screwed up so many of these the tally runs into the hundreds of dollars of wasted material. BUT! Now that I have a technique it won't be
so bad. I consider the money like a school fee, I just taught myself.
Also, we tried to lay up some carbon fiber buckets. These didn't turn out quite right and will be thrown out, but prove that it can be done even
with the tight radii. They are of course very light and strong. One layer of CF, one layer of glass mat, one layer of finishing cloth.
Does anyone smell a full carbon fiber la Bala body coming up soon? It would weigh fully 1/4 what the current one weighs.
[Edited on 11/18/07 by sgraber]
Steve Graber
http://www.grabercars.com/
"Quickness through lightness"
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