What's the best way to bend styrene?

[HAVOC]

I just started scratch building my full tube frame for the 1/12 Camaro. (.125 x .250)
I did one rear frame rail (test part) to get an idea of where the bends should be and to make a template for the actual parts.
The bends look terrible. I did rush it somewhat so that's part of the cause. What else can I do to get that "mandrel" look to my bends.
I was thinking about putting some electrical wire in the tube and remove it after hopefully stopping the tube from collapsing.

[MarkVerploeg]

You can try that but do you use a heat source of any kind
Most kinds of styrene are sensitive to heat
An open flame is a bit extreme and it can cause your part to burn
But some (almost) boiling water may soften the tube
But i think it is a good idea to run some electric wire trough there
It.will prevent unwanted dents in the tube
So my tip is to use the wire inside and use hot water to soften the tube
This ahould make it easier to bend and will prevent dents and breaks of the tube
Cheers Mark

[HAVOC]

I was using a lighter some distance away so I wouldn't burn the plastic. I have a scrap piece that I'm going to use with the wire and see how it bends with the lighter. Then I'll try the boiling water method. I also need to heat the styrene and immediately place it on a flat surface to eliminate twisting of the tube.

"I'm going to need more styrene."

[CrackedCubes]

You could try using sheet styrene and cutting 4 pieces to the proper profile then gluing them together to form a box frame. Assuming the heat method doesn't produce the result you want.

Good luck. Post some pictures of your tests!

[Rtorres]

Any updates on your thread??

[trekfanj]

Well, I was going to suggest the boiling water method, but that's already been covered...
I will say it's the safest route; lighters seem kind of tricky to get the hang of. I've tried both methods and hot water seems like the best one.

[HAVOC]

The build is on hold at this time. I did find that using a lighter is the fastest method and I can use putty to fill any sink marks I was getting. If I bent the tube a little each time, the bends came out good and immediately putting the tube on a flat surface kept the part from twisting.

I may start up this again after seeing this build: http://www.intscalemodeller.com/viewtop ... =39&t=8130

[Samer86]

it depends on what u want to make anyways u need to use heat before that u can get a layout so u put styrene on and start to heat it .

[NoelSmith]

I have an oil filled radiator n my workshop. The wire inside the tube works ok in stopping kinks forming. It must be a snug sliding fit inside the tube that requires bending. I just lay the piece of tube on top of my radiator until it just softens up enough to bend it. I make sure that the wire is a bit shorter than the finished tube that is being bent so that I can leave it redundant inside the tube, leaving some of the bore intact at each end.