If you don’t have sheet PVC plastic on hand, you can make it from a piece of PVC pipe. This does not require special tools and devices, as well as special knowledge and skills. Any adult who knows how to use a hairdryer and a plastic knife can handle this kind of work.
Will need
- PVC pipe sections;
- square and marker;
- Bulgarian;
- two furniture panels;
- hair dryer at 300-550 degrees Celsius;
- heavy load (oppression);
- Digital Thermometer.
Process of turning PVC pipe into sheet
Using a metal corner and a marker, draw a line on the surface of the plastic pipe parallel to its longitudinal axis.
We cut the pipe with a grinder along the marked line.
We lay the furniture board on a flat horizontal surface.
We heat the material of the cut pipe evenly over the entire inner surface with a construction hairdryer at 300-550 degrees Celsius, achieving straightening of the plastic.
Cover the material that has not yet cooled down with a second furniture board and leave it until it cools completely.
We remove the top shield and reheat the plastic with a hair dryer over the entire surface.
We re-cover the heated plastic with a furniture board and press it on top with a load, in our case, a heavy stone, and let it stand for 10 minutes.
We reheat the plastic with a hairdryer to 70-75 degrees Celsius evenly over the entire surface, monitoring the temperature with an electronic thermometer.
Again we cover the heated plastic on top with a furniture board and press it down with the same pressure.
To remove micro-irregularities, we once again heat the almost leveled sheet of plastic evenly over the entire surface to 70-75 degrees Celsius.
We cover the sheet of plastic with a furniture board for the last time, press it with pressure and leave it until it cools completely.
After alternating processes of heating and pressing, the PVC sheet acquired an absolutely flat surface. Now it can be used for various purposes, for example, used as a basis for mounting electrical circuit elements.
