I saw a demonstration on Azek at Harvey Industries in Berlin CT recently. They had these 2 blankets to cover the azek trim board. They would get really hot and the trim board would become very pliable making it simple to shape curves etc. The only catch is the system costs $900. Does anyone know another way to heat the azek for shaping which is more economical, or of anyone who rents such a system?
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Saw the same demo On LI. was really intrested untill I found out the price. We don't do enough exterior trim to justify the price. I wanted to try & make something similar w/ electric radiant heat coil. the type used under tile flooring, but have'nt found a material to wrap the coil in it apply the heat to azek, then I got side tracked. If anyone has Ideas? From speaking to the Rep. They will make all sorts of profiles if you give them window Model#'s etc. I saw a real nice 1 piece window surround w/ crown all prefab for around $125. So by the time you add up materials & labor It might pay to purchase it that way.
a heat gun and a LOT of patience? lol
Various heating devices are made for bending large-diameter plastic conduit. One of these might do the job, though they're probably in the same price range.
I was going to say the same thing as DanH - they have heating blankets that are used for bending large diameter electrical conduit, but they probably aren't a lot cheaper. Here's one link: http://www.goodmart.com/products/86014.htm
I suppose the redneck method would be to (carefully!) use a big weedburner torch.
Rob, We have succesfully used a peice of 12" metal culvert pipe and a kerosene jet heater to bend azec. The trick is to get it heated evenly and in place quickly. We used pieces of sheet metal in the bottom of the culvert pipe to create a floor and switched the heater from end to end to heat evenly. This procedure worked fairly well using materials available on the job. Handling a 16' peice of hot Azek is the fun part. Allow for extra material for experimentation. Good Luck, Jay
well ifn your anywhere in the south you could
probably lay it out in the sun and watch it melt
into the pavement:-)
How about a steaming rig like woodworkers use to stem bend wood. Basically a large PVC pipe or box to fit the board with removable caps, a boiler over a heat source, say propane, and a tube to take the steam form the boiling pot into the pipe. I've seen rigs in Fine Woodworking so try over in Knots, they might be able to help. From what I saw, the rig probably cost under $100 if you buy everything brand new instead of scrounge and takes an afternoon to assemble.
Thanks for your input
What is the optimum temperature and exposure time needed to bend Azek?
Yeah, steaming might be a good approach, assuming it gets things hot enough.
I saw that demo at JLC live. Since I am to cheap to cough up a grand for there system , this is what I did.
I made a plywood box 10" x 14" x 10' long, with an access door at the top. I removed the thermal overloads in 2 4' long salvaged electric baseboard heaters & installed them in the bottom part of the box. Then I made a rack to support the Azeck every 6" or so.
Total invested- $50 in plywood, $ 15 wire, bout an hours time.
It takes about 20 mins to get the stuff up to the recomended 300 degrees, but then it is like a well cooked noodle.
I recently did a curved porch with my box, if I get the time to figger out to resize pictures ,I'll post them.