Heating with a hair dryer

[DroidHunter]

Its time for me to start making bends on the thigh ammo pack and the belt. I see a lot of guys have used boiling water, but (1) I'm a little wary of trying that and (2) I don't have a large enough bucket to pour the water into anyway. I have seen it suggested that a hair dryer can be used. Does that really work? Does it generate enough heat? I saw Pandatrooper's suggestion about using paint stirring sticks to hold the flat section still while bending at the base of each ammo pack and heating with a heat gun. Can that be done with a hair dryer, or is that just a waste of time?

[Raintrooper]

I tried heat bending my thigh ammo-pack with a hair dryer, and it didn't really work.  It doesn't put out nearly enough heat to soften the plastic. It only bent slightly after holding the hair dryer almost directly on the plastic for a good length of time.  I don't know, maybe it's my wife's hair dryer .  Boiling water finally worked for me.  Definitely use those paint stir sticks so the plastic bends at the base of each box instead of the middle of the flat part.  Getting your hands on a heat gun might be your best bet.  But be careful, I hear they can turn ABS into a gooey mess pretty quick if you're not careful.     Good luck!

[gazmosis[501st]]

The ammo pack is actually thin enough to bend without heat.

[DizzyStormtrooper[501st]]

get a 9 dollar heat gun at harbor freight and use a couple rulers to make the bends between each "pack"

[Raintrooper]

The ammo pack is actually thin enough to bend without heat.

My ATA ammo pack definitely needed heat bending or else it may have cracked. The NE ammo pack and belt are thinner than ATA.  Not sure about other makers and their ABS thickness.    

[sskunky]

If you trim the ammo pak so it has no return it should bend fine without heat. Abs is pretty flexible. Hips on the other hand is not.

Edited April 11, 2014 by sskunky

[The5thHorseman[501st]]

Being unable to have access to a heatgun and being reluctant to buy one i ended up using my toaster to heatbend some of my parts  . I wouldn't recommand it though, you have very little to no control on the heat. Instead i think you should look for a bucket large enough to contain enough boiling water to immerse your parts. 

 

Boiling water is hot enough to soften the ABS, but certainly not enough to warp it so it's kind of safe in the end.

[DroidHunter]

Thanks for all of the quick feedback. I don't know why I can cut, drill and paint but boiling worries me. But if boiling water can't warp or melt it then I guess it's worth a shot. I do have a bucket big enough for the thigh pack. But I'll keep my eyes open for a cheap heat gun too.

[SorcererX[501st]]

fill your bath tub?

 

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[JLight[TK]]

I just used the booking water method last week on my forearms. Worked great. Once it's boiling, I left the piece in for about 15 seconds maybe then took it out where I had a towel laying on the counter, wrapped the towel around the piece and bent it and held it until it cooled. It allowed me to close my forearms with a cover strip that was fully sealed.

 

 

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