That time my worbla buckled mid-mold and I almost lost it

Last weekend at my apartment, I was heat-forming a chestplate piece. Got greedy. Tried to bend a 3mm thick section without scoring it first. The whole thing warped into a sad taco shape. Had to scrap it and recut from a fresh sheet. $18 down the drain in 30 seconds flat. Anyone else ever ruin expensive foam or plastic with one bad heat gun pass?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_lisa27d ago

Oh man, "sad taco shape" is the perfect way to describe that. I've done the exact same thing with a 6mm foam sheet for a bracer. Thought I could rush the heat gun pass and get a clean curve. Nope. It folded into a wrinkly mess that looked like a melted beach toy. What finally worked for me was doing multiple light passes instead of one long blast. I'd heat a section, let it cool for a few seconds, then hit it again. Keeps the material from getting that nasty crinkle. Also I learned to score thicker foam with a utility knife along the bend line first. Not deep, just scratching the surface to release tension. It saved me from having to scrap a $25 sheet of craft foam last month. Another tip - if you catch it buckling early, you can sometimes fix it by clamping it flat between two boards while it's still hot. Let it cool pressed like that and it might pull back into shape. Doesn't always work but beats cutting a new piece.

willow24427d ago

My last heat gun mishap was with a $30 sheet of worbla that I swear hissed at me before twisting into a shape that looked like a sad elephant ear. I tried the clamp trick with two textbooks and it worked about 60%. The other 40% it just stuck to the books and I had to peel it off like a bad bandaid lol. Now I just do the light passes and pretend I'm cooking a delicate pancake instead of armor.