Heat Source
I contemplated several different methods for heating up plastic, but in the end opted for the patio heater method. I bought two 1200W heaters on summer clearance at Canadian Tire ($40 per heater) specifically to use in this project.
The heaters came with metal brackets for mounting on a wall; I used these to make a little frame to mount them side by side, like so:
The downside with this setup is that these puppies pull too much juice for one circuit to handle; so, I have to plug them into two separate circuits if I want to run them at the same time, which I do, because one heater by itself isn't powerful enough to heat the plastic; two together, however heat up a 24x24" black .06 hair-cell ABS sheet enough to be formed in less than a minute.
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- Heat Source