Heating up to forming temperature:
All acrylic HUACHAO® sheets are suitable for forming. The protective masking on the HUACHAO® sheet is removed before forming for practical reasons.

The forming temperature for HUACHAO® sheet is approx. 150°C. The following serve as heat sources for partial heating – e. g. for line bending – :

• heating rod (perhaps also hot plate, covered with glass fabric except for an open central strip),
• IR radiator (strong infrared lamp).

The following serve as sources of heat when heating the entire cut-to-size sheet:
• airflow oven, 
• oven,
• hot plate covered by an aluminum plate.

Place the HUACHAO® sheet to be heated on a level, non-glossy support and avoid direct contact of the sheet with the heating element by allowing an air gap of at least 1 cm or use an aluminum plate. Heating time depends on the thickness of the material. From a thickness of 4 mm onwards, the material should be heated on both sides or turned several times. Watch the material during heating to avoid overheating

Preparations:
Edges should be polished – if required – before they are formed.

Thermoforming:
The work piece is formed immediately after heating and held in the formed position by hand or by means of an appropriate jig until it has cooled down (below approx. 60 °C). No special force is required for forming (otherwise the material has not yet reached the optimum temperature!). 

When line bending, we recommend bending the sheet sides slightly more than required as they may spring back slightly when cold. Where the side length is shorter, the entire sheet should be heated, otherwise there is a risk of war page.

Tools for drape forming should be covered with glove material (to avoid mark off on the molding) and should have hold down strips for the heated sheet. 

For complex moldings, a forming station is required with a male and female mold 
between which the sheet is clamped. 

Other forming methods are thermoforming or blow molding but require greater technical expertise. 

After forming, the HUACHAO® work piece can be further processed as usual.