Acrylic Coathangers: With A Catenary
lasercut
An idea to make nice coathangers: reusing some 5mm acrylic squares, lasercut the catenary curve shape out. Then, the acrylic can be heated up and progressively bent out of shape. 5mm seems thick enough for not breaking under a heavy load.
The shape comes out flat after cutting. Notice the little oval cutouts at the ends of the catenary curve: they are there to prevent any cracks from propagating, and some negative space for material to bend into.
To bend the acrylic, use a heatgun or SMD soldering heatgun (carefully). Then slowly push out the center part and keep it wedged with something metallic. Continue with more heat in multiple steps until an angle of about 45°. This takes at least a few minutes.
Cooling off after bending. The mini-ovals also absorbed some of the folded up material.
Satisfying view after removing the protection film
Try it yourself #
Here is the svg file
