V-Groove Box

I’ve been trying to find another way to make acrylic, electronics boxes, beyond using six, laser-cut flats that I had been bonding at 90° angles with WeldOn.

A manufacturer that I have seen does some neat stuff that includes milling 90° V-grooves at the seams of panels, and bending. This morning, I decided I would give it a shot. Not having a v-bit, I found some at a Rockler store about 45 minutes away, but, then found that the local Menard’s had them in stock. :relaxed:

I routed the outside with my 1/8", single-flute bit, then, changed my 1/8" collet to 1/4", and loaded up the v-bit. Keeping my zero was so much fun! :sweat:

I set the depth-of-cut to leave behind just about 0.010" of material. After cutting, I heated those portions with a heat gun to ease the bending. Not too shabby!

Mishaps
This is only the bottom of the box. The top came loose from the double-sided tape towards the end of the cut. :cry:

After folding to 90°, there was a gap at each that I’ll need to fill with epoxy or something.

My frame is still not square to the spoil board, even after some adjustment. The “home” end is about 0.020" lower than it is towards the middle. I guess it’s time to chuck-up my 3/4" bit and fly over the waste board.

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That’s really neat.

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Nice! I like how clean the bend looks.
About filling in the gap…
I have been wanting to try friction welding with ABS printer filament and a dremel.
(Here is a link to a blog with good info)
Filling the gap may be a good test for this :smile:

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I do that as necessary on my printed parts.

kyle voss kind of did this (not with a v bit) on his stepper motor covers

ive used this technique on wood to make boxes. its called the miter fold technique. it looks likes it work pretty well with plastic too!

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