Acrylic Bracelets

Here are some bracelets I made by laser cutting and bending acrylic. I cut some strips on a laser cutter in a pattern I designed.  Then I heated the strips with a heat gun and bent them around a circular jig to form the bracelet.  And by jig, I mean vinegar bottle :) I measured my hand to see how big a circumference I'd need - it was about 8 inches - and this bottle fit great.  A beer bottle would probably also have been about right.  If I make more, though, I'll make a jig with a base to rest the strip on while I heat & bend it, and maybe a small clamp to hold the middle tight to the bottle.  I wore gloves while doing the bending - acrylic starts to soften at temperatures between 175 and 200 F (it varies considerably depending on the acrylic and I didn't measure) which is hot enough to burn slightly, or at least make you let go instinctively.  It took a couple tries to get a nice curve, without breaking the acrylic (not hot enough) or bubbling the surface (too hot).  Also, I tried one with the paper cover still on, but the paper scorched and the glue ruined the shiny acrylic surface.  Cut with frisket on, form with frisket off.

The last "image" is an .ai format file of the design I used.