I had to try it, flat pvc

I have made several rotary pvc carvings on my rotary jig yet never made a flat lithophane because I was never able to find a cheap and easy source of Corian. I saw online somewhere a video of someone flattening pvc pipe to make useful things out of it so I had to try flattening it to carve litho's.

It was quite easy and got pretty good results. I just cut off an 11 inch piece of 3 inch diameter pipe then sliced it lengthwise. Then I popped it into the oven on a cookie sheet at 300 for about 5 minutes until it got soft. I pulled it out and put it between two 1x12 pieces and clamped it about half an hour until I was pretty sure it had cooled enough. The result was a perfectly flat sheet of pvc about 10x11. I carves a picture and it turned out as a pretty decent litho. I need to experiment some more but it seems like a much cheaper alternative to Corian.

Dave
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08...1575980da4.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08...d494383a47.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08...87e55adde5.jpg
http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/08...44a3179a9f.jpg

Just your wanting to try it and making it work is awesome. Not sure if the clarity is the photo or the PVC. Guess the only test would be dual carves, one in the flattened PVC and one in corian. You nay have found an inexpensive way to produce lithos. Good luck.
Rick H

Dave,

Thanks for the tip! The image seems a bit blurred but I am guessing that is not the case in reality.

Pvc can be purchased in sheet form. I think your method will be cheaper. I can get 20 l.f. of 3" for 12$ at a plumbing supply. Box stores also sell pvc 1x6 that has to be planed for lithos.
I have played with it a little, but I have not gotten the results I would like. I don't know if it is a depth/height problem or what. I just have not had time to experiment.