salon window trim update

[Bob]

Well it has been a few weeks and the new trim that I fabricated has begun to crack. Bummer! I used a product called Wonderboard which appeared to be the same as Starboard. My conclusions are that either the products have different characteristics which I will be looking at or insufficient heat was used when forming the curves. I'm more inclined towards product differences because of the lower stress locations of some of the cracks. Almost as if the plastic became brittle. Has anyone else tried replacing the trim with any success?

[James Power]

Hi Bob, when you milled up the new trim, did you keep the same dimensions? The Starboard that PDQ used was machined with a thin cross section to allow for pliability. Are the fastners used to secure it over torqued? James

[Bob]

Yes, it was 1/8" on the thickness. The variation was the face width which is 1/2" rather than 5/8" factory width. I do not think they could be all over torqued as the cracking varies from a split on the face to radius' turning up and cracking at the root. Some may be stress cracks such as the fasteners in the radius. When I heated the piece I went about 4-6" beyond the curve to have more material to stretch. Maybe heating the entire piece possibly using a steam bending type box would work better than a heat gun.