Straightening warped sheet styrene?

[Connectamabob]

I got a big roll of styrene sheet (card for you UKers, not foam) from the cut ends bin at a local-ish plastics supplier. Something like 10 square feet for a buck. Score!

However, as it was being stored as a roll, it's got a curve "trained" into it now. Even if I cut off a little piece, that little piece has a curve that makes it hard to build clean looking stuff with it. I tried rolling a piece of it against a desk edge like you would with paper, but the curve reasserted itself later after I'd started building, causing the thing I was building to go all warpy.

Is there a way to flatten out the sheet without resorting to putting it in the oven?

[Supercollider]

What about putting it on a flat surface and pouring boiling hot water over it. Then, when flat, follow it up with a slosh of cold water? Not sure if boiling water is of sufficient heat, but it might be worth a try?

[Rich H]

You might be able to use heat.

A hairdrier will do it.  Place it on a heatproof flat surfance and try a bit. It'll curl up more then suddenly relax.
Try a little bit it might of course make it worse...

[OSHIROmodels]

Rolling it in the opposite direction and keeping like that for a while might work as well.

How thick is it?

cheers

James

[DELTADOG]

I had got such a piece of "End of the roll" material on my own some month ago. my solution for it was to put it flat on the floor and weighten it to push it flat while lieing there. I have a floorheating in my apartment. After 2 days of the slightly warming treatment while fixed flat it had recovered to the new flat position. I wouldn`t use boiled water. The heat treatment with the high temperature would be last to short till the water would cool down and its a mess to soak of the water after the session. The material needs time to come back flat, warming it will helps to speed up the things a bit, but it still needs time!

[Gary Peach]

Old record collectors put warped vinyl between 2 sheets of glass and leave in the sun or a warm place to make flat again.

[robh]

Use a warm iron with the plastic card on a piece of smooth hardboard between 2 tea towels. Only the "Non-Steam" setting though.

Also works (with a bit more heat) to texture plastic card by ironing a sheet of sandpaper rough side down onto the card.

[6milPhil]

Rolling it in the opposite direction and keeping like that for a while might work as well.

This'd be the first thing I'd try. Once done I'd be tempted to cut it into smaller sheets and clamp it to something flat.

[Connectamabob]

Thanks for the advice. I've got it counter-wrapped right now. We'll see how that shakes out in a few days. If that doesn't work I'll go at it with a hair dryer and a pane of glass.