Make A Windshield. Or Just Watch Me Do It. Whatever. 

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Old Firefighter here. When wood discolors due to being heated, its called "Insipient Pyrolysis". You are reducing the woods ignition temperature. The darker the wood gets the lower the temp before it self-combusts. Same thing happens in old homes with floor furnaces. Hope that helps...

"Glue stops working at high temperatures." MDF is 50% glue. Not an actual number but you get what I mean.

Does this mean we can bring back the electric Jag? I think -- but am not sure -- that the Jag would be less likely to break your leg or catch your house on fire.

"Oh god it's on fire again" that cut was gold

Dear Future Matt, Make it bigger (for powder-coating). Make the sides to be able to come apart individually for storage. Use an oven heating coil (or two) instead of a stove-top coil. You’re welcome, Past Chris

One of my favorite aspects of your channel is the, 'how NOT to do things aspect' . We often don't know what works and what doesn't work until someone tries. You save us all a lot of trial and error. Thank you for your contribution.

"We do it right, because we do it twice." Hell no, we do it FIVE times!

With the injured foot, looks like it might be time to resurface the scooter project!

Random thoughts from someone with a bit of experience in vacuum forming and drape forming (not much, but enough to at least understand the challenges): -If I were making a windshield in this way, I would cut the thing AFTER forming it. Make it oversize to start. That's right, drill a thousand screw holes around the perimeter. It doesn't matter when you're going to cut them all off later anyway. -I don't know what material I would use for a buck, but it isn't MDF. I might even drape-form another sheet of plastic over a dense foam buck as the underside support for the Lexan. Just make sure it's perfectly contoured. -The reason curved glass, especially compound curved glass, is so difficult to manufacture for windshields is optical clarity and refraction. Think about how you make a lens to magnify or correct vision. It must be thicker in the center, and thinner at the edges, or vice versa for the latter. To avoid distortion (aka, danger), the glass (or plastic) must remain a consistent thickness across its entire surface. This is easy to do with a flat plane of glass, but as you begin to stretch it in uneven ways, the areas with more radius will invariably get thinner than those with less. Depending on the refractive index for the material, you can impart a lot of distortion even if the inner and outer surfaces are smooth. If they aren't parallel though, you have a lens, and then you have refraction and problems.

13:16 Tradition must be preserved

I recommend putting tear-offs on the windshield to protect it from scratches. Much less expensive and laborious to replace some tear-offs than make a new oven and windshield. You see them used most often for racing helmet visors and motocross goggles, but they also make giant ones for windshields.

Glad to see one of your legs is not affecting your ability to do things right the first time. Keep up the bad work, you are an inspiration...

I have spent the last 15 years on this platform give or take. This channel , compared to the 143 other channels i follow, gets me more excited then it should. It gives me more pleasure to watch then 99% of the other chennels i encountered over the years. After a day of work i come home and im freaking excited when your video plops up. Thank you so very much for the 20-60min of pure fun and agony combined each week.

As an adhd engineering student, this channel just feels natural

My brother used to inspect homes for different insurance companies, one of the things that they checked for when inspecting home with woodstoves was how close wood was to stove pipes. Repeated heating of wood would cause its ignition temperature to drop substantially. That's probably to your MDF mold.

Bought my first send cut send great experience! Didnt use glue on mdf because glue doesn't like high temps... mdf is sawdust and glue..... 4:41

I had the same problem with PID lag in my solder reflow toaster-oven. In my case the problem was not actually the PID but the thermocouple. If you use one of those thermocouples with the nice stainless steel bulkhead fitting then you will have a ton of lag. I think they're meant to be used in liquids, where there's more heat transfer and the thermal mass of the fitting is less of a problem. I switched to a bare wire thermocouple and the result was a massive improvement in response.

"I redesigned my windshield to be a simple curve, a ruled surface as it is called. This will cost me about 2 and 1/2 mph according to the cfd analysis but it has the added benefit of being manufacturable, which is nice. The other design is also manufacturable but not by me apparently. It will cost me over $1,000 to have somebody else make it but if I do it myself I can spend twice as much money building a dodgy foam oven in my garden." - This is probably the essence of SuperFastMatt. Pure comedy. Love it.

Hey future Matt....A long time ago....coming up on 2 decades....my formula SAE team used a similar method thing making body panels....but thermal forming 4'X8' sheets of ABS plastic...in an oven made from scrap AC duct work, flame retardant plywood "insulation" and 2 oven heating elements. Our specific design details aren't important...but maybe instead of using foam as the structural element....AC duct work or something else could be in future Matt's future..so it doesn't collapse. One detail about our oven was it started to smolder when running for >8hrs of continuous use

You are going to wish you had used tinted polycarbonate. You have built yourself a SuperfastMatt shaped greenhouse to use in the desert. :)

Of course windshields are hard, Matt. How else would they keep the rocks out?

Sodium silicate "water glass" is a high temp adhesive. It won't swell either. Might need something like some diatomaceous earth worked in if it runs too much. MicroMesh emery cloth will wet polish the windscreen, goes to 20 or 30 thousand grit, something ridiculous in a pack of all the grits for optical finish on poly or acrylic. 💩 they use it on jets. Starts at like 800 grit. Did headlights years ago. Another thing, you might want to spray acylic clearcoat over the polycarbonate if it isn't full of uv stabalizers already. May just take some ripples and blemishes out w/o sanding too, a test would answer that. You can get it off with alcohol and that won't affect the plastic. Keep acetone away!

I have a 1957 DKW AutoUnion 3=6 (first Audis) that it has a cracked very very curved windshield (like a bel air). It’ll be a DTM style Quattro project and I need to make a windshield for it. This video saved my life!

The ending memorial was hilarious 👌👌

Damn is the broken foot really the reason to miss the race again? Or is it just kinda convenient timing

Anytime we see a noticeable difference in temperature with height we should consider leakage. In a sealed volume of non-planetary size, temperature largely evens out throughout the space, but in a leaky volume we will see temperature variation; more leakage = more variation. This is also true in a building such as your house, so a noticeable difference in temperature between upstairs and downstairs often indicates high levels of air infiltration. A well-sealed building will maintain a more consistent temperature throughout.

11:49 yay future Matt!! I miss the sound effect though:)

Lol I was waiting for you to eventually take a sheet of aluminum and screw it to the mold under the windshield, but it never happened and only got funnier. I love this channel

Not watched past 0:28 yet, but I suspect that what you need is more fire.

P51 D model had curved canopy in 1940s among other aircraft.

Have you seen a demonstration of the gravity / vacuum box method of drawing a canopy . Imagine a box with a top with a hole of your desired shape . A vacuum pump to evacuate the box , with a photo eye to interupt the vacuum pump when the plastic has drooped enough . Radiant heaters above the plastic sheet clamped to the top of the box . Heat the plastic and watch it fall . Hope this sends you in the right direction

Glad St Francis came in clutch for you at the end there.

At your previous video with your accident I commented that you are the most like minded YTer I've found so far. The current one puts a smile on my face as years ago I also made a windshield for my bike and I also followed a pretty similar approach using a kitchen oven. Of course my goal was easier as my windshield is smaller than yours (though larger than the original) so extending the oven was easier but more difficult to follow all the curves the original mount required. I used Plexi instead of Lexan which starts forming in lower temperatures so I used the original windshield as mold. I was very happy with the result and still use it, I laser engraved my site on it and the happiness led me to give the option of ordering a windshield on custom height with the desired engraving on. However I couldn't stabilize the results as much as I wanted to (and had to since I'd be selling) so I froze the project before rolling it out :) Get well soon!

I make similar incubators for curing epoxies and paints etc. Use a fan heater, this is already designed to blow out hot air without catching on fire. With some modern fan heaters they have a plastic case so just remove the plastic case and controller, the controller can go outside your oven or better still justnuse the element/fan assembly in the oven, and control it with a PID unit like the one you used here. The sensor for the PID unit should be placed close to the element, about an inch from it, so the sensor gets blasted with the hot air coming directly off the element. That speeds up the PID loop time constant and you will get lower and safer peak temps as it cycles.

out of curiosity: why does the window need to be heated at all? What would happen if it were bolted to the car as a flat piece and let the canopy hold its shape just like the mold was doing?

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I made a Cardboard powdercoat oven when my Blue M fancy thing was too small. Very simple: 2 heat guns blowing into a taped up cardboard, total loss, no recirculation. 12" x 12" x 5 feet. Cover the cardboard with moving blankets for "insulation." Two thermocouples to see if temps were close enough. The one fancy heat gun (Like a Grizzly T10827) could reduce air flow for higher temps, that and insulation management was my manual temp regulation. With that I managed 420 deg F for 20 minutes. Hacky, but oh so quick and cheap to build! Plug the heat guns into different circuits. One 20A breaker is not enough heat. Have fun!

@11:14 “gently opened the oven to remove the windshield” lmffaaooooo 😅

Quick! Take his windshields! He can't chase us!

I will need the mold in the future, so I will put it in a safe spot...as a digital file on my computer.

There's also insulation foam with an MDF backing (or some type of "wood" in any case), which will hopefully last you a lot longer if you ever need to do something similar again. I got mine in the DIY shop when I made my own germination box for pepper seeds.

Hi Matt. Ceramic coat the windshield both sides. Makes it as scratch resistant as glass, but make sure it's of the self healing professional variety!

Another technique for future Matt: firmly mount the mold with the flannel covering. Get with a kical powder coated and alliw them to heat the flat sheet if lexan to the appropriate temp hanging vertical in their oven. When ready, two or three sets of gloved hands drape the sidt lexan over the mold using heavy spring clamps around the edges. Pull the softened lexan down around the free standing mold and hold it till it cools and forms the proper shape. Home built aircraft guys do this with larger canopies. Flannel prevents "mark offs" transferring from the mold. Oversized part then gets trimmed to dimension. Similar to how actual glass is shaped, but at an appropriate temp. Experimentation needed, but you should get it by the 4th of 5th part. No oven construction needed, just pay the powder coater for using his.

Full Custom Garage successfully made a Lexan Bubble top for their vintage T-bird -62 custom. The kind that shapes itself by gravity (heat + just drops down within a frame). A very large bubble top, they built a very large oven... Obviously like they used to do for movie cars etc, back in the days.. Very cool... Its the video "Custom Bubble to Masterpeice!".

Yay! Been stuck in meetings and needed this.

Excellent! Future Matt, add corner angle foam board to direct the airflow in the oven around the corners instead of blasting it straight at the endwall. Angle all four corners to create a loop for the airflow to go around.

For hot air, get the heating assembly out of an old electric dryer. It's already mounted in a sheet metal tube, but you'll probably need a different fan, but you already know how to do that. I'd recommend a sheet metal elbow at the end too, lest you just blow the hot air straight against the foam (losing heat).

I made a heater for molding PVC out of the heater from an electric dryer. Has it's own fan and element.

It is still tough when plans change, it is the adventure of life. Thank you for the stories. We are all rooting for you!

9:10 LOOK AT THAT MUSCLE! How's he single😭 ?

3:03 I think St. Francis already could see it coming: "Yeh, this is gonna be s$%^!" Keep up the great work!

Use to make custom orthopedic back braces, often used for post-op patients, etc. We would make a mould out of plaster. You can carve it with autobody files and then using window screen dipped in water to smooth it out.

I've been following that channel for years and I can say this, there's 3 things in life: - send cut send - problems - solutions (mostly)

You taught me a lot about dealing wkth failure, as someone with AuDHD, I am a perfectionist. When I'd fsil, I'd veat mysekf up for it. Your channel has really helped me realise "RU-vidrs post what works" So now its "Why did it fail, how do i fix the failure method?" Mich nire rewarding when I can out jy failures out in a row and see my success at the end and the joirney to get there.

Superfastmatt will always be one of my favorite car youtubers. His sequential honda s600 is pretty much my dream car.

You should watch, 'full custom Ian' on youtube, Ian has 'formed' bubble tops and wind shields for his hot rod creations, he also went through a number of 'learning curve' tries and eventually perfected his method.

put some ceramic coating on your lexan to keep it from getting scratched. That's what i do with cheap safety glasses and it works great.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I've been trying to figure out how to mold a set of door windows for a project and you're work has inspired me and shown me both what to do and what not to do (which I do a lot).

They make oven convention fans that have their own heating elements “true convention” was one of the marketing/branded names for it

Oven: "Kill me." Matt: "Later."

I need a new motorcycle windshield this could be just the tutorial I need! Looking forward to watching this for inspiration! - past GleepGlop

if you are going to use foam to make an oven again, perhaps you should try using 2 thinner sheets of foam for the top of the oven and then build a steel frame between both sheets. you can tie the inside layer to the steel frame using thin strips of steel so that the "roof" doesnt come away from the steel frame. at least thats the way I'd do it!

I wish I had of discovered your channel earlier. The humour, honestly and the down to earth attitude make this channel sooo good. Love everything you do. One hell of a ride back with the busted leg in the last video too. Seriously you are one tough b@stard. Hope it heals quickly.

Hi Matt I too have to make a windscreen for a group C prototype in the coming weeks I am going to have to make it out of 5mm thick lexan and it to is wickedly curved like yours and decidedly bigger I was looking at how much of kerfuffle you have had with the oven method so I have decided to try forming it slowly with an electric blanket something I know your probably not familiar with out in california.but I can get it up to a fair heat with a domestic bed electric blanket but if I fail at that I have access to some ex formula 1 tyre warmer blankets so wish me luck oh and I will be buying enough lexan for a whole heap of the these as seeing your struggles I'm expecting to er make a few test screens like you.wish me luck I will let you know how it goes ok ps keep it up old boy.

Rest in Pieces, Oven. 🥺

Every time I've had to bend Lexan I've just used a plug, bungee cords, and a heat gun. Works great.

Saw a video of a f 16 canopy being made. They used 10 heat lamps on a full sheet and then dropped in onto a mold

A solution for the oven temperature difference front to rear would be a baffle a few inches past the oven air outlet. A piece of tin with some random holes (a coffee can cut and mostly flattened) to diffuse some of the heat around to the rear.

matt, just save yourself the trouble and find an industrial overstock company to sell you an environmental chamber. thats basically what you built in your yard minus the refrigerant side. you can find one for less than a couple grand and i know you'd use it for a ton of stuff like this. plus they can go hot or cold so you can use it for bearing fits and the like

Thanks for posting despite the broken leg Matt. Hope you’re on the mend mate.

looks good, great job

Legend says, ed roth did the bubbles (Beatnik Bandit) for his cars in a Bellfower pizza oven...I don't buy it, but if you look at the actual cars, the bubbles aren't very deep--so maybe. I' made a plex windshield for my G Producion Alfa, I made the mold from maple intended guitars, and had a place that was in Signal Hill, who usually did airplane windshields form it. I don't recall exactly what it cost in 1973, but It was only three times as much as a full sheet of plex from Cadillac Plastic... so after watching your video, I think I got a deal...

Hi Matt, love your videos, I just found out some horrible news today and your video is the most cheered up I’ve felt in the last 9 hours, thank you…

maybe add a plate in front of the hoven output should help for better heatx spreading. It will prevent the heat flux to go directly on the MDF piece and will push heat on the sides of the box

I'd forgotten about the bike accident. It's there in my peripheral...memory?? But as soon as I saw this video I was too excited to remember it had happened recently. Hope that you're on the med and that you aren't suffering too much.

neighbors be like, "That's matt, seems nice, but his house smells like burning plastic all the time."

I watch about 20 of the big car youtubers but I look forward to your uploads more than any of those.

Red silly cone is number two for high temp adhesive. Works on most furnace doors. The black tube of gunk for the cable gasket is sodium silicate and graphite for color and also as a filler that is temp stable. I forgot about graphite when suggesting diatomaceous earth. Both get near red hot before losing strength and don't expand or contract through extreme heat cycling, higher than alumina (fire brick) for the most part 'cept the ones that are foam. I cast, refractories are in my repertoire. Glue-up the oven form with gasket cable cement for woodburners. It just won't burn. Silly will eventually, even the tubes of red iron oxide (hightemp silicone) You can also paint the mold with an Infrared reflector, just for furnaces.

Next time, make your oven box out of MDF, tape the seams and wrap the box with welding blankets. Worked a treat on my CF projects

Well done on the 100% success rate of not quite finishing the project on time!!!

theres yet another way to make a windshield / canopy , you cut a tearshaped hole out of a piece of mdf and a hole with a airhose connection in another piece , sandwish the lexan in between and drill a lot of holes and mount the sandwish together with lots on nuts and bolds . heat it up to plyable then pump the lexan up like a bubble untill you have the height you want and let it cool , gives you a three dimensional windshield that should be without inprints from the fabric covering the buck and stuff as its not toushing anything but air you do need to make the car fit the canopy as its harder to blow the canopy AND make it so it fits

When I see a new episode is ready, I smile broadly and prepare to be entertained. Best channel on RU-vid, bar none.

F yes ! Literally a channel where somebody is literally.. like .. trying.. That's a big deal to me these days.. Rock on Matt !! .. rock on.. (please)

Dear algorithm, Matt is much safer, and more talented than you think. Please increase his topics to include comedy, irony, and engineering. Also bravery.

Awesome stuff, sorry you aren't getting it done in time for the race. For the next windscreen, how about making a vacuum mould.

This level of cold self-depricating sarcasm can only be reached by those those that are cursed with the mind set of... _"Hell, I can build that myself. Probably better and cheaper too"._ As someone with access to all manner of tools rarely seen by consumer types, I have zero hope of being cured of this mindset... and I have _The Pile Of Shame_ (a.k.a. spare parts) to prove it.

Hope you are felling better, and your landing gear is working properly again.

The boyz and I are all laugh-laugh-laughing! But also sad for you, and your twice be-slinkied leg. Sad-sad-sad. You have moved mountains to complete this project, Mr. Fastmatt. Thank you for your videos, you are a Gem.

Make the next oven like an air fryer! But bigger!👍🏼🤷🏻‍♂️👍🏼

And we’re done.. but I had 3 more blanks 🤣 hilarious. Thank you 🙏🏻

Maybe bend some sheet metal over the wood mold and create a metal mold so you have a mold that, if it's on fire, the plastic went away a long time ago? Also metal has several thermal properties that are more admirable than wood.

Just love how hard you tried. Als a solid 40% succesrate. I couldn't have done one tenf of that.

Clay over chickenwire and skeleton work better for high temp. But you need to figure the shrink factor and fire/bake it before use.

"Matt, why is there smoke coming out of your oven?"

It’s the same here, as season is over we have a looong winter to fix and modify what needs to be… winter is two weeks before the first outing on the next season. 😂

Oh damn. I didn't know about the leg situation. I had watched the video, but not to the end. In fact, I had stopped three seconds before the words "and then I broke my leg."

I found the problem: GE oven, GE lexan, but sika insulation board. Should have used router to build a mold to blast a bunch of GE "cracks and gaps" foam into, would have resolved all problems. This message brought to you by Jack Donaghy

That heating element in a tube is very similar to the heating element in an electric clothes dryer.

Looks like your leg is healed up. Congratulations on the windshield.