SpudFiles

well, i went on a trip to LA and picked up this:

no, its not cocaine. its polyethylene. i got it at a plastic container manufacturing company. as is its in a powdered form, and is the same stuff that milk jugs are made out of.

right now i am thinking of ways to use it in out mutual hobby. so far i have tried to mold it by heating it in a metal tube, but it never liquified, instead it turned into a clear paste. i was afraid to bring it to a higher temperature in fear of it burning. all i know is that a the company they aimed for ~650º F

so far i have though of molding it into a bullets, and even pistons. if anyone has any suggestion on what i could so with it, feel free to post a comment.

P.S. sorry for any typos, but i just got a new comp and have to get used to the keyboard.

very cool stuff, however I think the fact that you need to heat it is going to result in a lot of complex metal moulds and for practical purposes, you're better off using stuff like epoxy resin when it comes to casting.

Then again if you're into all-metal guns it would be great for pistons (assuming it can be finely finished) and ammunition.

i think it would make a good piston but making it teh right shape might eb a bit hard

did the clear stuff u heated harden or just not work

it turns clear and has a consistency of cured sofy silicon caulk. i think i may need to heat it more, and will experiment later.

it turns milky and hard when it cools. ill upload pics in a sec. photobucket isnt working at the moment.

It is supposed to turn into that clear paste when it melts, that is why it has to be forced into a mold.

you should make .62 cal blowdart cones.... i would buy............

or you could make people and put them in your front yard as A) targets B) something to scare neighbors or C) make them your best friends i guess making targets would be cool because it would be like crappy cheap ballistics gel.

You could always do away with the high temperatures and mould polymorph plastic at just 60*C.

My cannon grip is made of it and so are the plastic slugs I fire

Custom bodywork would be nice, I've rarely seen moulded plastic bodywork on other peoples cannons.

Well I have talked to Nick about plastic injection, as he works at a PVC manufacturing plant, and he makes it sound pretty damn hard.

He says that they have millions of dollars worth of equipment, and they still f*ck up time-to-time. The temperature isn't very tolerant, and at the correct consistency it is a rubber consistency. This then requires several TONS of pressure to force into the mold. The mold interior is coated with a industrial grade of chrome.

I interested in machining, have read documentation on die, and mold machining. They operate under what is called "zero-tolerance" tolerances. Basically most mechanical connections are made with several thousandths slop to allow for easy fitting, but on mold machining both "half" are made to the same dimensions, requiring a lot of force to connect.

So I think as far as your concerned, it is of no use. I have seen several highly educated, and skilled machinist try, and manufacture a plastic injection machine. All I have seen failed miserably, the equipment costing something to the tune of several thousand dollars. Nothing you are going to near replicate with some duct tape, pencil torch, and some pipe.

i know that injection/blow-molding is way out of league for me. however at ronco (the place i got it) used metal molds, and a large furnace. they then rotated the molds while cooling it to create the desired wall thickness. from the consistency i got there would be no rotating going on. the owner said that it was a "pretty viscous liquid when it was melted", but it was clearly enough to ooze around the insides of the molds.

also, they attached fittings to the containers by taking an injection molded part and spinning it to create friction and bond the "plug" in the side of the container. the interesting bit about this is that although it started to smoke, it liquified enough to drip down the sides of the containers.

You could always do away with the high temperatures and mould polymorph plastic at just 60*C.

yeah, unfortunately polymorph is a bit expensive for me, given that i don't know exactly what i would make, and i would probably waste it all goofing off
also, i got this stuff for free, and my natural curiosity will not let me just give up on it