I was inspired in part by a Youtube clip of a bloke making a slingshot out of HDPE and in part by a need to make a new plastic housing for the end of my 4WD compressor.
I cut up a load of 2L milk bottles (because they are made from HDPE), made a quick timber mould and threw it in the oven for 1.5hrs.
This is the hot HDPE being pressed into shape:
IMG_4232 by Jon Kelly, on Flickr
Out of the mould and a quick dress up:
IMG_4235 by Jon Kelly, on Flickr
I was aiming for a 90 x 90 x 90 solid block of HDPE at the end of the process but unfortunately my mould wasn't tall enough to melt sufficient HDPE so I ended up with 90 x 90 x 48!
Shortly after turning in the lathe I found this air pocket:
IMG_4237 by Jon Kelly, on Flickr
I decided at this point that Id need to start again because I needed a hollow cylinder with a square end. Regardless of the 'manufacturing floor', I turned the HDPE around and started to bore out the back, only to find this:
IMG_4238 by Jon Kelly, on Flickr
Clearly the milk bottles hadn't had long enough in the oven and the centre was still cold and hadn't melted. Defo time for Mark II!
I was very surprised at how well the HDPE machines, easy to get a good surface and heat doesn't seem to be a problem.
Today's activity was to make a better, stronger and taller mould and cut up more of those pesky milk bottles... Will post more about Mark II later...
R
Jon
Read the full thread at metalworkforums.com...
I cut up a load of 2L milk bottles (because they are made from HDPE), made a quick timber mould and threw it in the oven for 1.5hrs.
This is the hot HDPE being pressed into shape:
Out of the mould and a quick dress up:
I was aiming for a 90 x 90 x 90 solid block of HDPE at the end of the process but unfortunately my mould wasn't tall enough to melt sufficient HDPE so I ended up with 90 x 90 x 48!
Shortly after turning in the lathe I found this air pocket:
I decided at this point that Id need to start again because I needed a hollow cylinder with a square end. Regardless of the 'manufacturing floor', I turned the HDPE around and started to bore out the back, only to find this:
Clearly the milk bottles hadn't had long enough in the oven and the centre was still cold and hadn't melted. Defo time for Mark II!
I was very surprised at how well the HDPE machines, easy to get a good surface and heat doesn't seem to be a problem.
Today's activity was to make a better, stronger and taller mould and cut up more of those pesky milk bottles... Will post more about Mark II later...
R
Jon
Read the full thread at metalworkforums.com...
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