An interesting molding material

On topic because it can be used in aid of metalworking......

I found some stuff called "Polymorph" at Maplin's, an electronics store chain in the UK a bit like Radio Shack but better. Googling polymorph revealed a US source for it.

This is neat shit, Maynard! It's a 500g jar of little pellets that soften if poured into hot water -- 62C or more. The pellets turn clear and kinda gob together like salmon eggs. It can then be molded like modelling clay. It's a thermoplastic, can be re-melted and re-used. They claim that it's as strong as nylon when cool. That may be a bit of a reach, but it's definitely pretty tough stuff. I've made no measurements, but my "feel" is that it's more like nylon than polyethylene when cool. It can be machined (once cooled) with sharp cutting tools -- saw, drill, mill, burr, etc. It doesn't power-sand well because it gets gummy with heat of sanding.

A 500g jar was £11.99, about $21 US. Not too bad since it can be re-used.

Metalworking potential: jigging of irregularly-shaped parts for milling or drilling, particularly if said part has a nice finish that one might want to protect. Mold the stuff around the part, position the part and snug the vise, wait for it to cool, tighten the vise and check/tweak positioning. When machining is done: dunk the lot in hot water, peel off the stuff and return it to the jar for re-use if it didn't get contaminated with cutting fluid etc.

Reply to
Don Foreman
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Hey Don,

While the product looks very interesting, I'm not at all sure I followed your post about where to find this material, but after a 20 minute Google, I came across:

which appears to be an educational supply company. Only quantity they show is 100 grams at $7.95 or 1Kg at 69.95 US$. And somewhere in the search, it suggested another name: "Shapelock"

Less expensive than the Kelvin site.

Seems Amoco have something to do with it. Makes sense.

Be worth checking on sometime Monday.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario.

Reply to
Brian Lawson

Thanks, Don.

Harold

Reply to
Harold and Susan Vordos

For this, I use Wood's metal (better similar alloys that are cadmium-free. Mine melts at 96°C (quite boiling temp. of water)). It doesn't matter when you have oil or chips in the molten material. And it is _stiff_! No flexing at all.

Nick

Reply to
Nick Müller

This plastic is almost certainly polycapralactone. Dont get it too hot as it becomes sticky. Similar materials are used as glue in some glue guns.

Reply to
David Deuchar

I will learn to spell this one day polycaprolactone

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Reply to
David Deuchar

This might be the stuff I've been looking for. I need to scratch build a couple of tires for a 1/8 scale trailer that I am building. My first thought was to make a wood pattern of the tire and then cast it in rubber molding compound.

Can this stuff be turned on a lathe? If so, this might be what I want. I've read through both sites listed above and it says it can be machined, but it does not specifically mention either lathes or mills.

Anyone actually use this stuff?

Mike

Reply to
mj

Googling

stuff.

nylon

tighten

Just saw an ad on TV for something called "Toy Maker" by Colorforms using something called "FlipFaze"

Looks like it does something similar...

Reply to
Rick

It can be turned on a lathe, using a sharp HSS toolbit. I just tried it. It turns pretty much like nylon, a little gummier than delryn. But moldable rubber or urethane might actually be better for tires -- or just turn the wheels out of delryn rodstock.

Reply to
Don Foreman

Sounds like its made out of the milk of many goats :)

cheers T.Alan

Reply to
T.Alan Kraus

Reply to
JR North

This material is available in the U.S. as Jett Sett from various jewelry equipment suppliers for $20-30 /pound. Try septools.com or riogrande.com Leo Plas

Reply to
Leo Plas

Don, Thanks. I would just use this for the pattern. I'll eventually make a urethane mold and use that to mold the tires with rubber molding compound. For the pattern, I need something that is going to be somewhat easy to work with as I need to figure out how to cut the lugs on the outside of the tires. I thought wood would be the way to go initially as it would be fairly easy to carve with a chisel and knife.

Basically, I was going to turn the wood pattern down on a wood lathe to the approximate width and height dimensions. Then I was going to hand carve the lugs on the outside of the tire. Now I'm wondering if this wouldn't be easier with Polymorph. Can I carve this stuff too? I just bought a mill, so that might be an option to get the lugs carved.

Mike

Reply to
mj

knife.

You might want to look at polymer clays-any craft store will have it...

Reply to
Rick

Yup, you can carve it with an exacto knife, or with a sharp burr in a Dremel if you don't let it get hot. You could also make dents with a heated metal rod. You can mill it too; use a sharp 2-flute endmill at fairly low speed.

Reply to
Don Foreman

I don't have any feel for bondability with other materials. I don't think it would be nearly as good as casting resins for reproduction of detail.

Reply to
Don Foreman
£14.99, free shipping:
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Or 5 x £.99 + (£2 + 4 x £1.50) shipping = £12.95:
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Bob
Reply to
Bob Engelhardt

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