Q: How to make parts in plastic ?

Oct 23, 2005 5 Replies

It appears that you want to injection-mold with thermoplastics, which is not a trivial thing to do on a small scale. There are small tryout presses and simple presses made for educational use in schools, but they aren't production machines.

Much small-scale plastic work is done with room-termperature-cure thermosetting plastics (polyester resin, epoxy resin, vinylester resin, polyurethane resin), which are a lot easier to work with. Working with them also is a lot slower, and the materials are MUCH more expensive, however. But they generally have better mechanical and physical properties. They are used a lot for prototypes of parts that will be injection-molded in production.

But building a machine and molds that will give you the heat and pressure needed to injection-mold thermoplastics is a big job, or an expensive job, or both.

What kind of plastic parts are you trying to make, and in what quantities?

-- Ed Huntress

For the home designer a thermoset, room-temperature cure plastic would be far easier than a thermoplastic. Just about any catalyzed plastic could be mixed and poured into a plastic mold without having to build an injection molding machine.

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Gingry plans are in inches, but this shold be no problem.

I have this book but have not yet built the machine.

GmcD

Do anyone here know a site that explain how to "Make your own plastic parts" ?



I am thinking aboat the prosess innvolving:



Hyraulic pressure. Plastic granulat heater. Alu molds whit built inn heaters and cooling channels


reg Axel Norway


--What he said. For onesy-twosy stuff I'd recommend Alumilite, which can be had at hobby shops and craft stores.

I looked at the book a while back. If you want to build a machine, it looks like a good, engaging project. If you want to make fewer than, say, 1,000 plastic parts, it looks like a good way to waste time preparing to make marginal parts.

I'm not knocking it. Building machines is fun, if that's the object.

-- Ed Huntress

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