In my collection of "things that would be cool to do" is plastic molding. I have plenty of uses for some nice plastic parts and couldnt think of ways of doing it. I was thinking compression molding might not be easy for a DIY project. Then I was thinking maybe heat it and pour much like casting aluminum or bronze. But saw issues in that too. Ok what about heating a sheet of poly or acrylic in my oven, then vacuum form it to a wood mold? Could work, but I would be limited on the parts I could make. So I was thinking.....


Is there a resin of some kind I could use? Some two part epoxy that can mold and once dry, become a plastic part or even have the same properties as plastic (I know there are millions of types of plastics with varying properties, but I'm looking for something that shares properties with Polyethylene, PVC, Delrin)? Maybe something that turns solid plastic into a goo I could form, then harden back into plastic?

Anyone know of anything to do this?

it will look prety ugly, you will need to polish very carefully to get nice finish in melting points. After that also some painting will be needed which is painfull for plastics, i think..

there is also silicon? glue - it is very nice. i know that pc case modders use it for acrilic/transparent PVC. So, you just need to browse modding forums, they will have the answers

Have fun with this:
http://www.micromark.com/COMPLETE-RESIN-CA...R-SET,8174.html

My dad has been making model train kits with it and selling them for profit. Its a very nifty system.

great kit. though at a price of $88 for such small bottles could be quite costly. for that price I would expect gallon jugs. great link, its better than telling someone to search for modeling groups, without ank links. looks like he has tried search sites already.

I did a little site searching, really couldnt come up with much b/c I really didnt know what I was looking for. But after talking to one of the scientist here, he gave me some long drawn out story when he was back in college and had to research Epoxies. He said that there are a some epoxies out there then when set, very closely resemble plastics. I will have to search on it, but it might work.

If I could make a wood or even foam mold, then pour the epoxy in and let it set, then have a part that could perform much like a plastic, that would be awesome. Maybe even mix in some fiberglass into the mix for some added strength. I would be buying the stuff by the 5 gal bucket. I have some many ideas I could use it for.

There was a section here that had to do with tools and working with different materials. In there there was a plan for making a vacuum molding rig for plastic.

It's not hard to do, I had one that I used for R/C cars.

Yea I would be seriously interested in a DIY Injection molding system, or a cheaper than the currently very expensive machinery.

If someone finds out something PLEASE reply here or PM me.

Here are a couple of books on the subject, Injection Molder & Molding Attachment. Both by Vince Gingery. I have no direct experience with either the machines or the books though.