Thread: Scales Experiment.

I watched a few videos on plastic recycling recently and thought I would give it a try.
This is the results of my first attempt making scales from self-recycled HDPE (2) plastic.

Bottle caps, a detergent bottle, coffee container, milk jug and a mustard bottle (all HDPE, High Density PolyEthylene) were cut up into chips and strips and melted in a toaster oven at about 350 degrees F. Then it was sandwiched and clamped between two boards and left to cool.
The resulting sheet was then cut and shaped into scales. Not bad for a first try but can definitely be improved.

My next attempt will be a lot less chaotic in the pattern and colors and at some point I'll likely try melting directly into a scale mold.

Looks great. Are your scales as rigid as the plastic scales razors typically are sold with?

Sounds like this is a great home project. Is there an indication on the plastic container that it is HDPE?

Originally Posted by DZEC

Looks great. Are your scales as rigid as the plastic scales razors typically are sold with?

Sounds like this is a great home project. Is there an indication on the plastic container that it is HDPE?

I left these relatively thick and they are fairly rigid, thinner ones may have a bit more flex.
A 2 in the triangular recycle symbol is HDPE, generally it will have both the symbol and the plastic family.
https://learn.eartheasy.com/articles...y-the-numbers/

Originally Posted by joamo

I left these relatively thick and they are fairly rigid, thinner ones may have a bit more flex.
A 2 in the triangular recycle symbol is HDPE, generally it will have both the symbol and the plastic family.
https://learn.eartheasy.com/articles...y-the-numbers/

Sounds like a good project on which to use a metal liner. Thanks so much for the idea.

Originally Posted by DZEC

Sounds like a good project on which to use a metal liner. Thanks so much for the idea.

Sounds like a pretty good project to try and bond the metal liner to the hot molten plastic

This is an excellent idea. Thank you. I did some research on it and that stuff is extremely strong. I don't think that you need a metal liner or cheesecloth. How did you make and attach the wedge? From what I can tell, adhesives don't work on it well at all, but you can "weld" it with a heat gun.

This would be really cool with a blade forged from a recycled car spring. Imagine having a functional, good looking and unique razor that was made completely from junk. It would just be cool to have something worth a few hundred dollars that cost $0 in materials and that other people had thrown out. One man's junk and another man's treasure, so to speak. I think that I just found the next razor project to add to my collection.

Outstanding! How long does it take for the plastic to melt? Got to get some ideas on timing.....

Originally Posted by Johntoad57

Outstanding! How long does it take for the plastic to melt? Got to get some ideas on timing.....

I think i spent a total of 2 hours today on the green but I was melting the milk jug in layers and sprinkling the green between them. I would say depending on quantity and size of pieces at least a good 45 to an hour and a half using a toaster oven at about 330-350. It will have the consistency of a very stiff dough.

I played with making some last night. It is kind of the damascus of plastic. I don't think that I got mine hot enough though. While it looked good and felt strong, I cut it up and then bent it to test the "welds". In the middle of the piece I had the equivalent of "cold shuts". So I'll melt it back down and give it another try later today.

For a mold, it will never be thin enough to pour. It would have to be injected under high pressure. But it could be "press" molded, with the use of a C-clamp.

Some small vent holes between the two halves of the mold, will allow air and excess plastic to escape, and making the flashing easier to remove.