Atomic Shrimp - Tag - Recycling2023-02-01T12:10:35+00:00urn:md5:c0b98cd55ab1d3c468ecdbd19e8bc1dbDotclearOld Into New Times Two - Making Over An Old Workbench And Upcycling The Old Benchtopsurn:md5:f064da7b7b54824316e518d242b969b92016-10-31T22:30:00+00:002016-11-01T07:39:54+00:00MikeCraftProjectsRecyclingVideoWoodworking<figure style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;"><img alt="oldintonewthumb.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/o/oldintonewthumb.jpg" />
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<p>The wooden tops of my trusty old folding workbench were starting to look really beaten and worn - time to make them over with some lovely new hardwood.</p>
<p>After I finished doing that, I also had a great idea for repurposing the old scarred and worn bench tops into something unique and new.</p> <div class="clearleft"> </div>
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<p>The old benchtops really were starting to look worse for wear - some parts were nearly more paint spills and holes than they were timber.</p>
<p>I zoomed off to the <a class="ref-post" href="https://atomicshrimp.com/post/2014/01/11/Southampton-Wood-Recycling">Southampton Wood Recycling Project</a> and picked up a couple of lovely slabs of heavy hardwood - at next to no cost.</p>
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<p>The wood just needed a little bit of cleaning up and smoothing - starting with the electric planer, the router to round over the outside edges and finally, a run over with the electric orbital sander to smooth everything off.</p>
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<p>Once the shaping and smoothing was complete, I did a quick trial run of the fit on the workbench, on top of the old wooden jaws.</p>
<p>The new top was going to be a little wider and broader, as well as considerably thicker, heavier and more substantial than the old one.</p>
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<p>Removing the old wooden jaws was a breexe - just a few screws, then the metal frame just lifted off.</p>
<p>(You can see in this picture that I actually already reversed one of the jaws already to try to eke out a bit longer life for this hardy tool.</p>
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<p>Reassembling with the new jaws was just as easy - the same process in reverse - placing the metal frame on top of the underside of the old jaws, then screwing it down</p>
<p>A quick lick of linseed oil to finish and protect the new timber, and it was done - a sturdy workbench that is better than it was when it was new.</p>
<p>I might drill some holes in it later for bench dogs, but I might not - I hardly use them after all.</p>
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<h3>The End Result</h3>
<p>Nice. A trusty old bit of kit given a new lease of life as a really solid and good-looking workbench.</p>
<p>I guess I'll probably make a sad little noise the first time I accidentally drill or cut into it, but that's just part of the story - read on...</p>
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<h3>Now, About Those Benchtops...</h3>
<p>At the end of this, I was just a little reluctant and sentimental about throwing away the old wooden bench tops - they have so much story and character in them. So I set about a plan to make them into a memento worth keeping.</p>
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<p>I cut a 30 degree wedge of scrap plywood and lined it up so that the central axis of the wedge intersected the centre of one of the dog holes - then clamped it down.</p>
<p>I used the straight sides of the wedge as a cutting guide, sawing a straight and perpendcular cut through the wood.</p>
<p>I repeated this 11 times until I had twelve sort-of-similar pieces.</p>
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<p>A quick rub on a sheet of medium grit abrasive was all they needed to flatten the edges ready for fixing together.</p>
<div class="clearleft"> </div>
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<p>Gluing pieces of wood edge to edge isn't always easy - but it can be made easier by taping the back of the two pieces together whilst holding them flush as they will finally be joined.</p>
<p>Then the two pieces can be opened apart like a book, glue spread into the gap, then closed back up and secured around with more tape.</p>
<div class="clearleft"> </div>
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<p>I left the glue overnight to fully dry and set. I then glued the pairs of pieces together into one large more-or-less circular piece.</p>
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<p>I used a large holesaw to mark out a shallw circular cut surrounding the centre - then cut a recess inside this boundary using my router.</p>
<p>I could have just marked the circle with a pencil, but cutting a shallow slot like this makes it somehow easier to work freehand with the router - there is additional resistance to cutting once it crosses the line, and this can be felt, and makes it easy to back off and cut in a different direction.</p>
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<p>A quartz clock mechanism fitted neatly inside the recess.</p>
<p>I fixed this into place by blobbing a large amount of hot melt glue alongside it on each edge.</p>
<p>(I could have affixed it with glue pads in between the mechanism and the wood, but this would have pulled the spindle back inside the clock face - and clearance was at an absolute premium here.</p>
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<p>All that was left to do then was to fit the hands - they just push onto the spindle, but they do need a little bit of adjustment in the form of bending and tweaking so that they don't collide with each other - it's a good idea to wind the clock forward through a full 12 hour cycle to ensure that the hands clear each other, and the clock face, in all positions.</p>
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<h3>The End Result</h3>
<p>I'm rather happy with this - it's not exactly pretty, but it has bags of charm - and every little hole, gouge, paint blob and clamp mark tells a story - some of them more obvious than others - for example, the green paint is from when I made the <a class="ref-post" href="https://atomicshrimp.com/post/2010/08/15/Building-A-Boat-Page-12-The-Triumph-Of-The-Snow-Pea">Snow Pea</a>. The darker red paint is from when I made my <a class="ref-post" href="https://atomicshrimp.com/post/2007/11/24/Spin-Art-Machine">Spin Art</a> machine. The deep slots (near the middle of the 6 and 7 segments) are from when I tried hollowing out a book using my router (I don't think I wrote that one up, as it was a disaster!)</p>
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<p> </p>
<h3>Video Stuff</h3>
<p>If you'd like to see more about the process of both of these halves of the project, there's a video for each of them - below:</p>
<div class="clearleft imagecentre"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2nSvqRdKM1Y" width="560"></iframe></div>
<div class="clearleft imagecentre"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UUgPBlN4E8M" width="560"></iframe></div>Upcycled Foraging Knifeurn:md5:66ef1f05ee3c00019bbd2cfab411c58d2016-08-04T23:09:00+00:002016-11-01T07:39:07+00:00MikeCraftForagingMetalworkProjectsRecyclingVideoWoodworking<figure style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;"><img alt="knifethumb.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/k/knifethumb.jpg" />
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<p>I wanted to make a one-off little knife to use when I go foraging for mushrooms. I made this one out of cheap junk.</p> <p class="clearleft"> </p>
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<p>My foraging knife began life as a worn and broken decorator's knife that I picked up for 75p at a car boot sale - it had a thin and beautifully springy blade. I could see the potential.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>
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<p>I removed the old handle and ferrule and I ground the blade, rounding off the tip where it had been broken.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>
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<p>For the handle, I selected a piece of scrap hardwood that came from an imported pallet.</p>
<p>I don't know the exact species of wood. It smells like black pepper when cut - it's hard and fibrous, but sands to a very smooth finish.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>
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<p>I cut a rectangular section of the timber and drilled a hole in one end.</p>
<p>Then I glued the tang into the handle using epoxy thickened with some of the sawdust from the drilled hole.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>
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<p>The glue cured and formed a very firm bond between blade and handle.</p>
<p>Using a coarse file, I shaped the wood to form a proper handle. I didn't really have any idea what shape I wanted at first - I just sort of 'found' it within the wood.</p>
<p>I ended up with something that's actually lovely to hold - tapered in the middle and with a curved back, it fits the hand very nicely.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>
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<p>Using an 80 grit sanding flap wheel, I took off the file marks and did some initial smoothing.</p>
<p>There were still some imperfections, but I decided I actually like them. The blade isn't new or perfect, so it is in keeping that the handle looks a little lived-in.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>
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<p>Once the handle had taken shape, I quickly realised the blade looked too rounded and dumpy - so I did some more grinding - mostly along the back side, to introduce a slight curve and bring the tip to a point.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>
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<p>I finished sanding the handle down to 400 grit - event though the wood is just scrap pallet timber, it finished quite flat and silky.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>
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<p>I rubbed on a little Linseed oil to finish the handle. It brought depth and shine to the wood grain.</p>
<p>It also did highlight some of the imperfections, but I am resolved to keep those.</p>
<p>I intended to put a layer of shellac varnish over the oil, but in the end, decided against it - I actually really like the soft sheen of the oiled wood handle. It will take on more colour and character as it ages, and as it is handled.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>
<h3>The End Result</h3>
<p>This knife turned out much nicer than I hoped or expected. I'm really pleased to have taken what was essentially a workman's tool, fit for disposal, and given it a new life where it will be loved and cherished. It makes me feel good.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>
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<p class="clearleft"> </p>
<p>I've a mind to do some more things like this. In case you can't tell, I've been watching Trollskyy's channel on YouTube, and finding it quite inspiring.</p>
<p>I can't ever hope to be an expert knifemaker like him, but I do intend to explore a little more. I like the idea of upcycling an old file into a strong bushcraft knife - that might be coming soon here...</p>
<h3>Video</h3>
<p>Here's a video that goes into a little more detail of this upcycling project.</p>
<p class="imagecentre"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="287" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zfrEkyg246s" width="510"></iframe></p>Southampton Wood Recyclingurn:md5:c0792bb054d30db964ac4939cf34a4912014-01-11T00:09:00+00:002015-03-21T00:10:45+00:00MikePlacesRecycling<p><b><img alt="southamptonwoodrecyclingthumb.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/southamptonwoodrecyclingthumb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="southamptonwoodrecyclingthumb.jpg, Jan 2014" />January 2014</b> - Recent storms have damaged parts of my garden fence - in my search for economical ways to rebuild it, I stumbled across The Southampton Wood Recycling project.</p> <p><img alt="southamptonwoodrecycling1.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/southamptonwoodrecycling1.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="southamptonwoodrecycling1.jpg, Jan 2014" /></p>
<h3>What Is It?</h3>
<p>It's a non-profit social enterprise that takes in used wood from a number of sources - construction sites, pallets, etc - and diverts it from going to landfill - turning it back into usable timber.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="southamptonwoodrecycling2.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/southamptonwoodrecycling2.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="southamptonwoodrecycling2.jpg, Jan 2014" />They have a lot of sawn softwood, much of it in very good, usable lengths; board materials such as plywood and OSB; smaller amounts of planed softwoods and (when I visited) some promising odds and ends of assorted hardwoods.</p>
<p>All of it is clean and free of nails - although the holes from their removal are of course visible in pieces that have been deconstructed from pallet wood - and it's neatly organised and stacked in a way that makes it accessible for browsing without too much dangerous or dirty rummaging.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="southamptonwoodrecycling3.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/southamptonwoodrecycling3.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="southamptonwoodrecycling3.jpg, Jan 2014" />Pricing seemed quite reasonable - calculated on a single, fair basis (essentially, volume) for each category of timber.</p>
<p>My rough pricing of the materials necessary to construct a panel for my post-and-panel fence came in at well under one third of the price I would have to pay for new timber at my local DIY warehouse.</p>
<p>And in general, the timber is well above the 'scrap' quality that might be expected. Some of it is actually new timber - presumably surplus lengths from the end of construction projects.</p>
<p>In addition to boards and sheets, they have a few other interesting items - big timber cable drums that are just perfect for conversion into tables - and a selection of handcrafted items such as bird tables, crates, vegetable baskets.</p>
<p>Wood that is broken or in pieces too short or otherwise unusable as timber is sold as firewood.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="southamptonwoodrecycling4.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/southamptonwoodrecycling4.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="southamptonwoodrecycling4.jpg, Jan 2014" />I had neither cash nor much load-carrying capacity on this occasion - so this visit was very much exploratory, but I will definitely be coming back here for my fence materials - and I'll probably be looking here first when I need any other timber for other uses.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">How To Find It</h3>
<p>The project has its own website - <a href="http://www.southamptonwoodrecycling.org.uk/">here</a> - they're open 6 days a week, located in the old heart of Southampton (<a href="https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Market+Place,+Southampton,+SO14+3NX&hl=en&sll=50.899117,-1.402842&sspn=0.011571,0.033023&hnear=Market+Pl,+Southampton+SO14,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=16">map link</a>).</p>
<h3>Recycling</h3>
<p>I love discovering places like this - for me, it's not just the childhood excitement of the sweet shop - it's the chance to find something a bit different - and a perfect antidote to the sterile, regimented order of the timber section of the DIY store.</p>
<p>Much more so than clean, fresh, identical boards of brand new wood, it really feels like the timber here <i>wants</i> to live again - the shapes, textures and colours of all the different pieces inspire me to make something.</p>More Plastic Moulding - Re-Making A Missing Handleurn:md5:41340e73a29be115e1ef644d741737162013-12-29T21:27:00+00:002015-02-08T21:32:24+00:00MikePlasticProjectsRecyclingVideo<p><img alt="plasticmoulding4thumb.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding4thumb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding4thumb.jpg, Dec 2013" />Here's another plastic moulding project - this time, to make a new handle for a broken horn serving ladle.</p> <div class="imagecentre"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="383" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/o4wbRz63cAo" width="511"></iframe></div>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding4_1.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding4_1.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding4_1.jpg, Dec 2013" />Here's the object I started with - it's a serving ladle made from shaped cow horn.</p>
<p>It originally had a wooden handle, attached by a slender dowel, but this broke off.</p>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding4_2.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding4_2.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding4_2.jpg, Dec 2013" />And here's the finished object, complete with remanufactured handle.</p>
<p>The handle is made from about 200g of recycled HDPE - sourced from plastic milk and shampoo bottles, plus an assortment of bottled tops thrown in for extra colour.</p>
<p>The new handle is built on a metal post that is glued securely into the drilled-out original dowel hole - hopefully this new handle won't snap off quite so easily.</p>Network Cable Coil Basketurn:md5:de0aef63af084794bf13ff3a79c442572013-10-20T22:15:00+00:002015-04-01T21:58:39+00:00MikeCraftProjectsRecycling<p><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"><img alt="networkcablebasketthumb.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/n/networkcablebasketthumb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="networkcablebasketthumb.jpg, Oct 2013" />I made this colourful coil basket completely out of scrap network cables.</span></p> <p class="clearleft"><img alt="networkcablebasket2.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/n/networkcablebasket2.jpg" style="line-height: 1.6em; float: left; margin: 0px 1em 1em 0px;" title="networkcablebasket2.jpg, Oct 2013" /></p>
<p>I started with an assortment of colourful network patch cables (each colour being a different length).</p>
<p>You may at this point be wondering why I would just waste brand new, bagged cables, but there's a good reason - see below ('But Why?').</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="networkcablebasket3.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/n/networkcablebasket3.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="networkcablebasket3.jpg, Oct 2013" />I wired three different colours together at one end (using one of the original twist ties with which the cables were packaged).</p>
<p>Then I plaited (braided) the cables together into a long rope.</p>
<p>Being all different lengths, I occasionally had to stop and tie in a new cable, making sure I used each colour in strict rotation (which later brought about a very pleasing blended effect in the finished basket).</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="networkcablebasket4.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/n/networkcablebasket4.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="networkcablebasket4.jpg, Oct 2013" />Tying in the new cables was a simple matter of wrapping a temprary wire tie around the braid, to stop it from unravelling, then just twist tying the new cable to the end of the one that was running out.</p>
<p>Again, the wire ties were the originals saved from the original packaging of the cables.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="networkcablebasket5.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/n/networkcablebasket5.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="networkcablebasket5.jpg, Oct 2013" />I needed something to tie up the spiral coils of the basket, so I ripped open an ordinary grey patch cable and pulled out the twisted pairs.</p>
<p>Although these were stranded copper wires, they were stiff enough to be able to be pushed through holes to stitch things together, without using a needle.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="networkcablebasket6.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/n/networkcablebasket6.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="networkcablebasket6.jpg, Oct 2013" />Starting off was a little tricky, but just consists of wiring a folded end together, then carefully wrapping the braid, edge-on, around the centre.</p>
<p>I carefully stitched the edge of the braid to the previous coil, but only ever looping through the outermost loops of the edge of the strip.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="networkcablebasket7.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/n/networkcablebasket7.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="networkcablebasket7.jpg, Oct 2013" />Here's a closer look at the stitching method - I kept the braid flat all the way around and only looped the wire through the edge of the new strip, then back through the edge loops of the existing coil.</p>
<p>As the coil builds, it quite naturally begins to take on a dished shape - not really sure how or why - and it would probably be possible to constrain it not to form a bowl - but that would be a lot of effort - and anyway, I did actually want a bowl shaped basket.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="networkcablebasket8.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/n/networkcablebasket8.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="networkcablebasket8.jpg, Oct 2013" />I left the UTP plugs on the ends of the cables - if I had been making this for use as a fruit bowl at home, I'd have cut them off and joined the cables more carefully - maybe butted together with tape or heatshrink tube - but instead, I just tucked them in so that they were all on the inside of the basket - again, there's a good reason for this - explained below and in the side column.</p>
<p>Because the individual cables were all different lengths, the three strands of my braid ran out one at a time - I kept on looping around and stitching it to the rim of the basket until it was nearly all used up.</p>
<p>The last loop of single cable went all the way around the outside to thicken and reinforce the rim.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">End Result</h3>
<p>The finished basket used up about a dozen cables and measures about 25 cm in diameter at the rim.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="networkcablebasket9.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/n/networkcablebasket9.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="networkcablebasket9.jpg, Oct 2013" /></p>
<p>I'm quite pleased with this basket - making it was fairly easy (although a little tough on the hands). I think it looks quite beautiful - even with all the cable ends deliberately left on for IT geek appeal.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="networkcablebasket10.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/n/networkcablebasket10.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="networkcablebasket10.jpg, Oct 2013" />I left a tail of unwoven cable trailing at the end, as an attachment for a label. The label is made - appropriately - from a PCI network card.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">But Why?</h3>
<p>This basket was made for a specific purpose.</p>
<p>I work for the IT department of a local government organisation - and I was commissioned to make the trophy for our Christmas quiz party.</p>
<p>I wanted something that was zero-budget and nice-looking, but slightly weird and super-geeky - so something made from recycled redundant tech seemed like a great idea.</p>
<h3>Waste Of Cables?</h3>
<p>This might seem like a waste of cables, but they were destined for scrap recycling anyway - they're Cat5 cables, substandard for use in our Data Centre, and various bits of procurement/disposal red tape meant they can't be sold off.</p>
<p>The trophy itself will include a tag consisting of an old network card, labelled 'Winner' and plugged onto the trailing end of the last cable.</p>
<h3>Ancient And Modern</h3>
<p>This fusion of ancient crafts and modern materials makes me really happy. Coil basket making is a really old technique that works with almost any material - including those sorts of things that cannot otherwise be woven, for example; pine needles.</p>
<p>But old scrap cables are actually nearly an ideal material for making baskets; flexible, uniform, strong and slightly stiff. This might not be my last recycled cable basket...</p>Plastic Moulding - Replacing A Broken Lidurn:md5:44cb0406f18d4d804269b0f58333ab622012-12-26T21:11:00+00:002015-02-08T21:25:20+00:00MikePlasticProjectsRecycling<p><img alt="plasticmoulding3_thumb.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding3_thumb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding3_thumb.jpg, Dec 2012" />Alas! The plastic lid on one of my kitchen jugs broke.</p>
<p>This snap-on lid was one of the main reasons for buying it - as it makes the jug useful for storing leftover gravy or custard in the fridge.</p>
<p>So I set about making a replacement - out of my new favourite material - recycled HDPE.</p> <p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding3_1.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding3_1.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding3_1.jpg, Dec 2012" /></p>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding3_2.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding3_2.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding3_2.jpg, Dec 2012" />I needed to make a mould - so I drew around the lid onto a piece of spare softwood.</p>
<p>I also drew around a suitably-sized roll of tape to make a circular piece for the centre. It later turned out that this piece was too thick (it would have made the inner indentation protrude too far into the jug), so I cut it again, out of thinner fibreboard.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding3_3.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding3_3.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding3_3.jpg, Dec 2012" />I cut out the shapes with an electric jig saw and assembled everything onto a base.</p>
<p>I chiselled out an indentation for the handle of the jug.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_3.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_3.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_3.jpg, Jun 2011" />I melted the plastic on my sandwich toaster between two sheets of reusable nonstick baking liner, as detailed in <a class="ref-post" href="https://atomicshrimp.com/post/2011/06/16/More-Plastic-Recycling-Experimental-Stuff">other pages</a> on this topic.</p>
<p>I pressed it thinner than usual, as I didn't want to make a lid that's too thick, and also, thicker material tends to suffer worse problems with shrinkage on cooling.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding3_4.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding3_4.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding3_4.jpg, Dec 2012" />After heating the plastic circle until very soft and pliable, I peeled away the nonstick lining and draped the hot plastic over the top of the wooden mould.</p>
<p>Working quickly, I pressed the jug down on top of the plastic sheet, forcing it to the right shape. I used a screwdriver to gather up some of the worst of the puckering at the edges.</p>
<p>I kept the jug pressed down until I was sure the plastic had finished solidifying, then left it in place for an hour to cool.</p>
<p>I clamped a batten to my workbench, then used this as a thickness guide to cut all the way around the lid with a hacksaw.</p>
<p>The saw blade tended to wander a little, but fortunately, only in the direction of the waste material - so I was able to trim it back further with files afterwards.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding3_5.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding3_5.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding3_5.jpg, Dec 2012" />A little further filing, trimming and sanding, and the lid was finished.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding3_6.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding3_6.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding3_6.jpg, Dec 2012" />Here it is alongside the original.</p>
<p class="clearleft">And the proof of the pudding - it fits with a satisfying snap onto the jug - it's probably not a completely air and water tight seal, as HDPE is more rigid than the original, which was a sort of hard synthetic rubber, but I'm really happy with this result.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding3_7.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding3_7.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="plasticmoulding3_7.jpg, Dec 2012" /></p>
<h3>Possibilities</h3>
<p>This project was a success and it got me thinking - maybe I should make lids for other things that never even had lids to start with - for example, my pyrex jugs...</p>HDPE Recycling - Tutorialurn:md5:229925f562d850347cb12a430e7061112012-12-08T23:54:00+00:002015-02-18T23:57:31+00:00MikePlasticRecyclingVideo<p><img alt="hdpehumb.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/h/hdpehumb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="hdpehumb.jpg, Feb 2015" />Several projects on this site have made use of recycled plastic - so I thought it was about time I documented the recycling process in video form.</p> <div class="clearleft"> </div>
<div class="imagecentre"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="383" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/W_XUJwINdLw" width="510"></iframe></div>
<h3>The Source Material</h3>
<p><span style="line-height: 1.6em;"><img alt="hdpe1.png" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/h/hdpe1.png" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="hdpe1.png, Feb 2015" />HDPE is used to make a variety of household items - including bottles or containers for food, drinks, cleaning products and toiletries.</span></p>
<p>Many such containers are now marked with the standard resin identification symbols like this one - which although supposedly standardised, sometimes appears as variants with '02' in the centre and/or 'PE-HD' underneath, or without any text underneath the triangular arrows at all.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Frequently Asked Questions</h3>
<p><b>Q: Can't I just melt it into a pourable Liquid?</b><br />
A: Not really - when melted, it's more of a toffee-like consistency than a flowing liquid. In industrial processes, this matters little, as it is moulded under pressure. It will become less viscous as the temperature increases, but the risk of burning it also increases - at best, this may weaken the polymer and at worst, it could produce toxic or explosively flammable fumes.</p>
<p><b>Q: What about melting it in a pan?</b><br />
A: Again, the risk of burning it is high - the thermal insulating properties of HDPE mean that by the time the material in the middle is melted, the bottom layer, in contact with the heat source, will be too hot. Also, be prepared to throw away the pan, as the solidified remains won't come off.</p>
<p><b>Q: How easy is it to mould into shape?</b><br />
A: When melted in the way shown in the video, there is perhaps a minute of working time before it has hardened and set - in theory, that's enough time to form it into shape in a mould, however, there are a few factors to consider:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>It will be hot</b> - Way hotter than boiling water, which means it needs to be handled using gloves, tongs etc - this makes handling slower and more difficult.</li>
<li><b>It will be sticky</b> - This makes it tricky to get into position, and it will stick permanently to some surfaces (although not usually to smooth metal)</li>
<li><b>It shrinks quite violently on cooling</b> - If left alone to cool, it will buckle and warp - if constrained flat, it will shrink, but usually remain flat - if constrained in a 3D mould, it will fight to separate the mould halves - I experimented with pressing a melted sheet of HDPE between two metal bowls and it forced them apart as it shrank. I clamped the bowls to try to overcome this, but the required force ended up collapsing the moulds.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Q: What are the working properties of the finished product?</b><br />
A: HDPE recycled in this way is:</p>
<ul>
<li><b>Easy to cut and shape</b> - It can be cut cleanly with a hacksaw or woodworking saw. Edges can be planed smooth - it drills well (although care must be taken to drill slowly, clearing waste and avoiding friction heating, or it may melt again and fail to form a clean hole). It can be machined/turned in a small lathe to a very smooth, crisp finish.</li>
<li><b>Slippery</b> - HDPE has a low coefficient of friction - comparable to Nylon. This gives it interesting potential for making bearings and other sliding parts, but can also make it tricky to fasten in place, or clamp while cutting. It's unsuitable for things like place mats or coasters, because items placed on it will just slip off.</li>
<li><b>Tough and rigid</b> - This is a pleasingly strong material for many applications. Expect to see it cropping up often in future Atomic Shrimp projects.</li>
<li><b>Possibly vulnerable to degradation outdoors</b> - I need to test this, but it may have a limited lifetime on sustained exposure to sunlight, as the ultraviolet rays may cause the polymer to degrade.</li>
</ul>
<p> </p>
<p><b>Q: What Can You Make With It?</b><br />
A: This plastic is ideal for making any small, rigid items - machine parts - including replacements for broken, hard-to-find mechanical components, wheels, pulleys, maybe even gears.</p>
<p>Here's a video demonstrating some of the ways to work recycled HDPE - in this case, to make a pulley wheel that's compatible with Lego Technic:</p>
<p> </p>
<div class="imagecentre"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="383" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JyZMWLkcfes" width="510"></iframe></div>Making A Recycled Plastic Boaturn:md5:62c843020bc68e2df852dd287a9a11de2011-07-31T22:48:00+00:002015-01-31T22:49:48+00:00MikeExperimentsPlasticProjectsRecycling<p><img alt="plasticboatthumb.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboatthumb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboatthumb.jpg, Jul 2011" />Many of my past projects have thumbed their noses at convention or have been absurd, foolhardy or otherwise non-conformist, but this one extends the boundaries further than ever.</p>
<p>I'm going to try to make a boat by recycling plastic bottles.</p> <div class="wikinote noteimportant">
<p class="note-title"><strong>Before You Read Further...</strong></p>
<p>Sadly, due to a host of technical problems and setbacks, this project didn't come to fruition - and was formally cancelled in October 2012 - details at the foot of the page.</p>
</div>
<h3>Collecting And Processing The Materials</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticboat1.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat1.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat1.jpg, Jul 2011" />Thanks to the assistance of friends and colleagues, I'm collecting up to a dozen HDPE plastic milk bottles a day. I give these a thorough wash and dry.</p>
<p>I'm also collecting upwards of 100 HDPE plastic bottle tops a week, which come in a wide assortment of bright colours.</p>
<p>I cut the bottle tops into quarters using garden secateurs and the bottles into long strips, which I then cut up into postage stamp-sized flakes, ready for the next stage. This is all hard work.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Approach</h3>
<p>Here's the plan. I'll grind up HDPE bottles and caps, remould this (using a flat sandwich press) into fairly uniform circular pancakes, which I'll arrange in a hexagonal grid pattern and weld together (using a clothes iron) into larger flat sheets of plastic.</p>
<p>I'll construct a simple wooden frame onto which I'll affix panels of the recycled plastic, welding them together along the seams using a hot air gun.</p>
<p>The frame will be constructed of laths, glue laminated together to form curved chine logs, with a few supporting struts.</p>
<p>The form of the boat will be a small, flat-bottomed canoe - something like a Pirogue, but with decks at each end, making it also a bit like a kayak.</p>
<h3>Lessons Learned</h3>
<p>One really important thing I've learned from the build of my previous boat build (the <a class="ref-post" href="https://atomicshrimp.com/post/2007/08/01/Building-A-Boat-Page-7-The-Launch-And-Maiden-Voyage-Of-The-Snow-Pea">Snow Pea</a>) is: don't wildly deviate from convention, unless you have a good reason to, and unless you properly test your changes - so in terms of overall design, this boat will do what already works - flattish bottom, pointy at the ends, broad in the middle.</p>
<p><img alt="plasticboat2.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat2.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat2.jpg, Jul 2011" />This is my drill-powered-drill-powered mincer. It's a traditional meat mincer, driven by an electric pillar drill, via the gearing mechanism of an old Stanley hand-powered drill.</p>
<p>I feed the quartered bottle tops and bottle flakes into this machine at a moderate pace and it grinds them up into small, manageable pieces.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat3.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat3.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat3.jpg, Jul 2011" />I convert a carefully-weighed portion of ground plastic into a circular recycled 'pancake' by pressing it between two sheets of re-usable baking sheet (more details of this whole process over <a class="ref-post" href="https://atomicshrimp.com/post/2011/06/16/More-Plastic-Recycling-Experimental-Stuff">here</a>).</p>
<p>These pancakes are convenient to store - so I can just stack them up in a box until I'm ready to start construction ot the boat.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat4.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat4.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat4.jpg, Aug 2011" />If permitted to cool too rapidly, or without being constrained flat, the pancakes tend to buckle.</p>
<p>I've discovered that by stacking a whole load of the plastic pancakes together from hot (but cooled enough not to be sticky), they can be clamped flat and the bulk stacking makes them cool slowly - thus they end up nice and flat.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat5.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat5.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat5.jpg, Aug 2011" />Most of the plastic is just ground up together and mixed, which means the pancakes come out randomly mottled.</p>
<p>I decided it would be nice to introduce a bit more variety, so I also ground up some bottle tops grouped (more or less) by colour. I can add a pinch of these individually or in combination as part of the makeup of a piece and introduce a colour bias that I hope will make the end product look interesting.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat6.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat6.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat6.jpg, Jul 2011" />The circular pancakes are welded together by clamping them in position, sprinkling a measured portion of ground plastic into the gap between them, covering with a sheet of reusalbe baking paper and ironing it all until fuse.</p>
<p>There will be a need to clamp flat again when I scale this up to the full build.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat7.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat7.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat7.jpg, Aug 2011" />I did toy with the idea of trying to use recycled timber for the frame of the boat - I saw some that looked promising in a skip at the back of Debenhams in Portsmouth, but I had no way to get it home - and going back there with the car would have cost as much as just buying timber.</p>
<p>I don't need anything elaborate though, so I just got a few pieces of very cheap framing timber. If you take a little time to sort through the stack, you can often find lengths that are almost knot-free.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat8.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat8.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat8.jpg, Aug 2011" />I ripped the framing timber into laths about 9mm thick on my cheapo table saw.</p>
<p>These will be thin enough to take the amount of bend I have in mind, but thick enough that I'll only need to laminate two of them together to make each of the bottom chines.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat9.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat9.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat9.jpg, Aug 2011" />The laths aren't long enough though - so I cut some in half and joined the halves onto the full lengths with a scarf joint glued with polyurethane glue.</p>
<p>When I laminate the strips together, I'll make sure these joints aren't in the same place on both strips.</p>
<p>So now I have four laths, each about 3.6m in length - a little under 12 feet. That's perfect - a little length will be lost in trimming and they'll make a frame about 11 feet in length (bending them around the leaf shape of the bottom will shorten the overall length).</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Constructing The Bottom Frame</h3>
<p>I've started construction of the bottom frame - the laths are laminated onto a pair of small wooden blocks at either end, spaced apart by a single bar in the middle. The ends of the bar are cut with a 10 degree outward lean, to give the sides of the boat a little flare in the middle.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat10.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat10.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat10.jpg, Aug 2011" />I don't have enough clamps to do all of the lamination in one go (you can never have too many clamps), so I'm doing half of both sides - because laminating the whole of one side, then the other would be quite likely to introduce serious distortion of the symmetry.</p>
<p>Because polyurethane glue foams and expands as it cures, I took care to clamp past the point where I had applied glue - or else there would have been problems closing the remainder of the gap next time.</p>
<p>This boat is going to be a bit larger than I first visualised - not bigger than the numbers I had in my head, I just hadn't properly thought them out - it's approximately 11 feet long by 2 foot 6 wide at the bottom frame (about 3.5 by 0.75 metres) - that's a trifle longer than the <a class="ref-post" href="https://atomicshrimp.com/post/2010/08/15/Building-A-Boat-Page-12-The-Triumph-Of-The-Snow-Pea">Snow Pea</a> (and obviously wider, because width was the Snow Pea's key deficiency).</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat11.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat11.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat11.jpg, Sep 2011" />To join the plastic pancakes together, I arranged them on a flat board, heaped a little ground-up plastic in the middle, then ironed it all together with a clothes iron on high heat (through a reusable cooking sheet)</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat12.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat12.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat12.jpg, Sep 2011" />The weld is held down flat with another board and a stack of heavy bricks. This isn't a speedy process, as it needs to be repeated on both sides. but I'll hopefully get there in the end.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat13.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat13.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat13.jpg, Sep 2011" />In what seems to be a continuous cycle of progress and setback, it turns out that the pancake-welding technique isn't scaling up well.</p>
<p>It's hard to get the right amount of additional plastic into the void between three pancakes - and getting this right means heating and reheating the same areas, from both sides - this causes the sheet to warp and buckle. Not good.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat14.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat14.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat14.jpg, Sep 2011" />So I'm going to try a different approach that I considered earlier and has been suggested by others more than once. Cutting the pancakes into closely-fitting hexagons.</p>
<p>This is fairly easy - I made a sheet metal template, clamped it in place and scored around it with a heavy duty knife - then the edges just snapped off.</p>
<p>There's very little waste this way and the hexagons tile together very neatly. I'll weld them by applying a narrow heated bar to the joint - so I only need melt just enough to make the two pieces unite.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat15.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat15.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat15.jpg, Sep 2011" />I needed a piece of metal that was fairly narrow, but thick enough to isolate the iron from the plastic, heat-conductive and fairly easy to work.</p>
<p>I rummaged through my boxes of junk, but found nothing suitable, but I knew I'd find something I could use at the Malthouse.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Sourcing Materials</h3>
<p>Some of the materials and tools for this and many of my other projects were sourced from the Malthouse in Botley.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat17.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat17.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat17.jpg, Sep 2011" />Officially named 'Botley Bathroom Centre', and ostensibly a bathroom and plumbing store, the ground floor of the Malthouse is a cornucopia of interesting, useful and esoteric hardware - racks, boxes, buckets and heaps of assorted bolts, nails, brackets, hooks, fittings and fasteners, rods, rivets, hinges, and many other items I don't even know the name of.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat18.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat18.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat18.jpg, Sep 2011" />This place never fails to turn up something to help me with my projects - and while I'm digging around, looking for it, I'll very often encounter something to inspire me for future plans (for example, this morning whilst looking for my heat transfer bar, I noticed a box of beautiful copper rivets that I'm sure I can do something with...</p>
<p>I ended up with a piece of aluminium bar cut from a cistern flush extension - absolutely ideal for the job. I cut it just a little longer than the sides of my hexagons.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat16.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat16.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat16.jpg, Sep 2011" />By carefully aligning the bar on top of the butt joint between two of the hexagons, on top of a PTFE sheet, then applying the clothes iron, the metal bar conducts heat only to the joint - as well as allowing me to press down the melted area to force the edges to bond.</p>
<p>I did this from one side, then left it to cool (pressed flat with a weight) and repeated on the other side.</p>
<p>The result is a strong, neat joint that doesnt introduce any distortion to the piece as a whole.</p>
<p>This is an exciting result, as it's fast, neat and strong. This will definitely work - which means the build can now progress at full steam.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat19.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat19.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat19.jpg, Sep 2011" />It might be a little while until the next update on this project, but not because it's gone cold.</p>
<p>I'm busy manufacturing a stockpile of plastic hexagons - I'll do this until my supply of processed plastic is exhausted (or until I think I have enough to build the whole boat).</p>
<p>This is primarily for operational efficiency. I have limited space, so it makes sense to do a large amount of one task before clearing those tools away to do a different one.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Appearance Of The Materials</h3>
<p>You might be wondering why the plastic panels I'm making here all have a sort of splashed, radial pattern to them.</p>
<p>This is because it starts out as a heap of ground up plastic and spreads out under pressure when I clamp down the heated press. The main reason to do this is to compress the material down and expel any voids, but it also has the effect of smearing the plastic outwards from the centre.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat20.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat20.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat20.jpg, Oct 2010" />So far, nothing is going to waste - using garden secateurs, I'm snipping the trimmings from making the hexagons into small squares, then mixing them back in with subsequent batches.</p>
<p>Continually remelting the same plastic can end up degrading it - so in order not to compromise the integrity, I'm only using about 25% re-recycled material - the rest is made up of the usual ground-up bottles and caps. This gives the panels a different look, but variety is good.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat21.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat21.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat21.JPG, Nov 2010" />Update - November 13, 2011. The laminated framework is coming along nicely.</p>
<p>A couple more sessions and it will be complete - it can't all be done at once due to limitations of space (and clamps) - also, some of the structures don't reach final strength until the glue cures - it would probably collapse under its own stresses if I tried to build too much at any one time.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat22.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat22.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat22.JPG, Nov 2010" />Update - November 18. The frame is complete.</p>
<p>It'll need sanding smooth and coating with a lick of paint, then I can start cladding it with recycled plastic panels.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Update 27th October 2012 - Termination Of Project</h3>
<p>Sadly, it's time to declare this project cancelled - it just isn't going to work. This isn't a decision I've taken lightly, but it's got to be done.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat23.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat23.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat23.jpg, Oct 2012" />I've only managed to compose a plastic panel big enough to cover about one third of the bottom of the boat - and this turned out to be more difficult than it first seemed.</p>
<p>Welding together two or three of the hexagons isn't too hard, but as more are added, it becomes progressively more difficult, requiring repeated remelting of the seams to cope with small holes or inconsistencies in the joints.</p>
<p>Furthermore, during the months in which I have neglected the constructed panel, it has warped considerably. HDPE just isn't a well-behaved material.</p>
<p>I reckon the only way to do this (other than the conventional rotational moulding method) would be to press very large sheets of plastic (i.e. 8 by 4, like plywood) all at once, then cut shapes out of them - but that would require an industrial heated press,</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticboat24.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticboat24.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticboat24.jpg, Oct 2012" />The finish quality of the welded material isn't what I would have liked, either - exerting enough force on the melted margins of the hexagons squishes some of the plastic up - and any attempt to iron this back down just makes more mess - and the quality spirals rapidly out of control.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">In Conclusion</h3>
<p>If I somehow managed to pursue this project through to its intended finality, I'd have ended up with a boat that only just works, that probably wouldn't last very long and that might possibly fail in a dangerous way at a critical moment.</p>
<p>I'm not prepared to invest such a huge amount of further effort and energy on a project that has such a small chance of marginal success.</p>
<h3>Anything Salvageable?</h3>
<p>I did consider cladding the timber boat frame with thin ply - it's a nice shape and I'm sure it would make a decent little craft, but then I reconsidered - if I was setting out to make a small flat bottomed canoe, I wouldn't start with a frame like this - I'd just stitch and tape it - so the frame isn't going to be saved.</p>
<p>There are a few dozen plastic hexagons left over - I'll keep these, as there's bound to be something I can make out of them, individually.</p>More Plastic Recycling - Experimental Stuffurn:md5:2d50cf71db5424fe58fb85e739c3dbe12011-06-16T20:08:00+00:002015-03-24T21:26:40+00:00MikeExperimentsPlasticRecycling<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2thumb.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2thumb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2thumb.jpg, Jun 2011" />Spurred on by the resounding success of my project to mould a replacement kitchen knife handle from recycled HDPE, I thought it might be worth a little experimentation, to try to get a measure of the potential for small-scale, amateur remoulding of this material.</p> <h3 class="clearleft">Starting Out</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_1.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_1.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_1.jpg, Jun 2011" />I started with a double-handful of shredded and chipped HDPE - the coloured bits are bottle top fragments, the white bits are milk containers snipped into shreds using scissors.</p>
<p>I spread them out on top of a piece of reusable nonstick cooking liner, in my sandwich toaster, then put another sheet of cooking liner on top and closed the lid.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_2.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_2.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_2.jpg, Jun 2011" />I started from cold, so the machine took a minute or so to come up to temperature.</p>
<p>I cooked the plastic shreds for about five minutes, applying a little pressure to the handle.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_3.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_3.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_3.jpg, Jun 2011" />When I first opened the lid, there appeared to be a beautiful, flat, mosaic-like sheet of recycled HDPE.</p>
<p>However, this was still in a near-molten state - and as this material cools, it shrinks considerably. This caused it to buckle and ripple considerably - more on this later...</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">First Look</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_4.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_4.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_4.jpg, Jun 2011" />It's immediately apparent that the pieces have bonded very well - these aren't just compacted flakes of material any more - this is a fairly homogenous sheet of material - albeit versicoloured.</p>
<p>I subjected the material to a number of simple tests to find out more.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Bending</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_5.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_5.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_5.jpg, Jun 2011" />The sheet of recycled HDPE is about 2 to 4 mm thick - and it's surprisingly stiff - it bends without cracking or splitting and springs back to its original shape almost straight away.</p>
<p>It took considerable effort of the arm to keep it bent in the position shown here.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Homogeneity</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_6.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_6.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_6.jpg, Jun 2011" />The pieces really have flowed into one another and bonded into a single material - some of this may be due to the pressure I applied to the press while it was cooking the material.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Impurities</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_7.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_7.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_7.jpg, Jun 2011" />Some of the bottle-tops I used here were picked out of the gutter - and clearly, I didn't clean them adequately before recycling</p>
<p>This could be a problem, as an impurity such as this is probably a weak spot - and could fail under mechanical load, or may permit water through or into the material.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Flatness</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_8.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_8.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_8.jpg, Jun 2011" />The material shrank by about 5 percent as it cooled, and this shrinkage caused buckling and rippling.</p>
<p>This could possibly be overcome by allowing it to cool more slowly by switching off the heated press and allowing the material to cool inside before removing it, but this would be a very slow production process.</p>
<p>I wonder if a sheet formed from pieces cut to smaller sizes might have performed more evenly in this regard.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Edges</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_9.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_9.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_9.jpg, Jun 2011" />Even with the fairly neat heap I began with, the edges of my recycled material were ragged and lacy.</p>
<p>I had imagined this might make them easier to weld onto one another - and thus make large objects in patchwork fashion from many small sheets, but I'm just not sure about that - they were really very ragged and uneven - and the distortion from cooling was even more pronounced here.</p>
<p>It may be possible to form more regular sheets of material by constraining the stuff within a stencil-like hole cut in a sheet of metal - the thickness of the metal would also help to control the thickness of the finished sheet.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Cutting</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_10.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_10.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_10.jpg, Jun 2011" />It was hard work, but with a pair of sturdy kitchen shears, I was able to cut my sheet of recycled HDPE in half.</p>
<p>It cut cleanly and without cracking or flaking.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Welding</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_11.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_11.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_11.jpg, Jun 2011" />I tried welding the two halves of material back together, between two sheets of cooking liner, using a clothes iron on its hottest setting.</p>
<p>It was the lacy edges I overlapped to try to join here, but it didn't really work - the iron only applies heat from one side, so although the two pieces did soften and join, the joint wasn't strong or complete.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Hot-Air Forming</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_12.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_12.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_12.jpg, Jun 2011" />The material responded well to heat applied using a hot air paint stripper gun.</p>
<p>By judicious application of hot air, it was possible to encourage the sheet to accept a fold along a fairly predictable line.</p>
<p>It may also be possible to preheat the lower layer of a weld joint this way, then quickly apply the top one and iron it down... maybe...</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Tentative Conclusions</h3>
<p>Let me be quite honest and open here - I want to use this stuff to make a boat. Yes. A boat.</p>
<p>I'm well aware, of course, that there is an enormous technical gulf between making a three inch knife handle and making a 15 foot canoe - so this isn't something I'm going to attempt lightly - and I'm also aware that rotational hollow-forming is the normal mode of manufacture for large items of HDPE.</p>
<p>But if you know one thing about the Atomic Shrimp way, it should be this: Convention is not conventional here. I'm prepared to try doing things the wrong way, or the hard way, or a new way.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">What Might Just Work</h3>
<p>The idea needs some development still, but I really think it might be possible to melt HDPE granules into sheets, then weld those sheets togetther, patchwork-style, over some kind of form. The form needn't even be a complete one - it could be made adjustable so as to fully support the profile of the part being worked on (easier to envisage than describe - I'll flesh that out more if I ever get started on it).</p>
<h3>Why It Might Not Work</h3>
<p>There are millions of reasons why it might not work - quite literally - because a large item made from this recycled material would consist of millions of joined pieces - and each one of those joints (especially the big welds and seams) would be a potential point of failure.</p>
<p>For this reason, I might start smaller and try making, say, a bucket first. If I can make a bucket that holds water in, then it will start to support the notion that I can make a boat that holds water out...</p>
<h3>Improved Process</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_13.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_13.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_13.jpg, Jun 2011" />One thing that is already in my favour - on a whim, I tried running some coarse chunks of bottle and bottle top through my hand-cranked Spong mincer machine - intended for mincing meat and stuffing sausages.</p>
<p>I didn't really expect that it would work, but it did - HDPE is sufficiently slippery and compressible not to just jam the machine - and it comes out in quite small pieces - not uniformly small, but crucially, not big.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Experiment Two</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_14.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_14.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_14.jpg, Jun 2011" />OK, here we go. I used my Spong mincer to grind up a few dozen assorted bottle caps and about five or six translucent milk bottles.</p>
<p>They still need cutting up roughly to feed into the mincer - and the mincing process itself is quite hard work - easier altogether than just snipping everything to its final sizes using the scissors, but I'll still need to find a different approach for larger scale recycling than this.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_15.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_15.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_15.jpg, Jun 2011" />I spread about 175g of shredded plastic on the sandwich toaster hotplate.</p>
<p>At each corner, I placed a small metal nut - this is to ensure that the hotplates of the sandwich toaster remain parallel, and thus create a finished piece of uniform thickness.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_16.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_16.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_16.jpg, Jun 2011" />It took about ten minutes for the material to melt down - and this time, I just turned off the machine and let the plastic cool slowly inside it, constrained between the plates.</p>
<p>Even so, it still shrank noticeably - that's why the separator material has puckered in this picture.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_17.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_17.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_17.jpg, Jun 2011" />The fully cooled product is a slightly bumpy sheet of multicoloured solid plastic - frilly and incomplete at the edges, but I have a plan to overcome that.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_18.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_18.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_18.jpg, Jun 2011" />The plastic sheet is easy to cut neatly with an ordinary hand saw - and assuming I find a mechanised method of grinding the material, the trimmings would be re-usable.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">The End Result</h3>
<p>The finished product is a 4mm sheet of light, strong plastic - it's unbelievably tough - at least twice as rigid and strong as a similar thickness of plywood. During the first few hours after cooling, the plastic noticeably hardens and stiffens - this could be a useful property.</p>
<p>Assuming I can make enough of this, and successfully weld it together, this is going to be an excellent boatbuilding material. It can probably stand to be a little bit thinner.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_19.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_19.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="plasticmoulding2_19.jpg, Jun 2011" /></p>
<h3 class="clearleft">What Next</h3>
<p>I need to find a better way to process the raw materials - ideally to a finer texture, as some of the surface bumpiness in this second piece corresponds with the different original pieces of shredded HDPE (this is discernible because of the different colours).</p>
<p>Instead of using metal nuts to space the hotplates, and simply piling the raw materials onto the surface, I'm going to cut a rectangular hole in a flat piece of metal (of the appropriate thickness), then pile the shredded plastic into the hole - as long as I get the quantity of plastic right, this should be a quick way of creating tile-like pieces of plastic of uniform shape and size, that require minimal trimming.</p>
<p>I also need to experiment with welding pieces of this plastic edge to edge.</p>
<h3>Further Experiments</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_20.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_20.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_20.jpg, Jan 2015" />I decided to try to motorise the Spong mincer. My first attempt used the drive train components from a broken bicycle I bought for a fiver at the scrap yard, using a variable-speed electric drill as the motor</p>
<p>This didn't work well, for a number of reasons - it was just plain difficult to engineer everything to be rigid and aligned enough to keep working - so the chain would occasionally fly off - and the drill was labouring at times, stalling even, when a slightly tough piece of plastic went through the mincing blades.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_21.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_21.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_21.jpg, Jul 2011" />Another approach was needed. Part of the difficulty of operating the mincer using the short crank handle (and indeed the drill motor) was the potential to jam when the going got just a little tough.</p>
<p>So I made a 30-inch wooden flywheel out of OSB and attached this to the drive shaft (using the bicycle sprocket, as this happened to have four convenient mounting holes in it), with a bolt (about a third of the way out from the centre) to serve as a new crank handle...</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_22.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_22.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_22.jpg, Jul 2011" />That worked pretty well - the wheel can be spun up to speed with one hand, whilst the other feeds bits of plastic into the top of the mincer.</p>
<p>It's still fairly hard work, but I was able to shred about a kilo of plastic in half an hour or so. That's enough throughput not to have to commit any further engineering to this problem.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_23.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_23.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_23.jpg, Jul 2011" />I wanted to make square panels with edges capable of being lapped for ease of welding together.</p>
<p>I reasoned that this should be possible by cutting two frames out of of 1.5mm thick aluminium sheet. The borders are deliberately unequal so that when one of the sheets is flipped over, the two holes will be diagonally offset, creating pairs of opposite lapped flanges on the edges of the moulded piece.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_24.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_24.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_24.jpg, Jul 2011" />This was a partial success - the plastic melted and did (well, mostly) form a square sheet with flanges at each side which would lap with the mating ones at the other side.</p>
<p>But quality control is almost impossibly difficult with this method - and after only the second run, removing the plastic from the frame left it buckled - there's no way I'd be able to make dozens of panels this way.</p>
<p>I think the next thing to try will be to make panels the size of the whole platter then trim them to their exact final size and shape after cooling - If I do this with a router against a template, I can achieve a very consistent result, as well as recovering the shavings with a vacuum extractor - and they can be added back into the next melt.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Whole Platter Moulding</h3>
<p>Well, this is more promising - I set a metal nut in each corner of the platter. I worked out the volume of the material needed based on the area of the platter multiplied by the thickness of the nut - then used this to calculate that I should need 310 grammes of HDPE to make the panel.</p>
<p>It seemed like too much plastic when I piled it up unmelted, but there's obviously a fair bit of inefficiency in the packing, as it compressed down to one third of its unmelted volume.</p>
<p>For this experiment, I used approximately half coarse and half fine ground material. The fine-ground stuff definitely packs and melts better, but there are still voids and porous areas.</p>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_25.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_25.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="plasticmoulding2_25.jpg, Jul 2011" /></p>
<p>I need to sit and think on this for a week or so now. Clearly, the process isn't yet perfected and at present, there's no clear way to progress this production method toward the manufacture of a boat.</p>
<p>One promising possibility was mentioned to me by the teenage daughter of a friend - at the time, I didn't think it viable, but actually - it has promise...</p>
<p>The idea was to manufacture the panels continuously - that is, make one panel, then move it almost completely off the platter, and make the next one directly onto the edge of the first, and so on - thus producing a continuous strip of plastic.</p>
<p>The reason I first thought this non-viable was that the sandwich toaster I'm using has a slight raised edge all the way around the lower platter - but I could probably cut or file that off (OK, ruining the device in the process, but I'm prepared to write off this machine as a consumable in this project).</p>
<p>This might actually work - and might save me a great deal of trouble in welding panels together. The expansion coefficient of HDPE might make it a bit tricky though.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">A Breakthrough</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_27.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_27.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_27.jpg, Jul 2011" />This might not look like much - but it represents a breakthrough. It's yet another sample of HDPE remoulded sheet, but two things are different from previous experiments:</p>
<p>Only the coloured plastic was ground up - the white layer is made from milk bottles just cut into coarse flakes using scissors.</p>
<p>It was cooled off the sandwich press, between two flat boards, clamped tightly together.</p>
<p>The result is a very coherent, smooth, product that flexes without cracking or breaking. A slightly thicker version of this will do very nicely for making the boat.</p>
<p>This makes the continuous moulding process possible. I'll mould a section on the heated press, then quickly pull it out to the cold press, then reinsert the end of the cooled material and mould a new section on the end - and so on. I need to make it thicker than this, but this is another significant engineering hurdle out of the way - and I also don't have so much plastic grinding to do.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Production</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_33.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_33.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_33.jpg, Jul 2011" />After amassing about 7 or 8 kilos of plastic in the form of bottle tops ground up into pieces and HDPE bottled cut into flakes with scissors, I decided it was time to try producing some sheet material in bulk.</p>
<p>This entailed crossing a point of no return - I had to break the front lip off the lower plate of my sandwich toaster. This turned out to be pretty easy, as it's cast aluminium and once I'd cut neatly down the corners, attempting to bend the lip downwards actually resulted in it just tearing off.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_34.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_34.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_34.jpg, Jul 2011" />Next, I constructed a board on which to sit the toaster, with a cold press at exactly the same level as the lower hotplate.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_35.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_35.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_35.jpg, Jul 2011" />...And on with production, except it was a disaster! - really uneven and inconsistently-melted plastic, with horrible ragged edges. No better than the very first experimental melt.</p>
<p>The reason for this is that the flakes of cut-up bottle are really slippery - and tend to spread out on the hotplate to an extent where parts then don't have enough plastic present to melt into a solid thickness.</p>
<p>So I went back to grinding up everything, including the milk bottle material (really hard work).</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_36.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_36.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_36.jpg, Jul 2011" />The result was better, but still too wavy and in places, porous to the extent that you can see through it. Not good enough.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">A Different Approach</h3>
<p>On reflection, I don't think it's going to be possible to mould a continuous sheet of material in this way - I had real trouble handling it in such a way as to avoid tearing off the hot edge that is just out of the press, or introducing distortion.</p>
<p>I'm going to try something else - a return, of sorts, to the original plan of tessellated tiles...</p>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_37.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_37.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_37.jpg, Jul 2011" />Rather than trying to calculate the exact amount of plastic required to make a given shape, I'm going to let the plastic decide for itself.</p>
<p>Starting with exactly 100g of shredded/ground plastic, I added it to the hotplate inside of a cardboard ring, to prevent it scattering.</p>
<p>I then removed the ring, added the top sheet of separation material and closed the press, allowing the plastic to melt and spread. A small nut at each corner of the press ensures that it closes evenly and to a specific thickness.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_38.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_38.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_38.jpg, Jul 2011" />As the plastic melts and pressure is applied to the press, the material spreads only as long as the desired minimum thickness has not been reached - and because it's spreading, the leading edge is neat, not ragged.</p>
<p>There are other things to like about this sample of plastic too - the radial pattern on it indicates that the plastic has undergone <i>shear</i>, which will help to ensure a really good union between all the separate fragments. And apart from that, it just looks nice.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">The New Plan</h3>
<p>100g of plastic should always spread to this extent, given the same conditions - so I should be able to mass-produce these pretty plastic pancakes, then arrange them in a hexagonal packing grid and fill in the gaps with loose material, melted and pressed/welded into place with a hot clothes iron, then constrained in a flat press to cool. By this method, I should be able to construct a flat sheet any size and shape I want.</p>
<p>This does mean I have to grind all the source plastic - even the bottles, so I may need to have another go at motorising the grinder. First, I'll make another couple of pancakes and see if I really can join them together.</p>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_39.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_39.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_39.jpg, Jul 2011" />Welding the plastic pancakes together was fairly straighforward - just a case of clamping them in the right positions, piling some plastic granules into the gap, placing on a sheet of baking liner and ironing it all down with a non-steam iron on full heat.</p>
<p>Pressing down on the iron makes the additional material shear and bond to the edges of the pancakes, which also soften under the heat.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_40.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_40.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_40.jpg, Jul 2011" />As long as the whole thing is clamped and pressed flat while it cools, the result is a flat, strongly-joined sheet of plastic.</p>
<p>I need to develop a bit more finesse with the technique, but this will work fine.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_41.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_41.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_41.jpg, Jul 2011" />I also successfully motorised my grinder - using the gearing mechanism from an old Stanley hand drill - driven in reverse in the chuck of my pillar drill - and with a custom adaptor plate bolted in between to unite the large gear and the triangular drive shaft of the mincer.</p>
<p>This works well, although friction gets it hot in use, but it means I can now grind all of the plastic for my project without developing a freakishly muscular right arm.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Nextly</h3>
<p>I need to continue collecting plastic - I had about half of the total amount I would need for the boat, but wasted a lot of this on recent experiments - but no matter - I have established a network of enthusiastic friends, family and colleagues who are collecting for me - it won't take very long to amass a sufficient supply of raw material.</p>
<p>I'll grind up the plastic as I go and start making a stockpile of plastic pancakes, then assembly can commence - the boat build will be documented on its own page.</p>
<h3>Meanwhile</h3>
<p>Here's an idea with potential - the circular remelted plastic pancakes can be pressed into interesting shapes whilst still hot. I tried pressing one between two cheap steel bowls.</p>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_42.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_42.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="plasticmoulding2_42.jpg, Jan 2015" /></p>
<p>HDPE shrinks quite fiercely when it cools, so it fought me - trying to force the bowls apart, and the end result isn't as smooth or even as I'd like, but after a little trimming, it's undeniably a bowl.</p>
<p>A better result would probably be achieved by pressing between two wooden forms, as the insulating nature of the wood would permit the plastic to cool more slowly.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Something Really Ambitious</h3>
<p>HDPE is such a tough, sturdy material when formed into solids thicker than the flimsy bottles and caps we normally encounter it as. I really want to make something big and durable out of this stuff, but how?</p>
<p>Rotational Moulding is the normal method of manufacturing large objects from HDPE - this consists of loading a quantity of plastic granules or powder inside a mould that is clamped shut, then rotated and rocked, whilst being heated from the outside. The plastic melts and sticks to the inside of the mould in (what should be) a uniform continuous layer. After slowly cooling, the mould is unclamped from the outside of the plastic piece, which may then require trimming and further finishing.</p>
<p>This approach is used for very large items such as canoes - and whist I'd love to be able to do that, it's a huge industrial process that is never going to happen in my garage.</p>
<p>So alternatives must be sought - and that's what this page is starting to look at...</p>
<h3>Fumes</h3>
<p>Surprisingly, HDPE doesn't emit noxious fumes, as long as the temperature doesn't greatly exceed its melting point. I've noticed some smoke and fumes when I've overcooked it in welding trials, but it seems that the sandwich press I'm using here has a top temperature that is exactly in the right range to melt the material without burning it.</p>
<h3>Materials Required</h3>
<p>Basing my calculations on the assumption that I'll make a small skiff or canoe based on something like a one-sheet ply boat plan...</p>
<p>The 'breakthrough' material I made (bottom left) is 2.2mm thick and almost strong enough to consider using as boat skin as is. Double that thickness will be plenty good enough (this material is stronger, tougher and more flexible than the equivalent thickness of marine ply).</p>
<p>So, the volume of a standard sheet, 4.4mm thick would be about 13,000 cubic centimetres. HDPE is about 0.95g per cubic cm, so that's about 12.35 kg of plastic.</p>
<p>Allowing for waste, extra parts etc, let's call that 15kg. A milk bottle weighs in at about 30g - so I need about 500 of them (interestingly, this was exactly what I guessed in the first place).</p>
<p>That's a lot of plastic - but at least I'm only having to shred the bottle tops now - the bottles themselves will just be cut into pieces with scissors.</p>
<h3>Welding Trials</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_28.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_28.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_28.jpg, Jul 2011" />Fortunately, my experimentation in producing sheet material has left me with plenty of samples for trial welding. At the moment, the approach that seems to work is to tack the two pieces to a batten (or if this was a boat build, a chine log), then using a fine nozzle on my hot air gun, apply heat to the gap at the same time as pressing a stick of plastic into it.</p>
<p>The end of the stick softens and melts, laying down into the gap as it goes.</p>
<p>I had better results still when I cut a much thinner welding rod out of my 2mm experimental sheet, then followed over with a hot clothes iron through a piece of silicone baking paper.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2_29.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_29.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_29.jpg, Jul 2011" />The resulting weld isn't quite as strong as I'd like, especially on the inside of the corner, but I think practice will improve that. In any case, I intend to build and leave the chine battens in place, so they will greatly contribute to joint strength - the weld mostly just has to be watertight.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Gearing Up For Boat Build</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_31.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_31.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_31.jpg, Jul 2011" />With the help of rallied friends and family, plus a very helpful and enthusiastic team at the staff restaurant at work, I'm collecting a truly huge number of HDPE milk bottles and caps.</p>
<p>I'm chopping these up as I go, to keep the task manageable and keep the bulk down.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Boat Design Ideas</h3>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding2_32.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2_32.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2_32.jpg, Jan 2015" />At the time of writing, the notion is to build a small canoe or kayak. Something broad with a flat bottom for maximum stability and ease of construction. Short and beamy - probably only 10 or 11 feet long and 30 inches across at the widest beam.</p>
<p>It won't be fast, but this isn't a race anyway.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Naming</h3>
<p>I've had several ideas and suggestions for names for my recycled <a class="ref-post" href="https://atomicshrimp.com/post/2011/07/31/Making-A-Recycled-Plastic-Boat">plastic boat</a>, including:<br />
<b>"90% Recycled"</b> - which might be true (the boat will contain some new materials - timber and fixings), but it's not very interesting...<br />
<b>"Post Consumer"</b> - Actually, I quite like that.<br />
<b>"Bottly"</b> (or <b>"Bottle-y"</b>) - (the boat will be built and launched in Botley, where I live - and it's made of bottles)<br />
<b>"Speckled Jim"</b> - A Blackadder reference - but also alluding to the speckled appearance of the recylcled plastic output.</p>Plastic Moulding - Using Recycled Bottle Topsurn:md5:64b8521092002f676f9de690559978332011-06-15T19:29:00+00:002015-01-25T19:45:49+00:00MikeCraftPlasticProjectsRecycling<p><img alt="plasticmouldingthumb.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmouldingthumb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmouldingthumb.jpg, Jun 2011" />Although modest in the scale of its end result, in concept, this may well be my most ambitious recycling project yet. This is an attempt to mould a new plastic handle for my favourite kitchen knife, using recycled plastics, without any of the proper injection moulding equipment.</p> <p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding1.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding1.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding1.jpg, Jun 2011" />Disaster! My favourite little kitchen knife - a Victorinox tomato knife - got accidentally left on a baking tray and put in the oven, ruining the handle.</p>
<p>An understandable mistake - after all, the handle of this one was the same colour as the tray, but still, the sort of thing you can't help kicking yourself over.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding2.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding2.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding2.jpg, Jun 2011" />I used this handy little knife for as much as half of all the food prep (that requires a knife) in the kitchen, so I'd miss it.</p>
<p>I guess it wasn't the end of the world - although excellent, these knives aren't expensive - and I even had a spare (seen here alongside the melted one), but could the damaged one be repaired? I decided to have a go...</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding3.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding3.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding3.jpg, Jun 2011" />First thing to do was remove the melted handle - so, back in the oven on a sheet of silicone paper and the handle was easy to pull and scrape off.</p>
<p>I planned to use HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) plastic bottle tops to make the new one, so I took this opportunity to try melting one - that's what the white plastic blob is in this photo - it melted easily to a soft pliable mass at 150C.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding4.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding4.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding4.jpg, Jun 2011" />Nextly, I needed some material to recycle. I couldn't decide on a colour - in fact, I decided to use every colour I could lay my hands on.</p>
<p>Yes, I'm slightly ashamed to say that over the course of a week or so, I actually bought bottled drinks choosing them on the basis of the colour of bottle top!</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding5.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding5.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding5.jpg, Jun 2011" />But what to use for the mould? Ideally, the mould would be made out of two mating pieces of metal, with a carved hollow in the desired shape - and into this, the molten plastic would be forced under pressure.</p>
<p>I haven't the wherewithal to do any of that, so I made my mould out of air-drying craft modelling clay - the upside of doing it this way is that I could just make the mould by pressing my spare knife into it.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding6.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding6.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding6.jpg, Jun 2011" />Once the first half of the mould stiffened, I pressed another slab of clay on top - using clingfilm to stop the two halves just sticking together.</p>
<p>The bumps at the corner of the front mould piece are there on purpose - when the top slab was pressed on, these bumps formed matching dimples - these paired features were designed to ensure that the two halves of the mould were easy to mate together in the right place.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding7.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding7.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding7.jpg, Jun 2011" />While the clay mould was drying - a process taking a whole week - I cut up my bottle tops.</p>
<p>I did this using a pair of toenail scissors and a side cutter - this was really laborious work, leaving blisters on several of my fingers, but I made the effort to cut the pieces as small as possible - about 1 to 2mm square.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding8.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding8.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding8.jpg, Jun 2011" />I ended up with about a handful of recycled plastic granules in a lovely variety of colours.</p>
<p>Not all plastic bottle tops are the same kind of plastic - so I checked them carefully - HDPE plastics should be marked with a resin recycling code - this looks like a triangle with a number in it (and that number should be 2 in the case of HDPE).</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding9.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding9.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding9.jpg, Jun 2011" />Once the clay moulds were really dry, I placed them on a metal tray - as it happened, the same tray on which the original handle was destroyed (is it silly that this little bit of coincidental symmetry was a bit heartwarming?)</p>
<p>I shook in a layer of plastic granules, to a level proud of the top, in both halves - because I was expecting the material to pack down as it melted.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding10.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding10.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding10.jpg, Jun 2011" />After ten minutes at 150C in the oven, the plastic granules had clearly softened and packed down - I topped them up, added the blade and put it all back in the oven for another five minutes.</p>
<p>This was when things nearly went wrong. Clearly, the air-drying clay isn't the best mould material, as it started to smoke and fume a bit in the oven.</p>
<p>But I'd come too far to give up now, so I opened all the windows and turned on the extractor fan and waited it out.</p>
<p>When the second batch of plastic granules had melted, I whisked the apparatus out of the oven, quickly checked the positioning of the blade, then pressed the two halves together, hard. Obviously, this was all done with gloved hands.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding11.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding11.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="plasticmoulding11.jpg, Jun 2011" /></p>
<p>To minimise distortion, I left the mould to cool for half an hour. After this time, I broke away the clay to examine the result - it appeared to have worked, but the new handle looked to have a bonded shell of clay...</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding12.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding12.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding12.jpg, Jun 2011" />Not to worry though - a quick scour under running water removed the clay coating from the new handle.</p>
<p>I trimmed off a few stray flanges and bumps - all in all, it looked to be a fair result.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">The End Result</h3>
<p>I'm fairly pleased with this - it's not perfect, but it's pretty - and it's unique and just a little quirky, which I like a lot. It's a bit smaller than the original, due to the way clay shrinks as it dries.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticmoulding13.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding13.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="plasticmoulding13.jpg, Jun 2011" /></p>
<p>There are a few voids here and there, but it's a strong, stout handle that has bonded firmly around the surprisingly short tang of the blade - it works, and as a first attempt at this kind of recycling, it's a resounding success.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">What Is This?</h3>
<p>This isn't injection moulding, because there's no injection involved. This is probably best described as <i>forging</i> - a term normally reserved for describing the crafting of metals, but this technique probably is forging nonetheless.</p>
<h3>What Next?</h3>
<p>Different mould materials - clearly, air-drying clay isn't suitable - ideally, metal, but this will depend on what I'm trying to make. I have an idea for how a mould could be built up from layers with profiled holes in them - which should be easier to manufacture than a mould cavity in a single block of metal.</p>
<p><img alt="plasticmoulding14.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticmoulding14.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticmoulding14.jpg, Jun 2011" />Mechanical shredding of the plastic material - for any kind of serious production, snipping the plastic manually just isn't going to fly - I tried shredding them in a food processor, but it just made a horrible noise as if it was going to tear itself apart, without actually breaking up the lids.</p>
<p>I think some kind of toothed grinding device would be better - I wonder what I can improvise...</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Further Experiments</h3>
<p>The resounding success of this project spurred me to undertake some experiments on the properties of recycled HDPE, with a view to tackling larger (perhaps *much* larger) projects - take a look here for more details...</p>Recycled Paper Butterfliesurn:md5:57848494512370ae0b2dc161a87dacbd2011-03-29T21:42:00+00:002015-02-05T22:01:50+00:00MikeCraftRecycling<p><span style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"><img alt="paperbutterfliesthumb.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterfliesthumb.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterfliesthumb.jpg, Mar 2011" />These colourful paper butterflies are great for brightening up a dull wall, or pinning on a gift - they're easy to make, using any colourful paper - even an ad page from a magazine.</span></p> <p class="clearleft"><span style="line-height: 1.2em;">Materials</span></p>
<p>You'll need:</p>
<ul>
<li>A piece of colourful wrapping paper or a page from a magazine - about A5 size or larger</li>
<li>Scissors</li>
<li>PVA glue - ideally in a bottle with a fine nozzle</li>
<li>A clothes peg</li>
<li>A toothpick</li>
<li>A pen or pencil</li>
<li>A rule or other straight edge</li>
</ul>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies2.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies2.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies2.jpg, Mar 2011" />If you're going to make more than one of these, it's worth making card templates for the main pieces - so you'll need to make:</p>
<p>A 5 inch (about 13cm) square</p>
<p>A rectangle, 5 inches by 2.5 inches (about 13cm by 6.5cm) - with the corners rounded off</p>
<p>A strip, 1 inch by 6 inches (about 2.5cm by 15cm)</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Materials</h3>
<p>Colourful ad pages out of magazines work well for these butterflies - alternatively, patterned wrapping paper could be used, or plain paper with hand-coloured designs or markings.</p>
<p>If you're making a large number of butterflies, it's probably most efficient to batch up the production so you make all the wings, then all the bodies, etc, then just assemble the parts.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies1.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies1.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="paperbutterflies1.jpg, Mar 2011" /></p>
<p>This is a great rainy-day craft and although it's quite easy, the results can be dazzling.</p>
<p>Credit for this page goes primarily to my Mum, who showed me how to make these when I visited her in Spain in April 2011 (you may have noticed that the magazine page I used isn't from England).</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies3.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies3.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies3.jpg, Mar 2011" />Use the templates to cut out pieces of paper. Also cut a long, thin ribbon-like strip about a quarter of an inch (about half a cm) wide.</p>
<p>Finally, fold over about 2mm (about the width of a matchstick) of an edge of one of the offcuts and cut a couple of these pieces off as long, folded slivers (if that description didn't make sense, hopefully it will become clear when they are used to make the antennae and tail spikes, below).</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies4.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies4.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies4.jpg, Mar 2011" />Fold the large square of paper in half diagonally. Make a small mark about 4mm in from the folded edge, at each end</p>
<p>These marks are to help align the straight edge for the first fold - see below. If you use a transparent rule for the straight edge, you might not need these marks.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies5.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies5.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies5.jpg, Mar 2011" />Line up the straight edge on the marks, then fold the top sheet of paper back on itself.</p>
<p>Remove the straight edge and press the fold down completely flat.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies6.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies6.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies6.jpg, Mar 2011" />Turn the folded paper over and fold the other piece back, to mirror the first fold.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies7.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies7.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies7.jpg, Mar 2011" />Keep folding each side back and forth (concertina fold) - try to keep the folded sections equal in width.</p>
<p>Keep going until there's nothing left to fold.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies8.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies8.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies8.jpg, Mar 2011" />Do the same process with the rounded rectangle piece of paper, except folding it lengthwise, rather than diagonally.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies9.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies9.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies9.jpg, Mar 2011" />Wrap the thin ribbon of paper a couple of times around the centre of the diagonal-folded piece.</p>
<p>Secure it with a tiny drop of glue.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies10.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies10.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies10.jpg, Mar 2011" />Use the clothes peg to hold the glued pieces together until bonded.</p>
<p>This should only take a minute or two. Set this aside and carry on working on the next part.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies11.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies11.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies11.jpg, Mar 2011" />Wrap the 1 inch wide strip of paper diagonally around the toothpick to form a long, thin tube.</p>
<p>Dab a little glue on the last corner to keep it from unrolling.</p>
<p>The toothpick should drop out for use next time.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies12.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies12.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies12.jpg, Mar 2011" />Place the second concertina-folded piece with the first and secure it in place by wrapping the paper ribbon piece around it.</p>
<p>Secure it with a dab of glue and use the peg again to hold it together until bonded.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies13.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies13.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies13.jpg, Mar 2011" />Take one of the thin folded slivers and trim the ends to taper them.</p>
<p>Fold it in half, then splay the ends. This will be the butterfly's antennae.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies14.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies14.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies14.jpg, Mar 2011" />Flatten the rolled tube a little at one end, then cut it to a point.</p>
<p>Apply a small drop of glue, then insert the folded part of the antennae into the end.</p>
<p>Set aside a moment to allow the glue to set.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies15.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies15.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies15.jpg, Mar 2011" />The glue on the concertina-folded parts should be dry enough to handle. Splay out the folds a little - and the form of the wings will start to appear.</p>
<p>Take the other small folded sliver of paper and taper the ends, then cut in half. Take one half, open it out and glue it into the bottom fold of the lower wing (the one with the rounded profile).</p>
<p>Repeat on the other side.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies16.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies16.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies16.jpg, Mar 2011" />Apply a small drop of glue on the front of the assembled wings. Flatten the butterfly's body a little and fix in place on top.</p>
<p>Make sure it's all straight and square, then clip together with the peg. Leave it alone for a good while this time, until the glue is completely dry.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies17.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies17.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies17.jpg, Mar 2011" />When it's dry, remove the peg and carefully open out the concertina folds - if they spring back closed, they can be made to relax by holding them over a cup of hot water.</p>
<p>If you're using a magazine page (as here), the text and content of the page is generally obscured by the folding. It's possible to carefully select the pieces you cut out to try to end up with a symmetrical appearance in the finished wings.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="paperbutterflies18.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/paperbutterflies18.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="paperbutterflies18.jpg, Mar 2011" />Because they're so light in weight, they're easy to fix up with a little bit of tape or Blu-tack - a collection of them in all different colours looks really great.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>Orange Peel Boxurn:md5:9be09d462106673ac032fa566ab208dc2011-02-14T15:24:00+00:002015-03-14T15:32:27+00:00MikeCraftProjectsRecycling<p><img alt="orangepeelboxthumb.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/o/orangepeelboxthumb.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="orangepeelboxthumb.JPG, Feb 2011" />I've noticed that citrus peel dries out to form quite a tough, leathery material. This is an experiment to see if it can be made into anything useful - starting with this small trinket box.</p> <h3 class="clearleft">Making The Orange Peel Box</h3>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="orangepeelbox2.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/o/orangepeelbox2.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="orangepeelbox2.JPG, Feb 2011" />I started with a bag of fresh navel oranges.</p>
<p>The idea will be to stretch the empty skins over two differently-sized forms (in this case, two empty jam jars) - so as to form a base and a lid that fits over it.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="orangepeelbox3.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/o/orangepeelbox3.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="orangepeelbox3.JPG, Feb 2011" />I cut the oranges in half and carefully scooped out the flesh with a spoon, taking care not to split the skin.</p>
<p>I found that only the stalk end of the oranges were usable, as the 'navel' end develops a hole after the fruit pulp is removed.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="orangepeelbox4.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/o/orangepeelbox4.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="orangepeelbox4.JPG, Feb 2011" />Steeping the empty skins in boiling water for five minutes made them very soft and pliable.</p>
<p>After this, they were very fragile, so I got everything else ready before trying to handle them.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="orangepeelbox5.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/o/orangepeelbox5.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="orangepeelbox5.JPG, Feb 2011" />It was quite easy to mould the softened skin to the shape of the jar's base - the sides didn't even seem to need to gather or pucker at all.</p>
<p>I secured the peel in place with several turns of cotton string. Rubber bands would probably have done the job just as well.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="orangepeelbox6.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/o/orangepeelbox6.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="orangepeelbox6.JPG, Feb 2011" />I did the same with the other jar, then I set them peel side down (to keep the base flat) in a cardboard box and set it in a warm place - on top of the central heating radiator - to dry out.</p>
<p>A couple of days later, the skins had shrunk a little, but were not drying as fast as I would have liked - mostly because of the impermeability of both the glass jar and the waxy outside of the orange peel.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="orangepeelbox7.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/o/orangepeelbox7.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="orangepeelbox7.JPG, Feb 2011" />I was concerned that if they dried too slowly, they might rot. Also, there seemed to be a risk of the sticky inner pith adhering too tightly to the glass.</p>
<p>So I removed the skins from the glass jars and re-tied them over cylinders of tightly-rolled corrugated cardboard.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="orangepeelbox8.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/o/orangepeelbox8.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="orangepeelbox8.JPG, Feb 2011" />Mounted on the cardboard, they dried much quicker and after another two days, had turned into a hard, leathery and quite thin material.</p>
<p>I removed them from the cardboard forms and trimmed them up a little. They had shrunk a fair deal, which had caused a little splitting, and had pulled up the edges of the peel so that there wasn't a great deal of height to play with any more.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="orangepeelbox9.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/o/orangepeelbox9.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="orangepeelbox9.JPG, Feb 2011" />A light coating of brown boot polish didn't add as much shine as I hoped, but is probably worthwhile in adding durability to the material.</p>
<p>Although technically a success, the resulting box is a bit disappointing - too shallow, slightly cracked and split in places, and doesn't feel like it will last.</p>
<p>But this is just a first attempt - there is potential for improvement, I'm sure...</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Where It All Started</h3>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="orangepeelbox10.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/o/orangepeelbox10.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="orangepeelbox10.JPG, Feb 2011" />This idea developed from the observation that citrus fruits, such as the orange below, develop a hard, tough skin texture when it is allowed to dry out - in this case, because the outer waxy zest layer has been pared away to add to a recipe, then the orange was set aside and forgotten for a couple of days.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">What Next</h3>
<p>I'll be trying this again, but probably with grapefruit skins - because they're larger to start with, and thicker - so hopefully the end result can be a more usable, durable box.</p>
<p>I may also try cutting the fruit lengthways so that the top and bottom of the box can be plain - the stem/blossom scars will be part that I trim off the edges.</p>Lard Lampurn:md5:68c606c4550bfbfe11a975963babf1f72011-01-03T21:51:00+00:002015-03-24T21:06:56+00:00MikeCraftMetalworkProjectsRecycling<p><img alt="lardlampthumb.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlampthumb.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlampthumb.JPG, Jan 2011" />This is a simple little oil lamp specially designed to burn fuels that are solid at room temperatures - such as leftover fats from cooking bacon, sausages, duck or other greasy foods.</p>
<p>It's made from pewter, using the lost wax casting method.</p> <h2 class="clearleft">How The Lard Lamp Was Made</h2>
<p><img alt="lardlamp2.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp2.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp2.JPG, Jan 2011" />As in the previous Lost Wax Casting projects, I made the form out of the malleable wax from the outside of Edam cheese.</p>
<p>I rolled a small ball of wax, then pierced it with a pencil and rolled it into a hollow cylinder. Then I trimmed off the ends and made four equally spaced lengthwise cuts at each end.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp3.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp3.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp3.JPG, Jan 2011" />I slid out the pencil, then splayed out the cut segments at each end - shaping them into petals at the top, and simple feet at the bottom.</p>
<p>This wax is quite pliable at normal temperatures and with thin pieces like this, can be too soft to handle. A quick spell in the fridge firms it up, if necessary.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><span style="line-height: 1.6em;"><img alt="lardlamp4.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp4.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp4.JPG, Jan 2011" />I added a few more details, then curved the petals back inwards - this is the crucial design feature, as these will be warmed by the flame, capturing heat to keep the fuel reservoir in a liquid state.</span></p>
<p>Once the form was complete, I hardened it in the fridge again, then added some extra pieces on the bottom to serve as pouring channels for the molten metal.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp5.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp5.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp5.JPG, Jan 2011" />I've used clay for the mould in previous experiments, but decided this time to try Plaster of Paris. That was the plan, anyway, but I couldn't get hold of any, so I decided to try with decorating filler instead.</p>
<p>I melted the ends of the wax plugs that will form the pouring channels, then stuck them to the bottom of a cut-off plastic bottle.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp6.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp6.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp6.JPG, Jan 2011" />I had to use more water than the directions on the filler pack recommended - in order to make it up to a pourable consistency.</p>
<p>It took all of the 450g pack of filler to completely entomb the wax form. To try to prevent imperfections from air bubbles, I agitated the wet filler by plunging a bamboo skewer up and down in each corner of the container (being careful to stay away from the delicate wax form now hidden in the middle.</p>
<p>The plaster took a long while to dry (probably because of all the extra water I added. After two days, it was solid enough that I could cut away the plastic container, which helped it to dry further by exposing all of the sides to the air.</p>
<p>I set it in a bowl on top of one of my central heating radiators for a couple of days, then, about a week after starting, I set about melting out the wax form.</p>
<p>As before, I did this by placing the mould upside down in the oven, starting at 150C and raising the temperature gradually over the space of an hour, finishing at 220C. Hardly any of the wax dripped out - only a few drips from the ends of the pouring channels.</p>
<p>Peering inside, however, I could see the mould void - as it later turned out, most of the wax had either evaporated away, or soaked into the porous matrix of the mould. Not what I expected.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Casting</h3>
<p>I used pewter recycled from a dented old tankard I got from a charity shop again for this casting - take a look at the previous couple of pages for more details on how I prepared the metal for casting.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp7.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp7.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp7.JPG, Jan 2011" />I melted the pewter and poured it into one of the filler holes - I was pleased to see it rise out of the other three and overflow a little.</p>
<p>There was some bubbling and hissing as steam emerged from the pouring hole, but this quickly died down - and crucially, before the metal had solidified. I tapped the mould sharply a few times to allow any trapped air to come out, but none noticeably emerged.</p>
<p>I left it to cool for an hour, then carefully broke away pieces of the plaster to reveal...</p>
<p>...A near perfect result. Some of the fine detail didn't come through properly, but the metal made it all the way to the tips of the petals, and there were no big holes - except the one I wanted, running through the middle of the piece, to take the wick.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp8.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp8.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp8.JPG, Jan 2011" />I threaded a piece of cotton rag through the middle of the lamp, then placed it in a glazed bowl.</p>
<p>I melted some lard (leftover from frying sausages) and poured it into the bowl, up to the base of the petals, then placed the whole thing in the fridge for the fat to cool and set solid (so the first test would be a fair one)</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp9.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp9.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp9.JPG, Jan 2011" />Then I took it out and lit the wick.</p>
<p>It works perfectly - exactly as I had imagined - the recurved petals capture some of the heat from the flame, which is then conducted down through the metal and out into the four splayed feet at the bottom.</p>
<p>This melts the fat and enables it to continue being drawn up the wick to feed the flame,</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Solid Fat Lamps</h3>
<p>We're all of course very familiar with a different kind of lamp that is designed to burn fats and oils that are solid even in a warm room - these lamps are called <i>candles</i>.</p>
<p>However, in a temperate climate, you can't really make candles out of unprocessed lard - it's too soft and sticky, melting completely a little above normal room temperatures - but at the same time, you can't burn these fats in an ordinary lamp, as they will set solid and will not rise up the wick.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp11.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp11.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp11.JPG, Jan 2011" />I designed this simple lamp to solve these problems - it works by harvesting some of the heat from its own flame and conducting it down into the solid metal prongs at the bottom - maintaining its own fuel reservoir in a liquid state - and therefore able to soak up through the wick as it burns.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Other Fuels</h3>
<p>Although this lamp is designed for solid fats, there's no real reason why it couldn't alternatively be used to burn liquid vegetable oils such as sunflower or olive.</p>
<h3>Moment Of Truth</h3>
<p>One of the most nervous moments in a metal casting project like this one is breaking open the mould - will the metal have reached into all the little nooks and crannies? Will there be imperfections or voids in the casting?</p>
<p><img alt="lardlamp10.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp10.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp10.JPG, Jan 2011" />So it's a welcome sight and a real thrill when the first glint of fully-formed, shiny metal appears through the broken edges of the mould material.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Copper Plating</h3>
<p>I later decided to try copper plating my Lard Lamp - and the results were quite pleasing - take a look <a class="ref-post" href="https://atomicshrimp.com/post/2011/01/21/Copper-Plating">here</a> for more details...</p>
<div class="wikinote notewarning">
<p class="note-title"><strong>Safety</strong></p>
<p>Even a comparatively low temperature alloy such as pewter still gets plenty hot enough to cause really nasty burns if great care is not exercised. Also, molten wax can scald, and wax vapour can ignite - so be careful.</p>
<p>In use, the Lard Lamp employs an open flame - never leave a candle or other open flame burning unattended.</p>
</div>
<h2>Experimenting With Other Mould Materials</h2>
<p>Pewter has a sufficiently low melting temperature that it can be cast into natural or silicone rubber moulds. But the materials to make these aren't always cheap or easily obtainable... Or are they?</p>
<h2>A New Lard Lamp</h2>
<p><img alt="lardlamp2_1.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp2_1.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp2_1.jpg, Jan 2011" />I made a new wax form for the Lard Lamp Mk 2, trying to learn from some of the mistakes of the first one (seen on the left).</p>
<p>The main difference was to provide it with only three feet, preventing the potential for wobbling, but I also made this one a bit finer and spent more time making it symmetrical.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp2_2.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp2_2.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp2_2.jpg, Jan 2011" />Instead of a two-part silicone mix, I decided to experiment with ordinary, cheap as chips, silicone sealant (also known as silicone caulk).</p>
<p>At this stage, I had no idea how well this stuff would take exposure to molten pewter.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp2_3.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp2_3.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp2_3.jpg, Jan 2011" />I added sprue pegs to the wax form, then stood it on a flattened polythene bag on a tray - knowing that the silicone won't adhere to polythene.</p>
<p>I started applying the silicone - it wasn't easy, as it's quite thick and viscous. Even after hardening the wax in the fridge, it was difficult to get the sealant to conform to all the little details of the wax form without distorting it out of shape.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp2_4.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp2_4.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp2_4.jpg, Jan 2011" />The sealant went on really thick and not very evenly.</p>
<p>I fully expected this to mean that there would be voids and bubbles next to the wax, which would result in flanges and general surface imperfections.</p>
<p>It took a whole week for the stuff to cure - just because it was such a thick, chunky layer.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp2_5.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp2_5.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp2_5.jpg, Jan 2011" />Melting out the wax was a challenge - I didn't really want to do it in the oven, in case the silicone emitted fumes.</p>
<p>So I settled for immersing the mould in boiling water, in an old food can over my portable gas stove.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp2_6.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp2_6.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp2_6.jpg, Jan 2011" />The wax was a little reluctant to come out, but a few more repeats of boiling and tipping seemed to get it all.</p>
<p>The wax coming out was very odd in texture - feeling sticky and wet even after cooling. Not necessarily a good sign...</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp2_7.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp2_7.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp2_7.jpg, Jan 2011" />I dried the mould for a few hours next to my hot water tank, then prepared it for casting.</p>
<p>I wasn't completely confident that the mould was completely free of holes, or indeed that it wouldn't just burst into flames when the hot metal hit it - so I set it in a pot of sand (blocking the pouring holes temporarily with tissue to keep stray sand grains out).</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="lardlamp2_8.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp2_8.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp2_8.jpg, Jan 2011" />As in previous experiments, I melted parts of an old pewter tankard in an empty food can over my camping stove.</p>
<p>It was a messy pour this time - but this isn't really a problem, as the spillages set quickly and can just be re-melted again next time.</p>
<p>It seemed to fill the mould OK though - and didn't spit, flare or otherwise give me much trouble. I left it to cool for half an hour.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">The Reveal</h3>
<p><img alt="lardlamp2_9.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp2_9.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp2_9.jpg, Jan 2011" />I cut open the mould (this was always intended to be a single use experimental mould).</p>
<p>The casting was a pretty disastrous mess. A huge unwanted lump of metal in between the petals - and a generally poor finish and shape everywhere.</p>
<p>This won't be wasted, of course - it just goes back in the pot for the next melt.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">What Went Wrong?</h3>
<p><img alt="lardlamp2_10.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/l/lardlamp2_10.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="lardlamp2_10.jpg, Jan 2011" />A close inspection of the mould remnants revealed that parts of the silicone - particularly in the middle, at the thickest point, had not cured properly - it was a sort of semi-cured paste, which had been displaced during removal of the wax, filling parts of the mould and opening up voids in other places.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">What Next?</h3>
<p>Well, this isn't a failure, it's just... data capture. I think this material has potential - The silicone itself can easily stand the heat of the molten pewter - it's just going to need a bit more ingenuity in the application.</p>
<p>So next time, if there is a next time, I'm going to try freezing the wax form to make it solid, then applying the silicone in thin layers with a brush.</p>Recycled Christmas Card Boxesurn:md5:ccaf5b2c49eea87e01e5f84eb258ff7c2009-12-22T19:44:00+00:002015-01-15T20:00:41+00:00MikeChristmasCraftRecyclingVideo<p><img alt="cardboxesthumb.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxesthumb.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxesthumb.JPG, Dec 2009" />These little gift boxes are made from recycled Christmas cards - they're easy to make and can be filled with tasty treats or small gifts for the tree or as stocking fillers.</p> <h3 class="clearleft">Video Tutorial</h3>
<p>Scroll down for step-by step pictorial instructions, or watch the video below...</p>
<div class="imagecentre"><iframe frameborder="0" height="376" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FN5NLkuzYKw" width="510"></iframe></div>
<h3 class="clearleft">Pictorial Instructions</h3>
<p><img alt="cardboxes2.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxes2.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxes2.JPG, Dec 2009" />Start with the front of an old Christmas card - if it's not square, trim it into a square.</p>
<p>To make a box and a fitting lid, you need two squares, one of which should be about 5mm smaller than the other in both directions. The larger one is the lid - bear this in mind when selecting your card.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="cardboxes3.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxes3.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxes3.JPG, Dec 2009" />Find and mark the centre of the plain side by placing a rule across the diagonals and marking a light pencil line through the middle.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="cardboxes4.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxes4.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxes4.JPG, Dec 2009" />Fold one corner in so that the tip just touches the centre mark.</p>
<p>Press and smooth down the fold.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="cardboxes5.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxes5.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxes5.JPG, Dec 2009" />Fold the same edge in again, so that it touches the centre.</p>
<p>Press and smooth down the fold.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="cardboxes6.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxes6.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxes6.JPG, Dec 2009" />Unfold the card flat again</p>
<p>Repeat the double fold operation on each of the other three corners in turn.</p>
<p>You should end up with a diagonal grid of folds like this.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="cardboxes7.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxes7.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxes7.JPG, Dec 2009" />Cut carefully along the fold nearest the centre, stopping at the corner of the unfolded square in the middle.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="cardboxes8.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxes8.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxes8.JPG, Dec 2009" />Make three more matching cuts in as shown here - ending up with two pairs of parallel cuts.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="cardboxes9.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxes9.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxes9.JPG, Dec 2009" />Fold in one of the sides as shown - the corner into the middle and the edge folded up at a right angle.</p>
<p>Note how this creates two slim pointed tabs at the edges...</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="cardboxes10.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/.cardboxes10_m.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxes10.jpg, Dec 2009" />Repeat the above folding operation on the opposite corner.</p>
<p>Push the pointed tabs in toward each other.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="cardboxes11.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxes11.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxes11.JPG, Dec 2009" />Fold the remaining corners in over the top of the pointed tabs, securing them in place.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="cardboxes12.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxes12.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxes12.JPG, Dec 2009" />When you press all of the corners down into the bottom of the box, they should lock into place against each other.</p>
<p>No glue is required.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="cardboxes13.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxes13.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="cardboxes13.JPG, Dec 2009" />Repeat all of the above with the smaller square of card.</p>
<p>You should end up with a pair of boxes that just fit snugly together.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="cardboxes1.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/c/cardboxes1.JPG" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="cardboxes1.JPG, Dec 2009" /></p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Size Of The Finished Box</h3>
<p>The process of making these boxes is all about geometry really - so it's possible to calculate in advance the size of the box you want, then cut a piece of card to suit.</p>
<p>The length/width of the top square of the finished box will be one quarter of the diameter of the square of card from which it is made.</p>
<p>You can calculate this as one quarter of the square root of twice the square of one side of the card, however, in practice (and given the tolerances of manufacture here), this works out so that the edge length of the finished box is just a little more than one third of the edge length of the square of card from which it is made).</p>
<h3>So...</h3>
<p>Your card square needs to be about three times the size of the box you want.</p>Plastic Bag Recyclingurn:md5:f5e6641ffd98438fe9162595b3e08d922009-01-30T21:22:00+00:002015-02-26T21:39:26+00:00MikeCraftKnittingPlasticProjectsRecycling<p><img alt="plasticbagthumb.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbagthumb.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticbagthumb.JPG, Jan 2009" />Another bash at recycling plastic bags by knitting with them, but this time with a couple of differences - I'm only going to use bags that are at end-of-life - that is, otherwise to be thrown away, and I'm making something sturdy durable and useful - a basket.</p> <p class="clearleft">On previous pages, we've looked at French knitting and use of plastic bag yarn. This page is more of the same, with just a couple of important differences:</p>
<ul>
<li>I'm only going to use bags that are at end-of-life - that is, bags that would normally be thrown away at this point.</li>
<li>I want to make something really quite sturdy durable and useful this time - a basket.</li>
</ul>
<h3>The Raw Materials</h3>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticbag1.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag1.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticbag1.JPG, Nov 2008" />For this project, I'm using soft polythene bags - mostly from loaves of sliced bread, but also including some that contained fruit, fresh or frozen vegetables, items of clothing, etc.</p>
<p>They come in a fantastic range of colours, so that should make the finished item quite appealing. I will confess that since starting this project, I have been buying a greater diversity of loaves than usual, just because the wrappers were pretty.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticbag2.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag2.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticbag2.JPG, Nov 2008" />Making the yarn is as detailed on the previous page - roll the bag up, cut into strips and join with cow hitches, then roll up into a ball.</p>
<p>Rather than using a whole bag at a time, as in the last project, this time, I've mixed up the cut bag pieces and joined them in a very mixed, random fashion, to provide a different effect.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticbag3.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag3.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticbag3.JPG, Dec 2008" />Construction of my basket will be a two-stage process. First, I will knit up the yarn on my six-peg French knitting bobbin, to form a tough rope.</p>
<p>When I have a sufficient quantity of rope, I will stitch it together in a flat coil to make the base of the basket, then form the sides by a similar coil process - just like making a clay coil pot</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticbag4.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag4.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticbag4.JPG, Dec 2008" />The material knits up into a fairly uniform, hollow and highly flexible cord about one and half centimetres in diameter.</p>
<p>My intentional mixing of the different pieces of bag has paid off - it looks nice.</p>
<p>Each bread bag produces about 15 to 20cm of knitted rope.</p>
<p>It's pretty laborious work, however, after a little practice, I'm able to knit without looking, so I can do it while watching something on TV. I have already completed two quite large sections of rope, with a third in progress (awaiting more materials).</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticbag5.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag5.JPG" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="plasticbag5.JPG, Dec 2008" /></p>
<h3 class="clearleft">January 2009 - Construction Of The Basket</h3>
<p>I've been working in spare moments during the holiday break and I now have four coils of knitted rope. Something like 10 metres of it in total.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Direct Recycling</h3>
<p>Like my Drink Can Tinwork - this is something I'm starting to call 'Direct Recycling' - that is, the immediate manufacture of new items out of old, without extensive reprocessing of materials in between.</p>
<p>It's quite an exciting concept, because - where it is possible - it can be greatly more efficient and environmentally friendly than ordinary recycling, with which there are costs in collecting, transporting, reprocessing and redistributing the material.</p>
<h3>The Rope</h3>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticbag6.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag6.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticbag6.JPG, Jan 2009" />It took me many hours to complete this and I have some interesting new calluses on my fingers, but here it is - approximately 10 metres of knitted plastic rope, made from old bags.</p>
<p>I'm going to stitch the basket together with - you guessed it - more plastic bag yarn - this time, made from a very tough carrier bag I got from a shoe shop. I could use bread bags here again, but I think it deserves something stronger.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticbag7.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag7.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticbag7.JPG, Jan 2009" />I attached a single loop of the yarn to a large darning needle by passing one end through the eye, then putting the needle's point back through it. This can easily be undone in order to attach the next length when required.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticbag8.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag8.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticbag8.JPG, Jan 2009" />Having roughly worked out a plan of action, I sewed the ropes to themselves in a spiral coil pattern (more on that in a moment)</p>
<p>It was only necessary to pass the needle under one stitch on the edge of each section of rope - as illustrated - and skipping one or two rows along each time.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticbag9.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag9.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticbag9.JPG, Jan 2009" />I decided to make an oblong bag-type basket, so I formed the base by creating an elongated spiral around a single straight length of rope.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticbag10.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag10.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticbag10.JPG, Jan 2009" />After the base was completed, I started building the same coil up the sides - easy enough to do just by holding the rope in place to work out how it should join onto the previous coil.</p>
<p>The basket more or less formed itself. Again, this is hard work, but it looks like the end result is going to be quite interesting.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticbag11.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag11.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticbag11.JPG, Jan 2009" />Then the main body of the bag was finished - it turns out that 10 metres of rope is just about enough. However, I needed to make a little more for the handles, and once again, I was out of bags.</p>
<p>This time, I got a couple of friends and relatives to save their empty bread bags for me...</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="plasticbag12.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag12.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="plasticbag12.JPG, Jan 2009" />To make the handles, I knitted up a couple of sections of rope, each about a metre long, then folded them double and stitched them in that position.</p>
<p>Then I attached them to the sides of the bag, stitching right through the full thickness of the handle and bag sidewall, fixing them to the top six rows of the bag, to help distribute the load a bit.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">The End Result</h3>
<p>I'm really very pleased with this. The end result is a very stout, sturdy basket bag - perhaps a little too colourful for me to carry around without feeling self-conscious, though.</p>
<p><img alt="plasticbag13.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/plasticbag13.JPG" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="plasticbag13.JPG, Jan 2009" /></p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>Drink Can Tinworkurn:md5:b325377e88baa37966532a739dcc2fa72008-10-17T22:23:00+00:002015-01-18T22:43:15+00:00MikeCraftMetalworkRecycling<p><img alt="tinwork10.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/.tinwork10_t.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="tinwork10.jpg, Oct 2008" />Soft drink cans are easily recyclable as scrap metal, but I fancied trying something a little more direct - a simplified form of tinwork.</p> <div class="clearleft imagecentre"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="383" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/B7vXNLpVafM" width="510"></iframe></div>
<h3>Materials</h3>
<p><img alt="tinwork1.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork1.JPG" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="tinwork1.JPG, Oct 2008" /></p>
<p>All that's needed for this project is a strong pair of scissors, a cork-backed table mat, a pointed object (a scriber or just a ballpoint pen), a little bit of tape and some fine abrasive paper.</p>
<p>Plus of course an empty aluminium drink can - this one contained 'Emerge' - an energy drink containing caffeine and taurine, with a flavour and aroma that perfectly reproduces the experience of drinking something fizzy and anonymously fruity next to a public urinal. If that puts you off the idea of emptying a can for yourself, there are probably <a href="https://atomicshrimp.com/post/2008/10/17/st/content/wdmd">other places</a> you can get hold of one.</p>
<p><img alt="tinwork2.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork2.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="tinwork2.JPG, Oct 2008" />First, I cut the can down one side, then cut carefully around the ends.</p>
<p>Extreme care is required here, as the edges of the thin metal are sharp and jagged.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="tinwork3.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork3.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="tinwork3.JPG, Oct 2008" />Then I opened out the side into a flattish sheet and gave it another trim to remove the worst of the jagged points.</p>
<p>It's always a bit surprising how much material such an apparently small cylinder yields - I think it's just not all that easy to intuitively estimate the circumference of a circle.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="tinwork4.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork4.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="tinwork4.JPG, Oct 2008" />I taped the metal down flat onto the cork back of a table mat, then used a piece of fine abrasive paper to remove the printing.</p>
<p>It isn't strictly necessary to remove the paint from the can, but it does make forming a pattern easier later on.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="tinwork5.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork5.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="tinwork5.JPG, Oct 2008" />Then I used the scriber (and later, an ordinary ballpoint pen) to mark out a decorative pattern on the metal.</p>
<p>- Pressing just hard enough to crease the material, but not hard enough to puncture or score it</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="tinwork6.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork6.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="tinwork6.JPG, Oct 2008" />Once the design has been pressed into the metal, it tends to prevent it recoiling back into a cylinder - the work can be removed from the cork board.</p>
<p>I've decorated this one with a simple pattern consisting of geometric shapes, swirls and spirals - but obviously other designs are possible.</p>
<p>It may even be possible, with a little care and skill, to reproduce a picture in beaten relief style.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="tinwork7.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork7.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="tinwork7.JPG, Oct 2008" />I cut the piece to shape with the scissors...</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="tinwork8.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork8.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="tinwork8.JPG, Oct 2008" />Then folded in the corners, to create a box shape.</p>
<p>Again, great care is needed here to avoid cuts from the sharp edges.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Finished</h3>
<p>The end result is a little metal box with an embossed pattern.</p>
<p><img alt="tinwork9.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork9.JPG" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="tinwork9.JPG, Oct 2008" /></p>
<p>Not bad for a first effort - I'd do a few things differently next time, such as leaving an extra bit on the edge and folding it over inwards, so the box doesn't have any exposed sharp edges.</p>
<h2>It Gets Better</h2>
<p><img alt="tinwork10.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork10.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="tinwork10.jpg, Oct 2008" />I found a way of getting the design to stand out in sharper relief.</p>
<p>I traced the entire design as normal, then (before any folding) flipped over the metal and using the same kind of embossing technique, traced around the raised pattern elements from the other side - following the inside and outside edges of all the raised elements.</p>
<p>Then I flipped it over and re-traced the original design once more. The result is a much clearer, bolder embossed design.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">And Better...</h3>
<p><img alt="tinwork11.png" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork11.png" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="tinwork11.png, Jan 2015" />It was also pretty simple to make the box with turned-over edges that were not so sharp - by leaving an extra tab on each side</p>
<p>The diagonal scored lines (marked in red) are embossed from the front surface of the work - enabling the corners to be folded inwards.</p>
<p>The lines scored to enable the edge flaps to be finally tucked in are marked in blue on this diagram - they're embossed from the back, like most of the other work, but I found it necessary to make them from a pair of closely-spaced parallel lines - as the thin metal tends to snap if creased into a really tight fold.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">And Better Still</h3>
<p><img alt="tinwork12.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork12.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="tinwork12.jpg, Oct 2008" />Finally, it's quite easy to tweak the measurements for a second box so that one fits snugly over the other.</p>
<p>I found that by reducing the central square region by about a quarter inch and increasing the height of the sides by a similar amount, the resulting box was just small enough to push inside the other as a base.</p>
<p>Remember which way up it's going to be when you're applying the designs though.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="tinwork13.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/t/tinwork13.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="tinwork13.jpg, Oct 2008" />I lined my box with a little scrap of tapestry-style fabric, held in place with all-purpose glue.</p>
<p>Felt or velvet would also work just as well - I think it's even possible to get self-adhesive versions of these, which would probably be ideal.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>French Knitting - Working With Plastic Bag Yarnurn:md5:4bf4d494603e686030a445015c646f4e2008-10-01T00:35:00+00:002015-01-10T00:58:38+00:00MikeCraftKnittingProjectsRecycling<p><img alt="frenchknitting3_1.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/.frenchknitting3_1_t.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_1.JPG, Sep 2008" />This knitting loom is designed on exactly the same principles as the French knitting bobbin in previous articles - it's just bigger, with more pegs.</p>
<p>But I'm going to use a recycled material this time - plastic bag yarn</p> <h2 class="clearleft">The Knitting Loom</h2>
<p>I cut it out of a piece of reclaimed hardwood with my jigsaw, drilled the peg holes at approximately 2cm intervals and glued in dowels. The central slot is made by drilling a 25mm diameter hole at each end and jigsawing between them to join them up.</p>
<p><img alt="frenchknitting3_1.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_1.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="frenchknitting3_1.jpg, Sep 2008" /></p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting3_2.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_2.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_2.JPG, Sep 2008" />The knitted work produced by this loom consists of a stretchy, seamless tube about 25 cm across - this can be used to make bags, hats, scarves and other items.</p>
<p>The width of the finished piece is dependent upon the spacing of the pegs, not the thickness of the yarn, so a thick yarn will produce a stiff, tightly-knitted piece and a thin one will yield a light, gauzy result.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting3_3.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_3.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_3.jpg, Sep 2008" />Working with the loom is exactly the same as for the French knitting bobbin on the previous pages.</p>
<p>But I'm going to use a recycled material this time - plastic bag yarn</p>
<h2 class="clearleft">Plastic Bag Yarn</h2>
<p><img alt="frenchknitting3_4.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_4.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_4.jpg, Sep 2008" />Plastic bag yarn can be made from any reasonably strong bag - the tough, crinkly ones from the supermarket are ideal, but I have also had good results with the softer polythene bags from loaves of sliced bread.</p>
<p>To begin, the bag should be flattened out completely and any pleats should be tucked in as naturally as possible.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting3_5.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_5.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_5.JPG, Sep 2008" />Next, the bag is folded repeatedly across its width to form a narrow strip</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting3_6.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_6.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_6.JPG, Sep 2008" />Then sections are cut off as shown with sharp, strong scissors - it's important to hold tight to prevent the folded layers slipping out of line with each other, as this would result in ragged or weak cut sections.</p>
<p>It's a good idea to unravel and test the first cut piece for strength - if it breaks too easily, cut wider strips</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting3_7.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_7.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_7.jpg, Sep 2008" />Once the pieces are all cut, discard the top and bottom parts of the bag, then unravel the cut pieces - each of which should form a continuous loop.</p>
<p>Link them all together into a long chain by passing the end of one loop through another, then back through itself and pulling tight - this knot is called a ring or cow hitch</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting3_8.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_8.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_8.JPG, Sep 2008" />The completed length of yarn can then be wound into a ball, ready for use - it will probably need a rubber band around it to prevent it unwinding</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Working With Plastic Bag Yarn</h3>
<p><img alt="frenchknitting3_9.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_9.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_9.jpg, Sep 2008" />The yarn can be used as a direct substitute for wool or string - it can be a bit tricky to get the right tension though - as the plastic tends to stretch a little, then spring back tight, gripping the knitting needles or pegs, but with a little practice, it's easy to master</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting3_10.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_10.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_10.JPG, Oct 2008" />So here's the work in progress - this piece required at least twenty plastic bags so far, but the result is quite a tough, stretchy net.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting3_11.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_11.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_11.JPG, Oct 2008" />It took more than 25 carrier bags to complete the main knitted section and another few to make the handle - which is just a rope knitted on the smaller French knitting bobbin detailed on previous pages.</p>
<p>Casting off the knitting is a tricky business - on the smaller bobbin, it's just a case of passing the yarn through each of the loops, removing them from the peg and pulling tight like a drawstring - this isn't really possible on the larger one - it's too much gathering, really - and in any case, would not leave the top open.</p>
<p>To cast off and leave an open top, it is necessary to knot the yarn onto each of the loops in turn, then remove them all from the pegs.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting3_12.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_12.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_12.jpg, Oct 2008" />To assemble the bag, I blanket-stitched the bottom closed with some very strong polyester twine.</p>
<p>Then I reinforced and neatened it by stitching over with a single strand of plastic bag yarn made from one of the tougher bags. (see inset)</p>
<p>Attaching the handle was a similar process - first, I stitched it onto the top of the bag mouth using strong polyester cord, then I rolled the rim over to enclose the rope handle and stitched it down with the strong plastic bag yarn.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">The End Result</h3>
<p>I'm quite pleased with the finished bag. It's not perfect - using a variety of source materials has resulted in a little unevenness here and there, but all in all, I'd say it's not bad.</p>
<p><img alt="frenchknitting3_13.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_13.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="frenchknitting3_13.jpg, Oct 2008" /></p>
<h3 class="clearleft">What Next?</h3>
<p>I already have some interesting plans for the next bit of knitting... certain types of plastic bag shrink, thicken and toughen when carefully heated.</p>
<p>I plan to experiment with this effect to see if it's possible to apply it to a finished knitted bag - if it works, it may be possible to shrink a piece over a former to make a resilient basket, or to shrink it carefully onto a container such as a glass bottle, to provide an impact-resistant permanent cover.</p>
<h3>Knitting With Video Tape</h3>
<p>When I was working with the plastic bag yarn, it occurred to me that it's not unlike plastic tape, which got me thinking about the idea of using discarded video tape as a source material.</p>
<p>Initial tests with video tape are promising - it's very tricky to get started because the stuff is springy and slick, but it soon starts to behave itself very nicely.</p>
<p><img alt="frenchknitting3_14.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_14.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_14.JPG, Oct 2008" />It's easier to work with than plastic bag yarn simply because it is absolutely consistent in quality. The knitted work is very light in weight, but really quite tough and I don't think it will take very many tapes to make a bag - maybe in fact just one.</p>
<p>At this stage, it seemed possible to say that <i>The Core</i> wasn't an entirely useless movie, after all.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Further Tests With Video Tape</h3>
<p>However, further testing on the larger knitting loom proved difficult and eventually impossible.</p>
<p>I tried to redeem the movie <i>Starship Troopers</i> by knitting up the tape on my loom - I got to about a dozen rows, but it was very tough going - it's almost impossible to control the tension and the knitted work is very tight - making it hard to pull the loops over.</p>
<p><img alt="frenchknitting3_15.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3_15.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3_15.JPG, Oct 2008" />Eventually, the tape snapped and in trying to unpick the work to tie it back in, the whole lot came off the pegs and was just impossible to rescue</p>
<p class="clearleft">because the tape had been stretched a little at every stitch, the work at this point was quite stiff and would probably not have been much use anyway.</p>
<p>I'm certain there must be some way to recycle this material though - maybe some kind of weaving...</p>Making A French Knitting Bobbinurn:md5:56c8dd3415e8d6dcfaf5768c686e03552008-08-23T21:43:00+00:002015-01-09T00:57:46+00:00MikeCraftKnittingProjectsRecyclingWoodworking<p><img alt="frenchknitting9.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/.frenchknitting9_t.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting9.jpg, Jan 2015" />French knitting has been around for centuries - here's how to make and use a French knitting kit</p> <p>The ancient origin of this craft is a fact attested to by the vast array of different names for the implements used - the bobbin used for French knitting, for example, is also known - amongst many other things - as a Nancy, or Nobby, or Busy Lizzie.</p>
<p>The origins of these crafts are also obscure and it may be that they arose multiple times independently.</p>
<h2>Making The Knitting Device</h2>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting1.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting1.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting1.jpg, Jan 2015" />I started with a piece of reclaimed timber - some nice, but unidentified reddish hardwood originally part of a pallet carrying goods imported from Asia.</p>
<p>Using an electric planer, I smoothed off the two faces of the board - I didn't pay too much attention to the edges, as the item doesn't use them - being cut from th</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting2.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting2.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting2.jpg, Jan 2015" />Next, I used a 60mm holesaw in my drill press to cut out a circular blank. This can be done with a handheld power drill, but it's tricky to keep the drill vertical - if you tilt it, the saw may bite or bind.</p>
<p>I found it best to cut halfway through, then flip the board over and cut through from the other face - cutting right through in a single operation tends to leave a ragged edge on the bottom of the blank - when the piece breaks free.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting3.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting3.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting3.jpg, Jan 2015" />I clamped the blank down firmly and drilled out the centre hole with a 20mm spade bit - again, drilling halfway from each side to minimise breakout.</p>
<p><b>The clamping is essential</b> - I tried doing this once just holding down the blank with my hand. The drill caught and spun the wooden disc, cutting and driving splinters into my thumb. Not a mistake to be repeated - learn from mine!</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting4.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting4.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting4.jpg, Jan 2015" />I drilled six countersunk holes at equal intervals around the disc.</p>
<p>The drill was set to stop short of the bottom (see inset) so that the hole wouldn't go all the way through - this isn't essential, but it makes the underside of the finished item neater.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting5.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting5.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting5.jpg, Jan 2015" />Next, I cut six pieces of 6mm dowel - I clamped a stop to my mitre saw box so that they would all be exactly the same length.</p>
<p>The dowel pieces are about 30mm long - 10mm of which will be buried in the base, leaving 20mm stubs protruding.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting6.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting6.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting6.jpg, Jan 2015" />I tapered the ends of the dowel pieces with a pencil sharpener.</p>
<p>the bottom end is tapered to make it enter the hole easier. The top end is tapered a bit more, so it doesn't snag on the yarn when in use.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting7.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting7.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting7.jpg, Jan 2015" />The boring bit. I hate sanding, but it's necessary. I used coarse glasspaper to take off all the rough edges and splinters, then finer wet &amp; dry paper to give a smooth uniform finish.</p>
<p>I won't be varnishing or waxing the finished item as this might make it sticky.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="frenchknitting8.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting8.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="frenchknitting8.jpg, Jan 2015" />Assembly. I smeared a very small drop of PVA glue around the inside of each hole, then drove the dowel pegs in.</p>
<p>A bit more sanding (the tops of the pegs) and it's finished. The knitting needle is just a piece of bamboo BBQ skewer, sanded smooth and blunt, with a wooden bead glued on the end.</p>
<p><img alt="frenchknitting9.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/f/frenchknitting9.jpg" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="frenchknitting9.jpg, Jan 2015" /></p>
<h3 class="clearleft">French Knitting Using This Device</h3>
<p>This bobbin is a bit unconventional - they normally only have four pegs - but that doesn't matter. On the next page, I'll demonstrate how to use it.</p>CD Spindle Case Propagatorurn:md5:f90a209bdb460ae49cfddf447d5b58392008-05-13T20:48:00+00:002015-01-09T00:56:58+00:00MikeProjectsRecyclingVideo<p><img alt="propagator1.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/.propagator1_sq.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="propagator1.jpg, Jan 2015" />How to make a mini propagator from an empty CD spindle case.</p> <p>This is such an unbelievably simple idea, I can't quite believe it isn't already everywhere, but as far as I can tell, either not many people have thought of this before, or they were all too shy to speak up, or something (maybe it is everywhere and I just suck at using Google).<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="383" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/pfR9kjzfHWI" width="510"></iframe></p>
<p class="clearleft">The peas I planted in the demonstration video germinated in a couple of days - within a week, they had outgrown the propagator and they're now going out into the garden.</p>
<h3>How To Make It</h3>
<ul>
<li>Really, all you have to do is:</li>
<li>Find an empty CD spindle case (big ones are best)</li>
<li>Cut off the central column If this leaves a hole,</li>
<li>patch it with tape</li>
<li>Drill a few vent holes in the top</li>
<li>Find a pot to fit</li>
<li>Add some compost, seeds, water</li>
<li>Wait for your plants to grow</li>
</ul>
<h3>Other Uses</h3>
<p>As well as starting seeds for the garden, it has other uses - you could use it to grow things that need humidity, such as miniature ferns. Or you could put one on your office windowsill and use it to grow mustard and cress to liven up your sandwiches.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="propagator1.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/p/propagator1.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="propagator1.jpg, Jan 2015" />Or like my kids, you could use it for a school project (see photo below left) - we made a miniature living model of a rain forest (mostly from weeds and moss we found in the garden)</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>Spin Art Machineurn:md5:a7e03be34f509c8fb5a6173817c05de62007-11-24T10:49:00+00:002015-03-04T00:16:09+00:00MikeCraftProjectsRecyclingWoodworking<p><img alt="spinart14.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/.spinart14_sq.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart14.jpg, Jan 2015" />In case you slept right through the 1970s (or weren't born then, perhaps), this is a machine that spins a piece of card, paper or canvas really fast, causing any paint applied to it (before spinning it, or while it is spinning) to splatter off in interesting and striking radial patterns. In this project, we're going to try to make one out of scavenged and upcycled parts.</p> <p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart15.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart15.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart15.jpg, Jan 2015" />I'm starting off with a smallish, but powerful electric motor that was harvested from a broken Epson inkjet printer. I'll also be using a 42V mains PSU that came out of the printer.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart16.jpg" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart16.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart16.jpg, Jan 2015" /> The first task is to build a suitable mount for the motor - I did this by cutting a hole through a piece of hardwood (maple, possbily) I reclaimed from an old pallet - unfortunately, my smallest holesaw is just a tiny bit bigger than the diameter of my motor, so I cut a couple of slots alongside the hole, then back into it, like this.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart17.jpg" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart17.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart17.jpg, Jan 2015" />Then I inserted the motor in the hole and drove a screw into each of the slots - forcing the free tongue of wood inwards a little, gripping the motor very tightly.</p>
<p class="clearleft">Well, things progressed quite fast with the build after that and unfortunately, my camera battery was flat, so I couldn't document it completely. I epoxy glued a ply disc to the motor spindle and mounted the whole assembly onto a square of plywood, like this.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart26.jpg" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart26.jpg" title="spinart26.jpg, Jan 2015" /></p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart18.jpg" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart18.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart18.jpg, Jan 2015" />Then I built it into a ply case and fitted the motor board as a false bottom. The space below the false bottom allowed me to fit the PSU and wiring.</p>
<p>It's a different PSU to the one I originally intended to use - that one kept cutting out - I think it probably couldn't handle the initial load of the motor, at least not with the ply disc attached - I expect it draws a bit of current when it's getting up to speed. This one is only 18V, but the motor is designed to run on anything between 12 and 42 Volts, so that's fine.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart19.jpg" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart19.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart19.jpg, Jan 2015" />The device is wired according to this diagram.</p>
<p>There's a reason for doing it this way - when it's switched on (as shown above), the motor power circuit is complete and the motor runs. When it's switched the other way, the motor terminals are connected together - not only does this disconnect the motor from the power source, but it also brakes it - the motor continues to spin fast because of the ply disc acting like a flywheel - this generates electricity (the motor becomes a dynamo), but the current generated flows in a direction so as to try to turn the motor in the opposite direction - thus slowing it down.</p>
<p>This effect is described by something called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenz's_law">Lenz's Law</a> - and it's the same reason a bicycle dynamo becomes harder work to run when you turn on the light and draw power from it.</p>
<p>Anyway, Physics lesson over... The inside of the spin art machine looks like this:</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart20.jpg" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart20.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart20.jpg, Jan 2015" /> Aha. You noticed the telltale splodges and splatters of paint there, didn't you?</p>
<p>I couldn't resist trying it out - I fixed a piece of card onto the turntable (using white-tak pushed into four depressions I drilled previously on the surface of the disc) and spun it up - It spins really fast - I'm not sure exactly how fast, but it could be something like 1000 RPM.</p>
<p>Paint went everywhere - most of it stayed inside the box, but there was a fine aerosolised mist that wafted out and coated everything.</p>
<p class="clearleft">The paint I used was non-drip emulsion from my stage scenery painting box - a bit thick for this purpose, so I used a number of techniques:</p>
<ul>
<li>Initially, dabbing splodges of paint onto the card, then running the machine; this resulted in a bold radial pattern</li>
<li>Dripping water onto the spinning card helped to spread things around a bit, but also made the most mess, as the water was blitzed almost to vapour by the spinning disc</li>
<li>Dragging a brush across the spinning card resulted in a nice swirly tight spiral</li>
</ul>
<p>The results? Not bad at all; Judge for yourself:</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart21.jpg" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart21.jpg" title="spinart21.jpg, Jan 2015" /></p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart22.jpg" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart22.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart22.jpg, Jan 2015" />I still need to make the machine presentable though, so I gave the outside a lick of paint.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart24.jpg" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart24.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart24.jpg, Jan 2015" /> When the paint dried, I went over all the edges with some black duct tape - and here it is - the finished (well, more or less) machine:</p>
<p>I'm probably not going to try to make it any more presentable than this - after a fairly short period of used, I think it's going to acquire a rich patina of paint blobs and mess anyway.</p>
<p>I might add a speed control at some point, as it spins very fast and this tends to favour the radial patterns and suppress the circular ones forming (unless a brush is used when the thing is in motion)</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">What about a really big one?</h3>
<p>Maybe you're thinking right now: "Hey, what about making a really big version of this?" - I know some of you are, because</p>
<ul>
<li>It occurred to me when I was making this one</li>
<li>Every now and again, people contact me to ask if I'll build them one</li>
</ul>
<p>Sadly, it won't work. In order for the paint to spread at the middle, the rate of rotation has to be high, but this imposes limits on the diameter of the canvas.</p>
<p>A canvas of 1 metre in diameter has a circumference of about 3.14 metres - spin this 1700 RPM and the edge will be travelling at about 89 metres per second - that's about 200mph - Touch the edge of that, and it's goodbye fingers.</p>
<p>If you made a really big one (lets say, 3m in diameter) and spun it up to 1700 RPM, the rim would be travelling at nearly 600mph - that's approaching the speed of sound. Needless to say, this would not be a safe machine to be around - and would certainly destroy itself quite dramatically and dangerously before it got anywhere near the speed necessary to be useful as a spin art machine.</p>
<p>Some things don't scale up well - this is one of them.</p>
<h2>Project costs</h2>
<p>This project cost a grand total of... wait for it... nothing:</p>
<ul>
<li>The timber is all from reclaimed pallets.</li>
<li>The plywood is also from pallet tops.</li>
<li>The motor came from a broken printer.</li>
<li>The PSU (the one I ended up using) came from a different broken printer.</li>
<li>The screws were given to me by a neighbour who was clearing out his van.</li>
<li>The paint is just a leftover bit in a tin from the garage.</li>
</ul>
<p>Duct Tape. Ah, well, there's a cost. £1 for a small roll of black duct tape. So it's not actually a zero budget project after all. Curses! Foiled again!</p>
<h2>In Action...</h2>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart3.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart3.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart3.jpg, Jan 2015" /> <img alt="spinart4.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart4.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart4.jpg, Jan 2015" /> <img alt="spinart7.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart7.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart7.jpg, Jan 2015" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart10.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart10.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart10.jpg, Jan 2015" /> <img alt="spinart11.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart11.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart11.jpg, Jan 2015" /> <img alt="spinart13.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart13.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart13.jpg, Jan 2015" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="spinart14.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart14.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart14.jpg, Jan 2015" /> <img alt="spinart8.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart8.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart8.jpg, Jan 2015" /> <img alt="spinart9.jpg" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/s/spinart9.jpg" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="spinart9.jpg, Jan 2015" /></p>
<h2 class="clearleft">Update November 2008 - Edible Spin Art</h2>
<p>I'm not really sure what I was thinking when this idea popped into my head - it's a fusion of food and fun - edible spin art.</p>
<h3>The Spin Art Machine</h3>
<p>There was some work to do before I could use the machine for edible materials - I vacuumed it out thoroughly, then lined it with paper and covered the turntable with a sheet of glossy card.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="ediblespinart1.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/e/ediblespinart1.JPG" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="ediblespinart1.JPG, Nov 2008" /></p>
<p>The purpose of the lining is not to protect the food from the machine - all that mess is just dried paint - it's not going anywhere. The purpose is to protect the machine from the food - it's easier to use a disposable liner than to clean up whatever sticky, perishable mess might be created by this venture.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="ediblespinart2.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/e/ediblespinart2.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="ediblespinart2.JPG, Nov 2008" />So... what material is to be my canvas?</p>
<p>Toast, of course.</p>
<p>Fixing it down to the turntable was a bit of a challenge - with ordinary card for painting, it's held in place with Blu-Tack - that's not possible with toast, so I pinned it down with a dressmaking pin in each corner, gently tapped into the plywood turntable with the back of a spoon.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Paint?</h3>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="ediblespinart3.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/e/ediblespinart3.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="ediblespinart3.JPG, Nov 2008" />Butter (melted briefly in the microwave), Bramble jelly, yeast extract (this one is the store's own-brand version of Marmite).</p>
<p>Also (not pictured) chocolate spread and honey.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Spin It Up</h3>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="ediblespinart5.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/e/ediblespinart5.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="ediblespinart5.JPG, Nov 2008" />Toast simply isn't as durable as art board and my spin art machine has no motor speed control, so I had to limit the speed by switching on and off periodically.</p>
<p>I poured, spooned or dripped the edible painting materials onto the toast variously as it was stopped, spinning or slowing down.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="ediblespinart4.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/e/ediblespinart4.JPG" style="float: left; margin: 0 1em 1em 0;" title="ediblespinart4.JPG, Nov 2008" />Jam, butter and other toast toppings don't have the pigmentation or adhesion properties of poster paints - lots of the material simply splashed right off the toast - or left only faint marks where it did adhere.</p>
<h3 class="clearleft">Results</h3>
<p>Not bad, for a first effort.</p>
<p class="clearleft"><img alt="ediblespinart6.JPG" class="media" src="https://atomicshrimp.com/public/e/ediblespinart6.JPG" style="margin: 0 auto; display: block;" title="ediblespinart6.JPG, Nov 2008" /></p>
<p>The idea needs further development, however; the crumbly surface of the toast is not conducive to adhesion of edible paint arriving at high speeds, also the painting materials left much to be desired - they were not sufficiently bold in colour and were difficult to apply properly - being blobby, stringy or too thick.</p>
<p class="clearleft"> </p>