Polyform mouldable plastic

[Hobbes]

Has anyone here used this?
It's plastic stock that melts at 62° C and can then be moulded into shape.

Could be useful, but the temperature is just a bit too high to comfortably work with.

[kitnut617]

Has anyone here used this?
It's plastic stock that melts at 62° C and can then be moulded into shape.

Could be useful, but the temperature is just a bit too high to comfortably work with.

Looks useful, but it's not too hot, that's about 38 degrees less than water's boiling point

[Hobbes]

True, but you can't handle it with your bare hands. Ever tried shaping clay while wearing gloves?

[kitnut617]

Looking at your link it appears that the demonstrator isn't using gloves to squeeze and form the plastic once it has been melted though.

[frank2056]

I've used something similar (or identical) called Friendly Plastic(it's near the bottom of the page).

The stuff is similar to a very hard hot glue stick when solid, and I think it's a related material. While they recommend softening it up in hot water, (then squeezing the excess water out) it can also be melted in a wax melter that has an adjustable temperature, or with a hot air gun - as long as you don't burn the stuff.

Pluses - it's a nice solid chunk of plastic when cool (slightly softer than styrene) that can be painted with acrylics.

Minuses - it's expensive, and you absolutely must use a mold release if you put it in a mold or make it into a mold. The stuff when softwill stick to anything and everything. As for using it as a mold... it's pretty stiff when solid, so I wouldn't recommend that if the part has undercuts.

Frank

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Warning: Do not over-heat the material as above 65°C it becomes a sticky substance similar to hot-melt glue (which is another of it's applications) and could present a serious burning / scalding hazard.

That warning pretty much gives you the origin of the material.  Hot melt glue.  The type that comes in stick/rod shape and is fed through the back end of a hot melt glue gun.  You can save time and money by using hot melt glue sticks and feed them through the glue gun.  From what I have read on other forums, this material is best suited for making a mold of the part you want to cast and then fill it with resin to create your copies with the caveat the Frank has added regarding complexity of the part to be copied.

[frank2056]

From what I have read on other forums, this material is best suited for making a mold of the part you want to cast and then fill it with resin to create your copies with the caveat the Frank has added regarding complexity of the part to be copied.

As a mold it's pretty limited, too. Even with no undercuts, mold release and a shallow part it was hard to remove the master from a mold I'd made with this stuff.
While it is similar to a hot glue, it is much harder, stronger and less waxy than your typical hot glue stick. I poured some into a mold and the main problem I had was with voids - the plastic hardened too quickly. If kept molten (or the mold warmed up to the plastic's melting point), it should work well as a way to make an intermediate master (it can be worked with a tool warmed in a flame) or for small parts.

Frank

[kitnut617]

How much cheaper is the melt glue compared to RV rubber.  You might be able to use it as a backing to the rubber, saving on rubber but still preserving some flexibilitiy

[sotoolslinger]

I have not used this product but have in fact used Friendly Plastic. If it works in the same way it should be quite useful . Friendly plastic melts in water but stays flexible and moldable as it cools down to a certain point very similar to epoxy putty. I have used it to make face casts for making masks . Once it cools down to a certain temp(which I can't remember, it "rolls over" and suddenly becomes solid .

[sotoolslinger]

Yep just went back and read both links ,seems like the same stuff.  Pam or some similar spray on veggie oil should work well as a mould release. It is not flexible when hardened so beware of undercuts and fill them with clay .