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Save the planet, make slingshots

8K views 51 replies 22 participants last post by  Ghosth 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi everybody,
I' ve read, here and on the other forum, about HDPE and wanted to try that out. I checked the empty milk bottles and they are made out of HDPE but they are made out of 3 layers, one grey, one white and one black in between. I thought it was not good for making a slingshot so i made some experiments with colored plastic( bottle caps) but i was not happy with the resulst. I decided to give the milk bottle a try and the results are very nice. Look...


Cutted in small pieces with a scissor...



This is what i get after +- 20 minutes in the oven at 175°...


The piece i made was just a test, it 1 cm thick but it is rock solid.
 
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#3 ·
Hey, that's a funky pattern, at first I thought it didn't melt well and stayed granulated like that but it's the layers that you mentioned, cool!

Doesn't the process stink up the whole house though? Also I always thought melting plastic gives off toxic fumes..
 
#7 ·
You' re right Obl1vAus, there are lots of possibilities with that stuff. I' ll probably use it for a knive project soon.
I just checked out for kirinite, it is awesome and inspiring. Thanks mate.
Your welcome tokSick, I'd never heard of kirinite until Antraxx posted his Aluminum Targetshooter which you'll find HERE

It certainly has me thinking of a project I can use it on
 
#9 ·
I saw those targetshooters... Awesome!!! But i think it is not because of the kirinite but because of Antraxx' s talent. ;)
If you make your project, don' t forget to post it so i' ll have some more inspiration and ideas. :D
I'm not going to argue that at all, Antraxx did an awesome job.

And I'll definitley post it if I get my hands on some kirinite, right now I have three other projects I need to finish. Hopefully you will seeing at least one of them tommorrow!
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
Hi Toksick,
on my work I often have buy PE and in Germany it is cheap.
1m x 2m x 10mm about 50€.
I often had some smaller pieces 0,5 x 0,5 m and we throw it in the garbage can.
But i just have the PE in black colour.
Zwillie
 
#15 ·
I am really interested in how this turns out. I've seen some other folks that have made slingshots using this method. I'd like to try it myself some day. One question (which I probably know the answer to, but I need to ask to be certain) - is that temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit? I like your oven method over some of the others I've seen.
 
#16 ·
Hi Toksick,
on my work I often have buy PE and in Germany it is cheap.
1m x 2m x 10mm about 50€.
I often had some smaller pieces 0,5 x 0,5 m and we throw it in the garbage can.
But i just have the PE in black colour.
Zwillie
Hello Zwillie,
I know that it is cheap but still too expensive for me :eek:
The thing is that it is very satisfying when i know those milk bottles are going to turn into slingshots :D Plus, there is lots of colors choices like soda bottle tops, milk jigs, shampoo, etc...
Making mistakes is not a big deal as i can re- melt it.
Making a slingshot out of a slingshot is a cool idea too:)
I know i can buy it for 5 euro at Simpleshot but only the cost for sending will be more.

I am really interested in how this turns out. I've seen some other folks that have made slingshots using this method. I'd like to try it myself some day. One question (which I probably know the answer to, but I need to ask to be certain) - is that temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit? I like your oven method over some of the others I've seen.
Thankz ( with a z) Withak,
The temp is in celsius, my friend.
I just saw some of the slingshots made out of that stuff on the SSF. Those guys are awesome, what they make out of plastic bottles is so WOW!

Good idea, I like the way you think!
Thanks,
Hope my darling will change the way she look at me when i come close to the oven. She never says something but i see it in her eyes, the eye of the tiger you know.

That's a cool idea!
I'll surely try it :D
Just try it my friend. If the resusts are not what you expected, you just have to..... recycle!!
 
#18 ·
I am baking slinshots!!


This is what came out of the oven...



12 mm thick is not much but this was just a test. It will support one band per side for sure, maybe two. Now i have to find a way to compress it when baking to have a nicer block.
Sweet! I love it! That turned out amazing for a "test". Okay, promise if we end up as partners in the Christmas trade you'll consider making me one of these recycled beauties ;)
 
#19 ·
Sweet! I love it! That turned out amazing for a "test". Okay, promise if we end up as partners in the Christmas trade you'll consider making me one of these recycled beauties ;)
Sure mate!! For you i' ll put my patience to the test and save more bottles to get a better result. ;)
 
#20 ·
Awesome idea! I have don similar with other materials but I never figured on using plastics from bottles. And one thought I had if adding strength was an issue, is placing a layer or more of chicken wire or any metal screen in between the plastic before baking (Slingshot lasagna). I'v used that method on terra cotta clay and it added an extreme amount of strength. peace.
 
#21 ·
Awesome idea! I have don similar with other materials but I never figured on using plastics from bottles. And one thought I had if adding strength was an issue, is placing a layer or more of chicken wire or any metal screen in between the plastic before baking (Slingshot lasagna). I'v used that method on terra cotta clay and it added an extreme amount of strength. peace.
This thing is supa strong my friend, believe me. I banded up with regular rubber, took about 20 shotz stretching the rubber at max for every shotz... The pouch broke...
I was looking at the fork while shooting and it didn' t move or bended. 12 mm thick.... I think this stuff is way stronger than ply of the same thikness.
It can support 3 layers TBG without a problem.
 
#25 ·
I am baking slinshots!!

12 mm thick is not much but this was just a test. It will support one band per side for sure, maybe two. Now i have to find a way to compress it when baking to have a nicer block.
How much compression do you think you may need? I'm thinking of a few ideas:

1. Get a piece of metal - steel, etc., wrapped in aluminum foil (so it doesn't stick to the plastic) and placed on top of your plastic, then on top of the steel, you could place heavy bricks, stones or something similar. The benefit in my mind is that you have additional direct heat transference from the steel plate and even the stones to help you get a nice smooth, melted surface on the top and bottom of the plastic blank.

2. Use the same piece of steel, and use steel 'c' clamps to put pressure on the plate. With this method, I imagine you would have to tighten the clamps just a bit during the melting process as the plastic begins to melt and settle.

Just thinking out loud here. You'll have to let us know if you come up with a good method as I get lots of HDPE plastic around here that I could use for this purpose. Of course, we have curbside recycling of HDPE in our area, so it's little work to make sure they get reused. But I just really love the patterns you can get using this method. Really cool.
 
#26 ·
TokSick,

outstanding! period.

chapeau!

..great invention.

Gongratulations!

Bowdown-Be
Hey Be,
It is not my invention, just inspiration from other people here and on the SSF.
Thanks mate. I am sure if you try your magic fingaz on that, you will make awesome pieces.

I'm really enjoying the idea, can't wait to make one of these!

The pattern on your milk jug slingshot looks awesome!
Can' t wait to see some more HDPE recycling suff here. Make sure to share your experiences.
 
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