Hi,
I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I'm thinking of using Fimo, the bakeable polymer modelling clay to
make an object that replaces the screw-top of the bottle. This would
be something much more substantial that the nozzle can be held
securely in. Has anyone ever used Fimo or any similar mouldable
material to construct detailed (coarse threaded) parts for jigs and
fixtures?

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

--
Richard

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,
I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I'm thinking of using Fimo, the bakeable polymer modelling clay to
make an object that replaces the screw-top of the bottle. This would
be something much more substantial that the nozzle can be held
securely in. Has anyone ever used Fimo or any similar mouldable
material to construct detailed (coarse threaded) parts for jigs and
fixtures?

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

Have you thought of a flexible medium like meltable vinyl rubber (e.g.
Gelflex)? If you get it wrong you can re-use it. Baked Fimo can break.

We made some reproduction old blood bottles for TV using Gelflex as the
moulding medium, they were threaded.

This might not be what you wanted, sorry if I've misunderstood.

Mary

Mary

--
Richard

On 23 May, 12:28, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
wrote in message

oups.com...



Hi,
I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I'm thinking of using Fimo, the bakeable polymer modelling clay to
make an object that replaces the screw-top of the bottle. This would
be something much more substantial that the nozzle can be held
securely in. Has anyone ever used Fimo or any similar mouldable
material to construct detailed (coarse threaded) parts for jigs and
fixtures?

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

Have you thought of a flexible medium like meltable vinyl rubber (e.g.
Gelflex)? If you get it wrong you can re-use it. Baked Fimo can break.

Thanks I'll look into using Gelflex. I know what you mean about the
possible breakage of Fimo but it is quite rigid when baked and I was
considering making the item as chunky as possible.

We made some reproduction old blood bottles for TV using Gelflex as the
moulding medium, they were threaded.

This might not be what you wanted, sorry if I've misunderstood.
I'm not yet as clear about the details as I'd like to be, so
misunderstanding wouldn't be difficult.

--
Richard

On 23 May, 12:28, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
wrote in message

oups.com...



Hi,
I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I'm thinking of using Fimo, the bakeable polymer modelling clay to
make an object that replaces the screw-top of the bottle. This would
be something much more substantial that the nozzle can be held
securely in. Has anyone ever used Fimo or any similar mouldable
material to construct detailed (coarse threaded) parts for jigs and
fixtures?

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

Have you thought of a flexible medium like meltable vinyl rubber (e.g.
Gelflex)? If you get it wrong you can re-use it. Baked Fimo can break.

Thanks I'll look into using Gelflex. I know what you mean about the
possible breakage of Fimo but it is quite rigid when baked and I was
considering making the item as chunky as possible.

We made some reproduction old blood bottles for TV using Gelflex as the
moulding medium, they were threaded.

This might not be what you wanted, sorry if I've misunderstood.
I'm not yet as clear about the details as I'd like to be, so
misunderstanding wouldn't be difficult.

--
Richard

On 23 May, 12:28, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
wrote in message

oups.com...



Hi,
I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I'm thinking of using Fimo, the bakeable polymer modelling clay to
make an object that replaces the screw-top of the bottle. This would
be something much more substantial that the nozzle can be held
securely in. Has anyone ever used Fimo or any similar mouldable
material to construct detailed (coarse threaded) parts for jigs and
fixtures?

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

Have you thought of a flexible medium like meltable vinyl rubber (e.g.
Gelflex)? If you get it wrong you can re-use it. Baked Fimo can break.

Thanks I'll look into using Gelflex. I know what you mean about the
possible breakage of Fimo but it is quite rigid when baked and I was
considering making the item as chunky as possible.

We made some reproduction old blood bottles for TV using Gelflex as the
moulding medium, they were threaded.

This might not be what you wanted, sorry if I've misunderstood.
I'm not yet as clear about the details as I'd like to be, so
misunderstanding wouldn't be difficult.

--
Richard

Mary Fisher wrote:

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi,
I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I'm thinking of using Fimo, the bakeable polymer modelling clay to
make an object that replaces the screw-top of the bottle. This would
be something much more substantial that the nozzle can be held
securely in. Has anyone ever used Fimo or any similar mouldable
material to construct detailed (coarse threaded) parts for jigs and
fixtures?

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

Have you thought of a flexible medium like meltable vinyl rubber (e.g.
Gelflex)? If you get it wrong you can re-use it. Baked Fimo can break.

We made some reproduction old blood bottles for TV using Gelflex as the
moulding medium, they were threaded.

This might not be what you wanted, sorry if I've misunderstood.

Mary



I wanted to make a similar device for my router table. I took my
existing vacuum cleaner hose to a dealer ( at our local market as it
happened ). He sells all sorts of third-party hoses, bags and
accessories for vacuum cleaners.

I bought a crevice tool that fitted my hosepipe and then cut the end off
and used a Liquid Metal sort of material to join it to the dust
collection arrangement that I'd built for the table. I would imagine
that even Gaffer tape would have done the job reasonably well.

It was cheap, effective and very serviceable. It even looks OK too.

On 23 May, 13:08, (Roly) wrote:
Mary Fisher wrote:
wrote in message
roups.com...
Hi,
I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I'm thinking of using Fimo, the bakeable polymer modelling clay to
make an object that replaces the screw-top of the bottle. This would
be something much more substantial that the nozzle can be held
securely in. Has anyone ever used Fimo or any similar mouldable
material to construct detailed (coarse threaded) parts for jigs and
fixtures?

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

Have you thought of a flexible medium like meltable vinyl rubber (e.g.
Gelflex)? If you get it wrong you can re-use it. Baked Fimo can break.

We made some reproduction old blood bottles for TV using Gelflex as the
moulding medium, they were threaded.

This might not be what you wanted, sorry if I've misunderstood.

Mary

I wanted to make a similar device for my router table. I took my
existing vacuum cleaner hose to a dealer ( at our local market as it
happened ). He sells all sorts of third-party hoses, bags and
accessories for vacuum cleaners.

I bought a crevice tool that fitted my hosepipe and then cut the end off
and used a Liquid Metal sort of material to join it to the dust
collection arrangement that I'd built for the table. I would imagine
that even Gaffer tape would have done the job reasonably well.

It was cheap, effective and very serviceable. It even looks OK too.

"liquid metal" seems like a couple of good key word,m I'll do a
search

--
Richard

wrote:

Hi,
I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I'm thinking of using Fimo, the bakeable polymer modelling clay to
make an object that replaces the screw-top of the bottle. This would
be something much more substantial that the nozzle can be held
securely in. Has anyone ever used Fimo or any similar mouldable
material to construct detailed (coarse threaded) parts for jigs and
fixtures?

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Y...leeve-22358.ht
m

That is what I used to connect my Earlex to my Trend table until I
bought the widebore hose kit that goes on without an adapter. Oh, you
might need a couple of jubilee clips too. A hairdryer was sufficient
heat (advantage of teenage daughters).

Peter

--
Add my middle initial to email me. It has become attached to a country
www.the-brights.net

On 23 May, 14:10, (Peter Ashby) wrote:
wrote:
Hi,
I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I'm thinking of using Fimo, the bakeable polymer modelling clay to
make an object that replaces the screw-top of the bottle. This would
be something much more substantial that the nozzle can be held
securely in. Has anyone ever used Fimo or any similar mouldable
material to construct detailed (coarse threaded) parts for jigs and
fixtures?

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Y...leeve-22358.ht
m

That is what I used to connect my Earlex to my Trend table until I
bought the widebore hose kit that goes on without an adapter. Oh, you
might need a couple of jubilee clips too. A hairdryer was sufficient
heat (advantage of teenage daughters).

Peter

Thanks for the suggestion but unless I'm very much mistaken, this is a
quite expensive alternative to a couple of turns of duct tape. Great
idea for air-tightness but
I'm trying to make something with a more rigid and self-supporting
structure.
--
Richard

wrote:

On 23 May, 14:10, (Peter Ashby) wrote:
wrote:
Hi,
I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I'm thinking of using Fimo, the bakeable polymer modelling clay to
make an object that replaces the screw-top of the bottle. This would
be something much more substantial that the nozzle can be held
securely in. Has anyone ever used Fimo or any similar mouldable
material to construct detailed (coarse threaded) parts for jigs and
fixtures?

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Y...leeve-22358.ht
m

That is what I used to connect my Earlex to my Trend table until I
bought the widebore hose kit that goes on without an adapter. Oh, you
might need a couple of jubilee clips too. A hairdryer was sufficient
heat (advantage of teenage daughters).

Peter

Thanks for the suggestion but unless I'm very much mistaken, this is a
quite expensive alternative to a couple of turns of duct tape. Great
idea for air-tightness but
I'm trying to make something with a more rigid and self-supporting
structure.

You would have a job to bridge that gap with duct tape. And I need to
use the extractor with tools other than the router table so tape is no
good. It was actually pretty good without jubilee clips, it just helped
with all the vibration. Which is why something too rigid is not a good
idea, you will want it to be able to move a bit.

Peter

--
Add my middle initial to email me. It has become attached to a country
www.the-brights.net

On 23 May, 15:03, (Peter Ashby) wrote:
wrote:
On 23 May, 14:10, (Peter Ashby) wrote:
wrote:
Hi,
I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I'm thinking of using Fimo, the bakeable polymer modelling clay to
make an object that replaces the screw-top of the bottle. This would
be something much more substantial that the nozzle can be held
securely in. Has anyone ever used Fimo or any similar mouldable
material to construct detailed (coarse threaded) parts for jigs and
fixtures?

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Y...leeve-22358.ht
m

That is what I used to connect my Earlex to my Trend table until I
bought the widebore hose kit that goes on without an adapter. Oh, you
might need a couple of jubilee clips too. A hairdryer was sufficient
heat (advantage of teenage daughters).

Peter

Thanks for the suggestion but unless I'm very much mistaken, this is a
quite expensive alternative to a couple of turns of duct tape. Great
idea for air-tightness but
I'm trying to make something with a more rigid and self-supporting
structure.

You would have a job to bridge that gap with duct tape. And I need to
use the extractor with tools other than the router table so tape is no
good. It was actually pretty good without jubilee clips, it just helped
with all the vibration. Which is why something too rigid is not a good
idea, you will want it to be able to move a bit.

Peter

You have a good point there. :-)
Rigidity is relative I suppose. The sort of rigidity I had in mind
would be just enough to stop the interconnected parts wobbling about
too much.
--
Richard

On 23 May, 16:02, adder1969 wrote:
On May 23, 3:52 pm, wrote:

Cast something out of resin?

I appreciate the number of skills I'm being enticed to develop,
including those of vacuum cleaner mechanic, in the quest to produce
this spice rack.
Even so, resin casting is a multi-step process that I was hoping to
dodge by using Fimo, or perhaps some similar material with a more
workman-like name.
Though, as long as the whole thing doesn't morph completely out of
recognition I remain open to suggestion.
--
Richard

wrote:

On 23 May, 16:02, adder1969 wrote:
On May 23, 3:52 pm, wrote:

Cast something out of resin?

I appreciate the number of skills I'm being enticed to develop,
including those of vacuum cleaner mechanic, in the quest to produce
this spice rack.

Ah spice racks, yes. The last one I built I ripped the stock out of a
2x4 piece of Wickes pine, by hand. I figured it resulted in stock that
was effectively quarter sawn. I forget how many meters I hand sawed and
planed but SWMBO was well pleased. Router used to cut the dadoes for the
shelves and to round over the fronts.

One day I will have the readies to buy a table saw, or maybe simply a
decent ripsaw. My panel saw is a good one, it just doesn't cut all that
quickly on the rip ;-)

Peter
--
Add my middle initial to email me. It has become attached to a country
www.the-brights.net

On 23 May 2007 04:21:33 -0700, wrote:

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

Polymorph might help

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?...source=15&SD=Y

I've not used it myself but you heat it in boiling water then mould
it.
You can then re-use it again by heating

wrote:

I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I find offcuts of polypropylene waste pipe good for vacuum adaptors. Hot
melt glue, insulating tape, gaffer tape etc can make many contraptions
work.

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

wrote:

Even so, resin casting is a multi-step process that I was hoping to
dodge by using Fimo, or perhaps some similar material with a more
workman-like name.

I can't believe we have got this far into a thread without someone
recommending car body filler! ;-)

--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 24 May, 06:17, John Rumm wrote:
wrote:
I'm planning to make up an adapter to connect a vacuum cleaner to my
Trend router table. I have a plastic bottle with the base cut off
which goes over the circular port at the back of the fence. The vacuum
nozzle needs to be held and to seal in the over-wide neck of the
bottle.

I find offcuts of polypropylene waste pipe good for vacuum adaptors. Hot
melt glue, insulating tape, gaffer tape etc can make many contraptions
work.

Spot on! I just went into the garage and the one and only piece of
waste pipe I had fitted both parts. Joint made!
Damn! Now I'll have to think of another excuse to buy some Fimo.

--
Dick

On 24 May, 06:20, John Rumm wrote:
wrote:
Even so, resin casting is a multi-step process that I was hoping to
dodge by using Fimo, or perhaps some similar material with a more
workman-like name.

I can't believe we have got this far into a thread without someone
recommending car body filler! ;-)

Stinky, gloopy stuff and not very hand mouldable in my limited
experience.

--

Dick Treen

On 23 May, 22:47, (Peter Ashby) wrote:
wrote:
On 23 May, 16:02, adder1969 wrote:
On May 23, 3:52 pm, wrote:

Cast something out of resin?

I appreciate the number of skills I'm being enticed to develop,
including those of vacuum cleaner mechanic, in the quest to produce
this spice rack.

Ah spice racks, yes. The last one I built I ripped the stock out of a
2x4 piece of Wickes pine, by hand. I figured it resulted in stock that
was effectively quarter sawn. I forget how many meters I hand sawed and
planed but SWMBO was well pleased. Router used to cut the dadoes for the
shelves and to round over the fronts.

One day I will have the readies to buy a table saw, or maybe simply a
decent ripsaw. My panel saw is a good one, it just doesn't cut all that
quickly on the rip ;-)

Peter

When I lived closer to him I would often borrow my father-in-law's
hand rip saw. It had been his Grandad's before him.
What a difference that used to make and so easy to file with those big
teeth.

--
Dick Treen

wrote:
On 23 May 2007 04:21:33 -0700, wrote:

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

Polymorph might help

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?...source=15&SD=Y

I've not used it myself but you heat it in boiling water then mould
it.
You can then re-use it again by heating

I have used it. It is quite amazing stuff and should mould to any shape
you like, including threaded sections. It is fairly inexpensive and can
be bought a 'lot' cheaper on ebay than it can in Maplins.

On 23 May, 23:40, wrote:
On 23 May 2007 04:21:33 -0700, wrote:

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

Polymorph might help

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?...source=15&SD=Y

I've not used it myself but you heat it in boiling water then mould
it.
You can then re-use it again by heating

I've seen the ads and was about to buy some when Aldi had an offer of
a glue gun and some very cheap packs of glue sticks.
I bought some extra packs in the hope that it would be similar enough
to Polymorph to be used for the same purposes.
As it unsurprisingly turns out, the glue sticks need more heat than is
comfortably handled for moulding purposes. I eventually used the
method of building up layers with the glue gun, then smoothing out the
rough finish by playing a gas flame over the surface. This was only
ever done outside, on a windy day, side-on to the wind. The effects
were less than perfect, but I managed to kit out a couple of my old
WorkMates with complete new sets of feet, which seem to be holding up
quite well.

For my current projects I'd like to produce some parts that have a
less organic and more geometric look about them, so I'll try some
Polymorph and see how it goes. It would be good to hear some first
hand accounts of it's practical use though, because I have vague
childhood memories of street sellers hawking "Make your own balloons"
packs which invariably disappointed.
--
Dick Treen

wrote:
On 23 May, 23:40, wrote:
On 23 May 2007 04:21:33 -0700, wrote:

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.
Polymorph might help

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?...source=15&SD=Y

I've not used it myself but you heat it in boiling water then mould
it.
You can then re-use it again by heating

I've seen the ads and was about to buy some when Aldi had an offer of
a glue gun and some very cheap packs of glue sticks.
I bought some extra packs in the hope that it would be similar enough
to Polymorph to be used for the same purposes.
As it unsurprisingly turns out, the glue sticks need more heat than is
comfortably handled for moulding purposes. I eventually used the
method of building up layers with the glue gun, then smoothing out the
rough finish by playing a gas flame over the surface. This was only
ever done outside, on a windy day, side-on to the wind. The effects
were less than perfect, but I managed to kit out a couple of my old
WorkMates with complete new sets of feet, which seem to be holding up
quite well.

For my current projects I'd like to produce some parts that have a
less organic and more geometric look about them, so I'll try some
Polymorph and see how it goes. It would be good to hear some first
hand accounts of it's practical use though, because I have vague
childhood memories of street sellers hawking "Make your own balloons"
packs which invariably disappointed.
--
Dick Treen

I found it easy enough to use, you can mould it by hand to the desired
shape or press it into a form, sheets of it can be rolled out quite
easily and cut with scissors etc while it is still malleable. If you
make a mess just remelt it and start again. It 'sticks' to other
plastics very quickly though so if you are making an add on for another
component beware that it will make a mess should you want to de-couple
the components.

On 24 May, 11:38, Cuprager wrote:
wrote:
On 23 May, 23:40, wrote:
On 23 May 2007 04:21:33 -0700, wrote:

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.
Polymorph might help

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?...source=15&SD=Y

I've not used it myself but you heat it in boiling water then mould
it.
You can then re-use it again by heating

I've seen the ads and was about to buy some when Aldi had an offer of
a glue gun and some very cheap packs of glue sticks.
I bought some extra packs in the hope that it would be similar enough
to Polymorph to be used for the same purposes.
As it unsurprisingly turns out, the glue sticks need more heat than is
comfortably handled for moulding purposes. I eventually used the
method of building up layers with the glue gun, then smoothing out the
rough finish by playing a gas flame over the surface. This was only
ever done outside, on a windy day, side-on to the wind. The effects
were less than perfect, but I managed to kit out a couple of my old
WorkMates with complete new sets of feet, which seem to be holding up
quite well.

For my current projects I'd like to produce some parts that have a
less organic and more geometric look about them, so I'll try some
Polymorph and see how it goes. It would be good to hear some first
hand accounts of it's practical use though, because I have vague
childhood memories of street sellers hawking "Make your own balloons"
packs which invariably disappointed.
--
Dick Treen

I found it easy enough to use, you can mould it by hand to the desired
shape or press it into a form, sheets of it can be rolled out quite
easily and cut with scissors etc while it is still malleable. If you
make a mess just remelt it and start again. It 'sticks' to other
plastics very quickly though so if you are making an add on for another
component beware that it will make a mess should you want to de-couple
the components.

It sounds like good stuff. I was counting on being able to squeeze it
around the threaded neck of a plastic bottle to pick up a workable
impression of the thread. Maybe an initial smear of Vasaline on the
neck of the bottle would help with parting.
--
Dick Treen

wrote:
On 24 May, 11:38, Cuprager wrote:
wrote:
On 23 May, 23:40, wrote:
On 23 May 2007 04:21:33 -0700, wrote:
I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.
Polymorph might help
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Search.aspx?...source=15&SD=Y
I've not used it myself but you heat it in boiling water then mould
it.
You can then re-use it again by heating
I've seen the ads and was about to buy some when Aldi had an offer of
a glue gun and some very cheap packs of glue sticks.
I bought some extra packs in the hope that it would be similar enough
to Polymorph to be used for the same purposes.
As it unsurprisingly turns out, the glue sticks need more heat than is
comfortably handled for moulding purposes. I eventually used the
method of building up layers with the glue gun, then smoothing out the
rough finish by playing a gas flame over the surface. This was only
ever done outside, on a windy day, side-on to the wind. The effects
were less than perfect, but I managed to kit out a couple of my old
WorkMates with complete new sets of feet, which seem to be holding up
quite well.
For my current projects I'd like to produce some parts that have a
less organic and more geometric look about them, so I'll try some
Polymorph and see how it goes. It would be good to hear some first
hand accounts of it's practical use though, because I have vague
childhood memories of street sellers hawking "Make your own balloons"
packs which invariably disappointed.
--
Dick Treen
I found it easy enough to use, you can mould it by hand to the desired
shape or press it into a form, sheets of it can be rolled out quite
easily and cut with scissors etc while it is still malleable. If you
make a mess just remelt it and start again. It 'sticks' to other
plastics very quickly though so if you are making an add on for another
component beware that it will make a mess should you want to de-couple
the components.

It sounds like good stuff. I was counting on being able to squeeze it
around the threaded neck of a plastic bottle to pick up a workable
impression of the thread. Maybe an initial smear of Vasaline on the
neck of the bottle would help with parting.
--
Dick Treen

I think that is possible, any release agent like grease or vasalene
should work. It really is good stuff, ebay is the place for it too as it
is about 40% cheaper than Maplin.

said the following on 23/05/2007 12:21:

snip


I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

--
Richard


I see you have already solved your problem, but for future reference,
you might want to check out Milliput epoxy putty.

www.milliput.co.uk


HTH

On 24 May, 14:00, Rumble wrote:
said the following on 23/05/2007 12:21:

snip

I would prefer to use something a bit more businesslike than Fimo if
such material exists and someone would be kind enough to tell me what
it is.

--
Richard

I see you have already solved your problem, but for future reference,
you might want to check out Milliput epoxy putty.

www.milliput.co.uk

HTH

Thanks.An interesting site and the stuff has a much more Action Man
ring to it's name.
__
Dick Treen