Wiki about the thermoplastic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycaprolactone
There are several brands out on the market (instamorph, plastimake, etc) that sell this thermoplastic that is moldable by hand, extremely strong and reusable. It's really cool stuff, you just dunk it in 140F water for a few minutes until it goes clear, shape it how you want it, dunk it in ice water and it sets in a few seconds. You can make individual small parts and weld them together by heating it with a lighter.
At room temperature it is unbelievably strong and almost unbreakable despite being hard. It will stick to most plastics and similar substances but not glass or metal (although its strong enough to tap & thread) and gets stickier the hotter it gets. I usually use a lighter to get it really hot if im trying to glue it to something.
It's of course not going to replace a 3d printer for precision parts but it is excellent for making brackets, hooks, bases for irregular shaped objects, etc.
Just the other day I used it to make a phone holder for my tripod which is what made me think to make this post. All the white plastic is that instamorph thermoplastic.
Figured grow tech was an appropriate forum to share this since it's very useful to have on hand for all kinds of DIY stuff.
I know you can find the instamorph brand on Amazon but I'm sure they sell the other ones too. I bought a 12oz can a couple years ago and I still haven't gone through it all yet despite fixing a ton of stuff since you can melt old stuff back down once you're done with it.
Edit: Forgot to put links to the manufacturers
Instamorph: https://www.instamorph.com/
Plastimake: https://www.plastimake.com/
Thermomorph: (available on amazon but doesn't seem to have a website).
Other sources: generic thermoplastic on ebay, some hobby shops (very expensive here though)
There are several brands out on the market (instamorph, plastimake, etc) that sell this thermoplastic that is moldable by hand, extremely strong and reusable. It's really cool stuff, you just dunk it in 140F water for a few minutes until it goes clear, shape it how you want it, dunk it in ice water and it sets in a few seconds. You can make individual small parts and weld them together by heating it with a lighter.
At room temperature it is unbelievably strong and almost unbreakable despite being hard. It will stick to most plastics and similar substances but not glass or metal (although its strong enough to tap & thread) and gets stickier the hotter it gets. I usually use a lighter to get it really hot if im trying to glue it to something.
It's of course not going to replace a 3d printer for precision parts but it is excellent for making brackets, hooks, bases for irregular shaped objects, etc.
Just the other day I used it to make a phone holder for my tripod which is what made me think to make this post. All the white plastic is that instamorph thermoplastic.
Figured grow tech was an appropriate forum to share this since it's very useful to have on hand for all kinds of DIY stuff.
I know you can find the instamorph brand on Amazon but I'm sure they sell the other ones too. I bought a 12oz can a couple years ago and I still haven't gone through it all yet despite fixing a ton of stuff since you can melt old stuff back down once you're done with it.
Edit: Forgot to put links to the manufacturers
Instamorph: https://www.instamorph.com/
Plastimake: https://www.plastimake.com/
Thermomorph: (available on amazon but doesn't seem to have a website).
Other sources: generic thermoplastic on ebay, some hobby shops (very expensive here though)
