Plastic on demand

I was reading this fascinating page on a fellow making an android, and I saw he was using this stuff for mounting the engines that he only called "Polymorph." When I looked it up I found out what amazing stuff it really is.

Friendly plastic. Shapelock, Polymorph. It has many names, but it's all the same wonderful stuff. You can buy it either plain (white) or in a vast assortment of colors. It's non toxic and biodegradable, safe and fun to play with, and has an untold number of uses.

When you buy it, it comes in the form of small white pellets that you drop into hot water (90F to 150F based on how malleable you want it, it only takes a few seconds) pull it out, squeeze out the excess water and shape to your hearts content. You can use tools or your bare hands, it shapes a lot like clay. When it cools down it will be as hard as nylon. If you ever get tired of its current shape, just drop it back into hot water and it will return to a malleable mush, it's totally reusable.

It is great for use in making molds, orthopedics, models, impromptu tools, and much more.

It can be painted, and when hot it sticks to whatever you want, but if that is not the desired effect, just splash the surface with a little cool water and it will no longer be sticky.

Want some? It's not really that expensive, as a little goes a long way. Here are some places you can go to buy some of this wonderful stuff:

Shapelock.com - Before shipping (About $8), sells for around $23 a lb ($25 for 500 grams)
Sculpt.com - 28oz for US$42 is about $23.3 a lb for "Friendly Plastic"
Amaco.com - If you buy the 25lb bucket for US$540, you're looking at $21.60 a lb of "Friendly Plastic"
RapidOnline.com - For 1KG of "Polymorph," you'll be set back US$30 + VAT for $16 a lb.

Nickel Titanium: "Shape Memory" wire. AKA, Nitinol.

Nickel Titanium Alloy (55% Ni 45% Ti) is a member of a group of metal alloys known as "Shape Memory" alloys. These are alloys that "remember" the shape that they once were.

Manufacturers also make glasses out of such metals, to allow them to bend like normal when you sit on them by accident because your kid put them on the chair instead of the table! Wait, that's not the special part, it's when you get up out of the chair, the glasses pop right back into the shape they're supposed to be instead of remaining a mangled mess.

Could you imagine valve springs made out of this stuff? (I know, pricey)

Anyway, on to the videos!

Video 1:



Video 2:



Links:

Want to buy some? It doesn't cost that much: Small Parts, Inc.