Dan Shirley

@s2019 🙂 you’re welcome! that’s the one of the cool things about hdpe- nothing really wants to stick to it- the glue would rather stick to itself.

@pex12 yea great idea, never thought of using a drill press like that and there’s a huge old one sitting in the barn next to me. Maybe injection could be on the cards one day. For now I’m gonna just go for it free-hand on a wood lathe, I only want to make a set of wheels as proof of concept at this stage, though I would go like to along the CNC…[Read more]

Had an idea earlier: HDPE detergent bottles sometimes have small amounts of leftovers inside, maybe this could be used to clean the motor oil bottles?

@s2019 Yea a paper towel is great to get most of the oil off and not really a big deal to burn; I also have no idea what the effects of traces of oil would be on reuse. However I do know that there…[Read more]

@s2019 I’m not at a stage to answer that yet I’m afraid, I don’t have any machines yet so I haven’t started using any of the plastic I’ve been collecting.

However it makes a lot of sense to me to clean the plastic as much as possible before shredding. With motor oil bottles I have found that leaving them upside down in the sun for a few days…[Read more]

For HDPE milk bottles and motor oil bottles, I find filling them with very hot water will usually soften the glue enough to peel the label off. Then I use the label to dab away any remaining glue. The hot water is also a great first pre-wash.

Another low-tech idea I just remembered which I saw in Africa once:
A pair of car wheels mounted on a steel beam in line with each other, about 50mm apart. One on a freewheeling hub, one on a drive shaft through a hole in the beam, which connects to your machine e.g. shredder. The drive shaft needs to be positioned as low to the ground as…[Read more]

A cheap idea for filtering waste water to remove microplastics- very fine mesh filter bags sold in sets of decreasing grades down to 25 micron: Herbal ice extraction bags

Even cheaper on ebay or banggood.

Might not be ideal for production processes, but could be useful for small scale stuff, or for counting microplastics of different sizes in wastewater?

Hi @s2019,
I also want to be able to make moulds from 3d prints, I’m currently working on the idea of lost wax casting of aluminium. Briefly this would involve coating a 3d printed original with a thick layer of melted wax, separating the wax off in 2 halves when cool, casting the wax halves in plaster of paris; when the plaster is hardened, heat…[Read more]

It’s not for me to comment on your relationships with other parties, just like it’s not for you to comment on my skills or background. But I am suggesting that a decentralized movement will be much more robust, reduce conflict and allow individuals to focus on getting the job done.

I agree that the community needs to be able to control it’s own…[Read more]

@pex12 In my opinion it is not the responsibility of Eindhoven to support individual projects, and attempting to do so would only ever lead to conflict. I think it is better if individual projects source their own funding and resources. Although it is challenging, the process of doing so helps to shape each project and to ensure commitment from…[Read more]

@pex12 I don’t know or really care about the politics with PP Eindhoven, I see no reason why anyone should feel constrained by them, or any other part of the movement. In my opinion we should be grateful that they have given us all so much to get started ourselves independently, and even to make money, and so now it’s up to us to do that. I’m…[Read more]

Hi, a simple design for a wet scrubber I read about a few years ago, sounds similar to the ones mentioned:

Large plastic barrel; 100mm plastic pipe fume inlet cut through the side at the bottom, with a 90degree bend pointing down on the inside at the mid point of the barrel; 100mm outlet pipe of your choice cut into the lid, with inline fan to…[Read more]

The financial side of operating a plastic recycling enterprise is still difficult for me to figure out too. On one hand, we are trying to address a problem of waste, and on the other hand we are trying to make money by selling our products. There is a philosophical conflict between the two ideas, some people even feel that it’s not right to…[Read more]

@donald
excellent yes, thanks I hadn’t seen that video. What I’m planning is basically the same idea but with a lost wax investment casting instead of using greensand. I am keen to try both methods, but I think lost wax might be better for my needs because I want to retain as much dimensional accuracy as possible. Also investment casting means no…[Read more]

@ donald
yes lost wax casting is nothing new, but I don’t know if anyone has tried it for making aluminium moulds for plastic? I’m part way through building a furnace to melt aluminium, as I want to make prototypes of my product in aluminium too, but my end goal is to make the product in recycled plastic so maybe I can make cast aluminium moulds…[Read more]

@donald Amazon sells a small degassing vacuum chamber for under £50, for use with casting resin, I’m guessing melted plastic would behave in a similar way to resin in a vacuum, but I have no practical experience with any of this yet, I am still developing a technique that will work for my goal

Also another option I’m developing for detailed moulds:

– 3D printed original pattern object (positive) or similar – could be hand made of wood etc.
– Attach paper divider to form separation point of mould, lubricate lightly with vaseline?
– Melt candlewax and paint onto outer surfaces of pattern object to gradually build up layers
– when…[Read more]