Orange/Black/White recycled HDPE

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acturbo

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Jan 19, 2018
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Greetings all,

One of my co workers was/is a Flyers fan and didn't want to spend a lot of money on a pen. Melted down some Orange tide bottles, black protein powder bottles, and white antifreeze containers and came up with this.

Shaping is a little off as nothing sticks to HDPE so I had to heat the blank with a blow torch and insert it so it would melt into place. Came out pretty neat though. Sorry photo is not the greatest..................just took a quick photo with my phone on the desk before I gave it to him............



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1080Wayne

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Feb 5, 2006
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Brownfield, Alberta, Canada.
I think you did a great job using those starting materials . I`ve made quite a few out of HDPE water pipe but never one like that . Don`t think I would use a blow torch to insert tubes though . A few strokes with a rat tail file usually solves any insertion problem .
 

magpens

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Very interesting, and very attractive !!!

Did you mold a blank ? . What material did you use for the mold ? . I am unclear on your process.
 

acturbo

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Wilmington, DE
Very interesting, and very attractive !!!

Did you mold a blank ? . What material did you use for the mold ? . I am unclear on your process.

No problem. Simply cut up the HDPE bottles into smaller pieces. Made a wooden mold and a thick lid with a handle. Melt the HDPE in a toaster oven until soft on parchment paper and knead it together by hand using welding gloves. Once it mixed well I remove it from the oven, put it in the mold and compress it with the lid(using clamps) so there are no gaps. Remove from mold and let cool. Cut to pen blank sizes and follow normal process except for the gluing since HDPE is resistant to almost all chemicals/materials.

Pretty simple process. Just takes time........
 

magpens

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Thanks for the further details ... one more thing ... about inserting the TUBE ... (I think) ...

You say ...

"Shaping is a little off as nothing sticks to HDPE so I had to heat the blank with a blow torch and insert it so it would melt into place. Came out pretty neat though."

Where you say "blank" do you mean "TUBE" ? . And you heat the TUBE with the blow torch ? . I that is so, it seems that's a bit harsh treatment for the brass TUBE. . But if you say it works, it must be ok.

Thanks again.
 

acturbo

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Jan 19, 2018
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Location
Wilmington, DE
Does the heating up of HDPE cause any noxious chemicals to be released? Looks like a really cool process

It's supposed to be non toxic but I find the smell to be irritating and it gives me a bit of a headache. I just make sure I heat it outside of the house or in the garage and bring it back in after the "cooking" process.
 

acturbo

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2018
Messages
29
Location
Wilmington, DE
Thanks for the further details ... one more thing ... about inserting the TUBE ... (I think) ...

You say ...

"Shaping is a little off as nothing sticks to HDPE so I had to heat the blank with a blow torch and insert it so it would melt into place. Came out pretty neat though."

Where you say "blank" do you mean "TUBE" ? . And you heat the TUBE with the blow torch ? . I that is so, it seems that's a bit harsh treatment for the brass TUBE. . But if you say it works, it must be ok.

Thanks again.

Yes I drilled the blanks and heated the tube and inserted it. The heat melting the plastic inside and created the bond for the tube instead of your standard glue. Trying to glue HDPE is pointless(trust me I tried just for giggles).

Bad wording on my part.
 
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