Plastic Bags into Plastic

Blocks:Revisited
By Michael Colombo Posted June 3rd, 2013 6:35 am Category Makers,
Science, Workshop View Comments

For the last several years Ive experimented with turning common HDPE
plastic bags into solid materials at home without creating caustic fumes.
My first attempt was made before I even started writing for MAKE, where I
stewed the bags in canola oil before pressing them into blocks. The
project worked after a fashion, but was impractical since the blocks were
impregnated with oil.
Then a couple of years ago I used canola oil again to regulate
temperature, but tried mixing the plastic in a double boiler set-up.
Again, it was partially successful, but lacked the homogeneity I was
aiming for.
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Over the weekend I made another attempt, and it looks promising. I want
to share my process in the hopes that the community can experiment and
help with its refinement.
HDPE has a melting point of 266 degrees Fahrenheit. When it gets
toward that level, it gets tacky but doesnt completely melt, and can be
formed into solid blocks without causing fumes. I used a barbecue
thermometer in my oven to steadily increase the temperature and find the
right amount of time to bake the plastic over several hours of testing.
I started with a wooden box (look familiar?) that was stuffed with cut-up
bag pieces (keeping my eye out for a shredder to do this in the future.) I
stuffed the box, put in another piece of wood that nested perfectly within
the box, and compressed it with c-clamps.
What I found was that while the plastic fused, it didnt do so uniformly. I
had a feeling that the different types of material had something to do with
this, so I switched to a steel box I had welded together a while back. I
used an angle grinder to make a lid and tried the same c-clamp method.
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I baked it at 450 degrees for 40 minutes, re-tightened the clamps, and let
it all cool for about an hour and a half. There were no fumes as far as I
could tell, but I cannot verify the safety of this method (any chemists in
the house?)
No matter how hard I tried, I simply could not lift the lid off the box, so I
resorted to cutting the box open. Inside was a solid block of rigid plastic.
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It hadnt spread uniformly throughout the container, so I trimmed it down
to a 2.5 x 6 rectangle. It was encouraging to find that it was easy to cut
and sand.
When I trimmed the edge off, I noticed the two pieces had symmetrical
relief. I dont have a band saw, but would love to run a piece through
lengthwise for a bookmatching effect.
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I think this material has a lot of potential for makers. Its an example of
point-of-use recycling, is strong, and Im anticipating that it can be easily
shaped by power tools and CNC routers.
Here are the issues I currently have. I would love if youd sound off in the
comments about them or do some experimentation on your own.
1. Scaling up. Obviously a larger container would help with this, but as
you can see, I stuffed that box full of plastic pieces and ended up with a
comparatively small block. I suppose a multi-step process could help this,
but that would be time consuming.
2. Separating from the mold. Is there a safe releasing agent that we can
coat the container with? Perhaps a box that could be dismantled would
help.
3. Uniform clamping. My piece has a slight angle to it. How can we
compress the plastic so its completely flat?
Ill continue working on this and post updates to the MAKE blog when I
have them. Thanks for your help.
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