great new material

Anyone tried foamed PVC? I have been using this stuff for a while now and I don’t think that I could live with out it now. It looks like ABS It takes to glue and paint like ABS It weighs a fraction of what ABS or MDF dose It costs a fraction of what ABS dose It cuts and machines better than any material that I know of. Its not as strong or shock resistant as ABS but works just as well in many cases (not all). It is Very easy to form with a heat gun Its much more resistant to solvents than ABS. I have been using a 15x 8” piece as a mixing board for about three months now and it’s in as good of shape as the day I started using it. I clean it off with a squirt if lacquer thinner and a paper towel after every use. I propose that we continue to use this thread as a place to introduce new materials that we come across. Don’t worry about someone ells already knowing about a relatively new material. Just post it. This is not a competition. It’s a place to share. I am sitting on a pile of new chemicals and materials that I don’t think many people are using that I would like to share here, but I want to see if there is any interest on this topic before I spill the beans. So, bring it on!

I'm interested. I'm always up for hearing about new materials and learning to work with new things.Twizted Kuztomz

Member Team Gates

you talk about ABS plastic a lot, what exactly is the material, and how is it used? Can you also form this with a heat gun? Where can I find foamed PVC and ABS plastic, and info on both of these materials, I would like to study up on them as I might need them on a HID retrofit I am about to perform not to long from now. Any info is greatly appreciated!Eclipse 8445, Kicker DS60's, Hifonics TXi4400, Eclipse SW6143DVC, and Power Acoustik LT980-2.

ABS plastic is one of the post commonly used plastics, and is also one of the easiest plastics to fabricate with. In production plastics are formed in one of two ways, Vacuum formed, or injection molded. If you have ever looked at a plastic panel that looks like it was heated and stretched over an object to form it, it is most likely ABS. In cars panels are marked on the back side with initials that tell you what type of material it is (ABS, PC, PVC, PP, PPO. There is a ton of information on the net about all plastics. Check it out. Get to know what these initials mean and you will know what glues, fillers etc. will be compatible with that panel. Why guess? Its printed on the back! Stay tuned because I am currently working on a ton of new info to post on this thread that includes heat forming intricate parts from ABS, foamed PVC, and casting paint ready parts. You can purchase ABS and other plastics from any one of thousands of plastic suppliers. Look in your local phone book under plastics. You will be surprised at what you find. The plastics market is huge and it’s everywhere. Visit a local plastic fabricator and ask questions. It will be the most informative field trip that you ever take, and its free! The place that I purchase all of my plastics from as well as many of my chemicals is Tap Plastics. www.tapplastics.com I am lucky enough to have a tap store 6 blocks from my shop. I spend quite a bit of time there. Can you tell?

Quick castA fast curing polyurethane casting resin system that is faster and safer to use than polyesters. It is a two component (Side A and Side B), low viscosity, fast-curing, and non-rising material that produces high-detailed replicas in minutes. Virtually no shrinkage. Each kit includes Side A and Side B. There is approximately 2 minutes working time. Full cure in 5 to 10 minutes. It cures to a durable ivory finish.This material is intended for mold making. I have found that it is good for much more.Here inside this box I wanted to make the inner surfaces paint ready fast. Also I have a deep hate for sanding inside corners, so body filler was out!I used gravity and barriers to dictate how the Quick Cast would flow and cure. The yellow arrow at the top points towards the rough bare fiberglass that the bottom and rear surfaces are constructed of. You can see that I have already covered the bottom and rear surfaces. I knocked down the big lumps slightly with a grinder and just buried what was left in Quick Cast. The Quick cast bonds to most any surface quite well. The red arrow points towards my barrier that I constructed out of 1/8th inch ABS covered in masking tape. I pressed clay around the edges of the barrier in order to keep the Quick Cast from flowing out the sides.Here you can see that I have poured the Quick Cast. The dam held up nicely.3 minuets later the Quick Cast has cured.This is after I removed the barrier. You can see that some of the tape stuck. Like I said this stuff bonds quite well to most materials. After this pour I waxed all subsequent Barriers. I also learned that you must pour the mix in gently and from a close distance. You don’t want to introduce any air bubbles. On two of the pours I had to fill pin holes with Easy Sand (Ever Coat wonder product)because of this. On all of the rest of the sides I lightly sanded the Quick Sand with 220 grit and shot it with primer. Notice how perfect the lines came out. No shaping required!Some of you might remember my post where I built a tailgate with two 23” monitors built in. During this install I made the fatal mistake of placing two dissimilar materials right next to each other and bonding them together with resin. Well polyester resin shrinks 7-9% and that left a nasty line that showed through the paint. This might not have been a big deal normally, but the extreme temperature and humidity swings experienced 1 foot above the pavement made this a real bad idea. Rather than rebuilding the entire tailgate, I used Quick Cast to make a three piece mold of the entire bottom of the tailgate. Then I laid fiberglass and marine grade epoxy in my mold and popped out a paint ready replacement. And it took me a fraction of the time to do. BeforeDuringAfterPlease post ideas, tips, tricks and new materials

That’s pretty good advice. Thanks. I think that I am going to try that with some epoxy work that I have coming up. The Quick cast though sets up in about three minuets flat. So there is no time for that with this particular material. The quick cast actually dose not have much of a problem with air bubbles as long as you don’t pour it from high up. So my fix is to simply hold the mixing cup closer while pouring. Works great!

I'm interested in any materials that may make life easier. About the Quick Cast, is it very durable as far as exterior automotive enviroment? And as far taking to automotive paints, is it compatible? I see that you used it on the inside of that sub enclosure. Just curious if there's any special procedures for doing so.Slowly but surely working towards something. Not sure what though.

Quick Cast is intended for making molds not actual parts. So there is no manufacturer specifications as far as moister absorption or the effects of ultraviolet exposure. Though I keep making actual parts and testing them as I go. I have determined that this material is very resistant to moister (no swelling) and the heat distortion limit is around 150. It wears better than bondo but not as well as epoxy. It takes to automotive primers and paints very well. If you visit my shops page at http://www.enrichedaudio.com/gallery/index.php and click on the Master Craft X80 link you can see many parts that I made with Quick Cast. All of the speaker pods that have the orange neon were made of Quick Cast and painted with urethane based primer and painted at an auto body shop using normal auto body paints. I have not yet fully tested this material for ultraviolet exposure. As a precautionary measure I always paint it with a quality paint that has ultraviolet protection built in. Having said that I don’t see any reason to ever leave this material unpainted anyway. I have also found that it can be mixed with Micro Spheres (hallow glass balls), a product that www.tapplastics.com sells, this material can be added to stretch Quick Cast 3 to 5 times as far with no structural, machining, or curing disadvantages. A 35 lb. bag the size of a large dog food bag costs me $45. By mixing it with the Quick Cast, or epoxy you can make a light weight strong plastic that has thousands of uses and costs a fraction of what polyester resin costs. Recently I have been using this mixture as a 1/2” core material between two relatively thin layers of fiberglass to make an extremely strong and light weight box material. My boxes are stronger, weigh less, and cost less than ever, and I am not limited to shapes!