# Reclaimed hdpe stallion ttf



## jbradt (Nov 23, 2015)

Hi all,

I decided to make my father a slingshot for father's day to help him in his war against the tree rats. I used 3 or 4 laundry detergent containers to reclaim the hdpe plastic, and got to work. Its not a work of art like so many that are posted here, and there's a lot of work left in contouring/finishing but I thought I'd throw up a couple pics anyway. Its coming along pretty well for my second attempt at making one. Any comments or criticizm welcome!


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## Viper010 (Apr 21, 2012)

Looks like a real nice ergonomic shooter. Good job mate.

I would urge you to do some manual stress testing before investing any more time in the finish. Some times the recycled HDPE, especially different colors, slightly differ in melting temperature and don't always fully fuse into one solid piece.

It would be sad if it were to break in your hands, but infinitely better than in your dad's eye.


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## jbradt (Nov 23, 2015)

Viper010 said:


> Looks like a real nice ergonomic shooter. Good job mate.
> 
> I would urge you to do some manual stress testing before investing any more time in the finish. Some times the recycled HDPE, especially different colors, slightly differ in melting temperature and don't always fully fuse into one solid piece.
> 
> It would be sad if it were to break in your hands, but infinitely better than in your dad's eye.


That sounds like good advice. I've put a few different bands on it to test it out, but I hadn't thought of just stressing it directly. Thanks for that, Viper! I'd definitely rather have it break in hand...


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## jbradt (Nov 23, 2015)

Well, I couldn't sleep, so I went to the basement. I took a fork in each hand and pushed/pulled/twisted... seems as strong as can be.


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## StretchandEat (Nov 11, 2015)

How did you make it? A blank and then cut it out? Or molded into the shape first? Only wondering because I've got a lot of hdpe saved up


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## jbradt (Nov 23, 2015)

I made a blank out of a square mold and cut it out from there. Its really easy to work this stuff with hand tools, and I've been using a dremmel to do the shaping and such. Lots of dust, but at least its festive colors! And there's a faint smell of laundry detergent while working it.


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## RT- (Jan 9, 2014)

Lookin good!


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## rockslinger (Nov 16, 2010)

:thumbsup: :wave:


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## jbradt (Nov 23, 2015)

Thanks, guys!


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## Tag (Jun 11, 2014)

Looks great, nice design


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

youtube has a number of videos by members on their methods of melting HDPE. Viper is right, been there done that myself...some HDPE melts at higher/lower temps than what's next to it in the mold resulting in incomplete fusion of the pieces of plastic. I've had some separations...and some triumphs. It's unpredictable to use different sources of plastic. I've had some come out butt ugly from bubbles, have no idea why, used same temp as melts that didn't have a single bubble. Other HDPEers have had the same problems described above...so it's pretty common to get funky melts and good melts.

Making thin areas on HDPE recycle frames to me is risky hence my gargantuan behemoth forks on HDPEs. But if you have torque tested using more force than the bands could produce, and it didn't show signs of cracking or breaking, good. To me the frame is a bit spindly under the fork tips but if it holds together my point is moot. See if you can remove a minimum of plastic in final finish to preserve as much strength as possible.

Making sure the plastic is absolutely squeaky clean and free of finger oil or anything else is paramount for good fusing...and leaving it in the oven long enough for a glassy surface to appear on top of the melt is also indicative of a good fusing of the plastic pieces. I've made six HDPE's and have been marginally satisfied, your melt came out better I think than any of mine. Matt and a few others have really mastered the melt process. I've discontinued the idea of any synthetic...blue jean micarta and HDPE, in preference to nattys...but I had to try it all of course to keep my slingshot addiction alive. One of my fav shooters however is an HDPE black/gray/white (Rugby - Nuns vs Padres aka Urban Camo).

The design and color combo you used is trick! I love it.


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## jbradt (Nov 23, 2015)

Chuck Daehler said:


> youtube has a number of videos by members on their methods of melting HDPE. Viper is right, been there done that myself...some HDPE melts at higher/lower temps than what's next to it in the mold resulting in incomplete fusion of the pieces of plastic. I've had some separations...and some triumphs. It's unpredictable to use different sources of plastic. I've had some come out butt ugly from bubbles, have no idea why, used same temp as melts that didn't have a single bubble. Other HDPEers have had the same problems described above...so it's pretty common to get funky melts and good melts.
> 
> Making thin areas on HDPE recycle frames to me is risky hence my gargantuan behemoth forks on HDPEs. But if you have torque tested using more force than the bands could produce, and it didn't show signs of cracking or breaking, good. To me the frame is a bit spindly under the fork tips but if it holds together my point is moot. See if you can remove a minimum of plastic in final finish to preserve as much strength as possible.
> 
> ...


Thanks, Chuck. I did a ton of reasearch before starting the melting/molding process, so I had some idea of the pitfalls before I started. I melted it at a bit higher temp than the minimum and left it in for a looong time. I also worked it quite a bit while it was in the heat to try and get as much fusion as possible. I ended up with a few bubbles but nothing major in the area of the cut.

I spent quie a bit of time last night cranking on the forks and nothing seemed to budge. I'll continue to do so throughout the process.

The color combination is actually an old running joke in my family... when I was a kid, I was a fan of the "he-man" cartoons. My dad liked the character of Skeletor, so the colors are modeled after that.


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## Chuck Daehler (Mar 17, 2015)

The color reminds me of the Walt Disney, "Atlantis" animated production...dunno why....purple and bluegreen combo is kewl...maybe the stormy North Atlantic.

J, great you researched it well first, so did I, the videos provided by SSF members sure helped me.

I patched bubble holes using an ordinary "pencil" electronic type soldering iron, getting small pieces of plastic to stick on the tip, waiting for them to melt, and digging into the pit a little with the iron tip to melt it, and apply the melted plastic blob. That made a true weld. Done thusly the pit basically disappeared...no scar, just a raised place. I did this to all bubble pits then dressed the frame down again and finished it off. I used wet sand paper the whole sanding process...I started with dry but it went so slow since the plastic plugged up the grit on the paper...but wet sanding rolls the dust away and sanding thus goes much faster. I found HDPE resists sanding more than wood but about the same as real hard wood.

I sanded to 600 then applied automotive car wax and buffed. I tried going all the way to 1200 grit but it didn't produce much different results than the 600. I wasn't after a mirror finish, I liked the semi matt finish for it was more tactile. HDPE feels sort of soapy so to have a matt or semi matt finish may appeal to more folks than a mirror finish (which I never could get no how much I tried). Matt, you'llshootyoureyeout, did a vid on heat polishing and I think he stopped sanding at 200 grit or so, maybe even coarser grit (can't remember since I don't heat polish) but you have to be careful not to scorch the plastic...you can use a heat gun or blow torch turned down...but stay too long in the same place and get it too hot and it melts, ruining your surface. I'm not a high polish kind of guy though...some are some aren't.

We'll sure want to see the finished frame and possibly with a pic of you and your dad shooting it!!


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## jbradt (Nov 23, 2015)

Thanks for the tip about the soldering iron, Chuck... that's exactly what i needed. Let me ask though, does it ruin the iron or is it easy enough to clean the plastic off?

I'll definitely post pics of the final product but it may be a while, I started it nice and early so I wouldn't have to hurry at any step of the project.


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## Viper010 (Apr 21, 2012)

jbradt said:


> Thanks for the tip about the soldering iron, Chuck... that's exactly what i needed. Let me ask though, does it ruin the iron or is it easy enough to clean the plastic off?
> 
> I'll definitely post pics of the final product but it may be a while, I started it nice and early so I wouldn't have to hurry at any step of the project.


It's quite easy to scrape the plastic residue off the tip with a Stanley knife after it's cooled down.


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## jbradt (Nov 23, 2015)

Awesome, thanks, Viper!


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## d3moncow (Aug 29, 2014)

Looks great so far. I can't wait to see it done.


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## jbradt (Nov 23, 2015)

Well, I was sanding on the handle tonight and had a blowout. I got into the edge of a chunk that hadn't quite sealed properly and it lifted up about 1/8". I don't think it would affect the structural stability of the overall rig, but I've seen enough to not trust this block anymore.

I don't think it's a material problem mind you, but a processing problem in the molding process. I have a good idea of how to refine the process a bit, and will try again soon. Thanks for all the tips and advice. Its a great learning experience!


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## Viper010 (Apr 21, 2012)

Better during sanding than during shooting... Darn shame, it was a nice frame. Better luck next time bro. 
I'd say give it a little extra baking time.


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## jbradt (Nov 23, 2015)

Viper010 said:


> Better during sanding than during shooting... Darn shame, it was a nice frame. Better luck next time bro.
> I'd say give it a little extra baking time.


That's what I'm thinking. I also picked up a set of high temp gloves so I'll be able to knead it a bit better and make sure the bubbles are gone.

Thanks for the kind words.


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## d3moncow (Aug 29, 2014)

Well, now you know. I look forward to take 2.


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## Peter Recuas (Mar 6, 2014)

There is a template upgrade for next try, may be you like it

http://slingshotforum.com/files/file/140-stallion-ttf/


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## jbradt (Nov 23, 2015)

Thanks, Peter, I'll check it out!


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