# hdpe sheet and hdpe micarta



## lexlow

hello all and anyone who finds this interesting. i have not done a tutorial before, but i'll try my best to not bore you all.

HDPE is easy to find,









as long as its got the number 2 in the triangle and or it has HDPE (sometimes PEHD) then its good for what we need.

hdpe melts (not burns or release fumes) at about 180 c.

this stuff can be easily singed at about 220 c i think from experience, although the inside would still be fine.

step one, make a tray the rough size of you cattie template. mine was triangle shape.and made of ali sheet from a low bay ind light reflector.

















then made another slightly smaller to cover it in the oven and also apply a little pressure in the form of a weight.









next you will need to cut the template out of your bottles etc. this is easier if you cut as large a flat sheet out like this.

















tea optional

then do the same with the denim / clothe

i found that after setting you need about twelve layers of denim and HDPE(so thats 12 of each) per cm. so there is plenty to do. obviously at this stage you can get creative and alternate colours of clothe and texture including adding different colour HDPE layers.

layer these inside the setting tray.

















now, with the lid on, i had about thirty five double layers sandwiched and best result was wack the oven straight up to 190 ish, for about an hour checking and turning twice (round, not flipping)

remove from the oven and move straight away to a vice, and using two boards sandwich under pressure to fuse the layers and keep flat while cooling (it loves to twist otherwise)

leave to cool for about two hours depending how cold it is where you leave it.

then simply remove and begin your cattie project.

















i hope that this at least gives someone an idea or two. thanks for checking my first tutorial out, the main thing i have learned is to take pics of everything from now on


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## lexlow

i have a tutorial on just plain hdpe sheet to if anyone is interested


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## JetBlack

Good one.can't wait to try one day


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## treefork

Nice job! Very informative. Easily available materials to boot. The end product looks cool and is strong. I wouldn't complain if you posted the other one also.


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## lexlow

cool, i'll get on it tomorrow. the finished product is easy to saw, but any sanding disc will just be ruined. i used a combo of wittling sawing scraping and hand filing.

unlike the plain hdpe sheet in my next tutorial, that is easily sanded and almost possible to use one tiny drum sander (hobby drill size) for the whole shaping with no clogging! and i might add i personally think it just as strong.


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## Thistle

I definitely find this interesting. NOT boring at all. I agree with Treefork. Looks way cool. Post away! :bouncy:


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## treefork

I was wondering. Can you heat polish it with say a propane torch? Regular HDPE polish's nice this way.


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## bigron

really cool


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## lexlow

treefork said:


> I was wondering. Can you heat polish it with say a propane torch? Regular HDPE polish's nice this way.


i was wondering that about the plain hdpe, not sure about the micarter though, would probably frazzle the fibers as they make a fuzzy layer (which i have tried shaving lol, sanding with fine paper) i had the most success with sorta filing the fibers into the surface, might just be a denim thing, got a few other cloths i used when i made resin based micarta.

also, i find that although resin micarta is obcenely strong, it cab shatter/ break. this hdpe stuff on test pieces at worst (on thin pieces) breaks, but still remained attatched ........ like when you break a pen lid or something and twist it but it refuses to break all the way through and your left with having to repetedly bend and twist to remove one part from the other??


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## lexlow

i say its the perfect material for creativity and application when on a budget like me ( long term unemployed :-( collect them hdpe items, the more you look, the more you find it. also it does not absorbe the chemicals put inside the bottles etc, so as long as you clean it well, any container is fine.


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## Imperial

ha, this sorta answers my curiosity about putting cut out sheets together to make a blank, only i was thinking about glueing them up. lol, this whole HDPE is giving me some flashbacks to the shrinky dinks i once had a kid. totally different, but it reminds me of it.


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## lexlow

glad lots of people have had this sorta thing/need for building. i am constantly looking for free/cheap materials. cant wait to see some other peoples versions that will no doubt outshine any creativeness i can think of lol


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## bullseyeben!

So roughly how many milk bottles would one need to fill about a 150mm x 100mm x 20dmm block of hdpe on its lonesome...? Aprox....


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## lexlow

i think my milk bottles pictured weigh about 37 grams, so......i'd say cut up 12 or there abouts, the finished surface is rough, so you will have a bit of cutting etc to do . i'm still learning to  if anyone has any experiences they wanna share feel free to add to this topic.


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## bullseyeben!

Cheers, thats a starting number... pitty beer cans aren't hdpe..


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## Charles

What a great idea!!! Very cool indeed. A big thanks for sharing this one.

Cheers ........ Charles


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## Dayhiker

Thanks for this. I love to recycle stuff. Now this is definitely on my list.


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## Btoon84

Awesome idea! I can finally use all my saved milk/water jugs for something! When you pull out of oven, do you pop it out of the mold? and then into the vice with boards on either side? Also, is this runny/sticky and messy when it comes out? Will this drip down into the bottom of my oven? Probably put a pan down there... I bet it's freakin hot too!


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## lexlow

Btoon84 said:


> Awesome idea! I can finally use all my saved milk/water jugs for something! When you pull out of oven, do you pop it out of the mold? and then into the vice with boards on either side? Also, is this runny/sticky and messy when it comes out? Will this drip down into the bottom of my oven? Probably put a pan down there... I bet it's freakin hot too!


leave it in the two part mold, i had to make a wooden insert for the top half, so that the recessed top can touch the side of the vice. it is not runny enough to go through any slits in the mold or small holes.


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## Arnisador78

Wow!!! This is so cool!


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## Byudzai

hey guys -- I've been scavenging milk jugs lately and trying to decide what to layer in there. went to the craft store and found so many options that I got confused!

can I use leather? regular old canvas? I ordered up some 0.06" thick black HDPE sheet material and was thinking that layered with leather would look pretty badass.


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## Byudzai

WOW I just realized the temp is 180-190 degrees CELSIUS. I had my oven on for hours tweaking up five degrees at a time, finally gave up at 255 and decided the oven was broken. wow.

it's 360 Fahrenheit btw.


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## e~shot

Thanks for sharing!


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