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Thread: Anyone tried these plastic products?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Lexington, KY
    Posts
    283

    Anyone tried these plastic products?

    I recently ran across two products I'd never heard of before, seems like they could have great uses in woodworking.

    the first is Instamorph, it is a moldable hard plastic. You buy it in a jar of little beads, then you drop the beads in 150 degree water or use a heat gun, and they melt into essentially silly putty. They stay in putty form for about 15 minutes, then cure to a hard plastic. The great thing is you can melt them back down and reuse forever. Seems like a good use for custom sanding profiles, jigs and fixtures, or equipment repair.

    the other product is Sugru. It's also a silly putty kind of thing, but its one time use and cures to a hard silicone rubber. It's also electrically insulating. They show it used for cord repair, shock absorbers, iPhone stands, etc.

    anybody tried this stuff in the shop or home? They're not expensive, 10-15 bucks or so. Just google the two product names and you'll see their websites.

    Here's two pics, the first is sugru (making a more ergonomic handle), second is instamorph (you can mold threads in it):

    awAc2FsKQAmjH9scy5JK.jpgIMG_1268-1024x768.jpg
    Last edited by Chris Merriam; 01-13-2013 at 12:09 PM. Reason: added pics

  2. #2
    I haven't tried either, but I've often thought it would be wonderful if something like those existed.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Location
    Williamsburg,Va.
    Posts
    12,402
    We use the same product as #1 picture(can't remember its name) sold from Rio Grande. It is useful to mold around odd shapes to hold it while drilling,filing,or whatever. Ours is white.

  4. #4
    I've used sugru to fix power cords with good success. Its kinda expensive but I would recommend it as it works as advertised.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Lexington, KY
    Posts
    283
    The only thing I don't like about the sugru is its one time use. The instamorph can be remelted indefinitely. The only trick apparently is you can't use it anywhere that gets +140 degrees, like in a car on a hot day.

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