Plastics are currently the most common in our daily lives. A variety of elements of automobiles, buildings, household appliances, as well as furniture, dishes, and much more, are made of plastic. Often, home craftsmen use plastic at home as a starting material in order to manufacture various useful objects.
All plastics that are used to make household products are divided into two groups: thermoplastic and thermosetting.
Thermosetting plastics are characterized by maximum hardness and minimal ductility, which allows them not to melt and not soften when heated.
If thermoplastic plastics are heated to a certain temperature, they will melt, but if the temperatures drop, they will become hard again. This property of thermoplastic plastics allows the molding of plastics at home and the manufacture of parts.
What is the composition of plastics? How is plastic made at home?
Homemade plastic can be prepared in the following way. It is necessary to thoroughly mix small wood sawdust and magnesite in a 2: 1 ratio, pour the mixture with a solution of 0.1% magnesium chloride and stir so as to obtain a pasty state. In order to obtain parts from such plastic, the main method is used - molding plastic at home in the mold. When hardening, the plastic will acquire a fairly high strength with good machinability, i.e. it is not difficult to drill, saw, process with an abrasive tool or file.
You can make plastic in another way. It is necessary to mix small wood sawdust with ground talc in a proportion of 5: 2 and pour in the joinery glue prepared in advance. The glue should have a consistency of thick sour cream. The resulting mixture must be stirred so as to obtain a pasty state. It would be reasonable to introduce 1/2 of the mass part of alum-potassium or aluminum alum into the mixture, providing protection against mold and natural drying oil, which provides an increase in ductility. Plastic can be colored if desired. To do this, add the aniline dye of the desired color to the composition of the plastics. For the manufacture of parts, the method is used - the molding of plastics at home in molds. To increase the strength of the plastic, in the mixture at the time of manufacture, instead of glue, a thickened nitro paint or nitro-varnish is poured. Parts are also made by casting.
The plastic, which is prepared from the following components, has good characteristics: paper dry pulp / carpentry dry glue / fine grinding chalk / glycerin / ethyl alcohol / dry ocher, which are mixed in accordance with the mass parts 5/28/60 / 2,5 / 3, 5/1.
Dry paper pulp and grind with diluted wood glue. During dilution, glycerin, chalk, ocher and alcohol should be gradually introduced, without stopping mixing the mixture. Parts from this mixture also use plastic molding at home. The product is colored if aniline dye is added to the mixture .
Phenol-formaldehyde plastic is also not difficult to prepare at home. It is necessary to take crystalline (phenol) hydroxybenzene or analogues and an aqueous solution of 40% formalin. Concentrated carbolic acid is quite capable of replacing phenol. It is necessary to mix crystalline phenol (20 g) with formalin (30 g) by adding concentrated hydrochloric acid (30 cap). Instead of phenol, carbolic acid (40ml) can be used. The mixture should spontaneously heat up and boil, and the consistency will become glassy and viscous. The resulting mass must be poured into the mold for 30 minutes, after which the mixture in the mold is immersed in boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Then you can remove the product from the mold. The resin obtained in this way is a thermosetting plastic with a reddish color, possessing hardness and strength. From it, the manufacture of parts that are supposed to be subjected to significant loads is allowed.