Check this Out! InstaMorph

[peter halle]

My younger brother sent the rest of the brothers each a jar of InstaMorph for a Christmas present.  We each opened our presents, looked, and rolled our eyes.  The jars were probably all packed away for "safe" keeping.

Then in the middle of last night / early this morning I started thinking about a practical application.  Here are some images:

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Ever need to sand one of these?

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Heat up some water and pour in some pellets and:

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Let cool until no longer clear, and:

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Now we just need to find a glue that will stick, although the InstaMorph will stick to many materials when warm.

You might like to check out their website:   Insta Morph

The plastic pellets are heated in 150 degree water until they join together and turn clear.  You can then remove the glob with a pair of tongs and drain off the excess water.  Then mold away.  Let cool and it will turn translucent white again.  Mess up?  Throw it back in the water and redo.  Done with your creation?  Melt it back into a glob for reuse.

Just some food for thought.  I already have an idea for a useful project.

Peter

 

[waynelang2001]

Hey Peter,

Now that is something i could use. I am fighting CTS again and i would love to have some ergonomic handles on some of my hand tools. But as usual I cant find any South African resellers on the net.

 

[jmbfestool]

IF you gave me an example like this link below on ways to use InstaMorph Peter  then I would of been SOLD straight away!

http://www.instamorph.com/ideas/plastic-vampire-teeth/

 

[Kev]

IF you gave me an example like this link below on ways to use InstaMorph Peter  then I would of been SOLD straight away!

http://www.instamorph.com/ideas/plastic-vampire-teeth/

Stop messing about - we all know they are your real teeth !

 

[RC]

InstaMorph ships worldwide in bulk quantities - I just ordered a 30oz bag to Finland for the heck of it  [tongue]

Funny, that it's cheaper to ship the stuff from the states to Finland than any of the UK/Germany webshops listed in the RepRap Wiki (rapid prototyping) as selling this stuff this side of the pond... postage was $10 from the US vs. £29 from the UK!

 

[waynelang2001]

InstaMorph ships worldwide in bulk quantities - I just ordered a 30oz bag to Finland for the heck of it  [tongue]

Funny, that it's cheaper to ship the stuff from the states to Finland than any of the UK/Germany webshops listed in the RepRap Wiki (rapid prototyping) as selling this stuff this side of the pond... postage was $10 from the US vs. £29 from the UK!

do they ship worldwide from there own website?? because amazon do not ship to south africa. SCRATCH THAT. I just ordered 30 oz of it now woo hoo. Strange that amazon will ship the bulk bags, but not the jars ?? Anyway it works outs good. I found a South Africa website that sells it but they want to charge me R444.00 for 12oz, I got the 30oz on Amazon for R394.00.

 

[peter halle]

Here are a couple of ideas that I wanted to throw your way as food for thought.  Enjoy!

InstaMorph Meets the Festool MFT/3

Peter

 

[tbellemare]

And to think, Peter, while you were cooking up InstaMorph, I was making Gateau Basque, watchin' football, and eatin' ultra dark roux Gumbo... I might have to rethink my Sundays. I did spend part of my day trying to "dig out".

That stuff looks pretty cool. I like the possibilities of using InstaMorph for copying things. I'm curious about the real mechanical properties. It could be really useful but also cause a lot of grief because of the user not understanding the real mechanical properties like rigidity and coefficient of thermal expansion.

Tom

 

[andvari]

Instamorph is polycaprolactone. You may be able to find it locally under that name or another trade name like Shapelock, Polymorph,  etc.

There is a cool article on it in Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polycaprolactone

 

[J131Smothers]

I found this thread through a search so I am not that worried about its age.
Anyone else who is interested in this stuff (InstaMorph or Freindly Plastic) should find this same thread which may help them.
If there is ever a response to my post so much the better.
Friendly Plastic is FANTASTIC.  We have used it to produce wonderful and beautiful art molds, sculptures, puppet faces, hands, everything imaginable.  It is absolutely Wonderful UNTIL time passes.  After some point (weeks, months, years??) it turns brittle and shatters like spun glass at a mere touch. 
IF this Insta Morph product is the same stuff then beware that you had better use it for short term items.  If this is a new and improved formula that no longer has the old drawbacks then it will again become part of our toolbox.  I am hoping that someone here has had enough time and experience with Insta Morph to give me that answer.
Here's hoping and if not then at least this thread may now save others from heartache and devastation by avoiding this material for anything that might be intended for long term use or display.
Jay Smothers

 

[peter halle]

Jay,

Welcome to the FOG!  Thanks for the heads up!  The plastic is biodegradable, and as the original poster I have no idea as to the longevity.  I see that there are some other cousins of the formula that are thinner, so maybe there have been other improvements or added ingredients.

Again,

thanks for the heads up.

Peter

 

[Ken Nagrod]

Welcome Jay!  BTW, are you one of the Smothers Brothers?  [big grin]
[welcome] to the FOG

 

[rmwarren]

Welcome Jay!  BTW, are you one of the Smothers Brothers?  [big grin]
[welcome] to the FOG

Who?  ???  [big grin]

Just kidding...

Jay, welcome to the FOG. I looked at the Wikipedia link someone posted and the materials is mentioned as being used in dental work and other more permanent uses. I wonder if there are slightly different formulations?

RMW

 

[mikeneron]

Put in an order for this stuff yesterday...figure I can find some uses for it around the house.

Peter, let's say I wanted to try Instamorph with a guide rail.  You said you used parchment paper so it didn't stick to your MFT rails...so I guess I should do the same, otherwise I risk having a glob of this stuff stuck to the guide rail?

 

[waynelang2001]

Put in an order for this stuff yesterday...figure I can find some uses for it around the house.

Peter, let's say I wanted to try Instamorph with a guide rail.  You said you used parchment paper so it didn't stick to your MFT rails...so I guess I should do the same, otherwise I risk having a glob of this stuff stuck to the guide rail?

If it does ever get stuck somewhere you can use a heat gun to melt it down again, you wont need to put you guiderail on a pot of boiling water

 

[peter halle]

Put in an order for this stuff yesterday...figure I can find some uses for it around the house.

Peter, let's say I wanted to try Instamorph with a guide rail.  You said you used parchment paper so it didn't stick to your MFT rails...so I guess I should do the same, otherwise I risk having a glob of this stuff stuck to the guide rail?

I used PAM to spray my rails.  Wayne is correct.  A heat gun is faster to heat up the instamorph, but you can burn it.

Have fun!

Peter

 

[mikeneron]

Just a note for anyone in Canada wondering about ordering this stuff.  I ordered the 30 oz package for $38.  Shipping is $5 so total damage was just over $44 Canadian after the exchange rate.  It took 2 weeks to get here, so not too bad.

If it works as well as what I've see online so far, this will be great for all the jig makers out there.

http://www.instamorph.com/purchase

 

[peter halle]

For followers of this post, here are a couple of additional pointers:

1.  Large globs of Instamorph take time to heat and cool.  Patience is a virtue.  
2.  Instamorph pellets get blown around easily by a heat gun.  Retrieving pellets out of the lawn is futile.
3.  Instamorph shrinks as it cools, so take that into account if you are surrounding three or more sides of an object.  The fit will become snugger.
4.  Instamorph does not do sharp corners well.  As it cools it rounds itself off.
5.  If you are trying to get better details, apply in thinner layers.  It will stick to itself.
6.  Instamorph is slippery and dense when cool.  See #2 above.

I am working on a couple of other concepts and will be posting after some trial and error.  My wife likes the idea of Instamorph so much that it is going to play a starring role as a murder weapon in an upcoming book.  OOPS.  I wasn't supposed to tell.

Keep Morphing!

Peter

 

[peter halle]

Here is another use:  Do it yourself vac adapators.  The orange hose is not antistatic, but I could have embedded copper wire or tape if needed.

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Peter

 

[Davej]

This looks ideal for making moulds for custom inserts for systainers ,  maybe you could press your tool into it , with something between to stop it sticking , then use some more pressed into first  to make a male mould , then maybe use expanding foam in a former and press mould into it then trim foam when dry , might have to try get myself some and give it try