Material Cookbook || Chapter 5: Thermoplastics

Thermoplastic Material List:

  • Thermoplastic Fabric (100% polyester)
  • Rubber bands
  • Aluminium Foil
  • Pot for boiling
  • Objects with interesting shapes (note that this must be able to withstand high temperatures if not they will warp when boiling)

Instruction for Boiling thermoplastics:

Step 1: Cut the cloth to the desired length

Step 2: Wrap your objects in the cloth and tie them down with rubber bands

Step 3: Fold them in Aluminium foil when done

Step 4: Drop them in the pot of boiling water and boil for 30mins

    

Step 5: Remove from wrappings.

Reflection:

Acrylic cannot stand the high temperatures of boiling the thermoplastic, so be prepared for some warping.

Folding the material in Aluminium foil works, but only for simpler patterns. As you can see above the foil just becomes very crumpled and does not hold the folds shape. If we want to attempt the ‘origami’ kind of folds, prepare paper.

In Class Examples:

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