PVC/Polyethylene plastic enclosures!

[DanNG]

Not too much cheaper for smaller thickness.. and you get the problems of bowing & sagging.. so its worthwhile going with 15mm.
Im working on a 4 cube GTP enclosure at the moment.. but going for a seamless/bonded finish... rather than screwed together

 

[JungleGuy]

By seemless do you mean your plastic welding it or something different? I may have to give it a shot when i get a job lol

 

[DanNG]

Yeah pretty much plastic welding. Still looking at materials.. HDPE or Extruded PVC etc.
Glass sliding doors in track.. or round corner acrylic hinged doors etc.. lots of options

Has to be black + black perches, be able to hide a heat panel from front on viewing.. and use LED daylight and moonlighting on timers.. those are my goals.

a 4-cube set up would use 2.5 sheets.

 

[JungleGuy]

Sounds good mate, is plastic welding a hard skill to master? I may have to do some research and give it a shot, keep us updated with how your build goes.

 

[Erebos]

Plastic welding will take a average person a couple years to learn how to do it properly. And if you don't know what your doing don't try on anything important because you will destroy it.


Cheers Brenton

 

[kr0nick]

My uncle used to own plastic fix on the sunny coast. But hasn't done it in years. DanNG where did you get those prices from as you can buy plastic welding tools off ebay but I don't know if they are the real deal or not.

 

[Erebos]

A plastic welder will use plastic rods and a heat gun it's like oxy brazzing.


Cheers Brenton

 

[DanNG]

Im not going to weld myself, looking for a plastics company to do the whole thing for the right price

 

[kr0nick]

A plastic welder will use plastic rods and a heat gun it's like oxy brazzing.


Cheers Brenton

Yeh that is what they are I think
And DanNG same here I think PlasticFix has gone bust after my uncle sold it which sucks ***.

 

[JungleGuy]

Yeah, i've seen the stuff on ebay too wondered how good it would be being so cheap... Do you have much experience with plastic welding brenton? What specifically makes it so difficult is it just difficult to get the plastics to blend and bind without warping the plastic?

 

[eipper]

You do realize that the sheet of hdpe will grow 24 and 12 mm respectively for every 15 degrees c above 20. 10mm per 1000mm exp rate.

This causes the the welds to snap and the sheets to warp. The additional problem of hdpe is nothing sticks hence why it is used for grease lines so you cannot use silicone or similar to provide a flexible joint to cater for expansion. It is also quite heavy. PVC lead free is a better option. Make sure you specify lead free as it does release small amounts of lead especially under heat

Cheers
scott

 

[DanNG]

Or we could all just share the freight cost in shipping some already made from the USA lol..

 

[maddog-1979]

put me down for a stack of 3x2x2

Or we could all just share the freight cost in shipping some already made from the USA lol..

make it 2 stacks, what the hell,lol

 

[JungleGuy]

You'd think if we could convince a plastic company to produce them using injection moulding they could produce them at a reasonable price over here. Out of interest how much would freight costs be from the US? lol

 

[kr0nick]

I fired an email at A company that sells plastic sheets so I will see what they say.

 

[Erebos]

Yeah, i've seen the stuff on ebay too wondered how good it would be being so cheap... Do you have much experience with plastic welding brenton? What specifically makes it so difficult is it just difficult to get the plastics to blend and bind without warping the plastic?

Yes I do it's everything about it it's exactly like brazing. Looks easy but is not the most fun thing to do.


Cheers Brenton

 

[JungleGuy]

Yes I do it's everything about it it's exactly like brazing. Looks easy but is not the most fun thing to do.


Cheers Brenton

No worries, i'll leave it to the experts and save the frustration.
Cheers

 

[browny]

it's not to different in process etc to tig welding, you have to make sure there is no warping, expansion etc and is very hard to master....no I don't plastic weld btw although I have tried it a few times and very similar idea to how you would tig weld, have seen 2 very experienced tig welders take to it like a duck to water too.


as for suppliers maybe try talking to kitchen builders, they are using these types of plastics for bench tops as well as whole units now days (especially outdoor kitchens), they also have the correct adhesive for the plastic which makes it totally seamless and since it can be curved etc it makes for less joints in general

 

[kr0nick]

I found A product called PVA coated celuka foam boards but I don't know how strong they are.

 

[Erebos]

That's the best stuff ever.


Cheers Brenton