What material to use to build rigid shapes
Nikhil wrote 03/17/2019 at 17:42 • 2 pointsMotive: build something stiff, like a box, a PC case or simply a cube. Looking for a material that I can work with at home. Can't use powered tools or 'big' tools, due to space and other constrainsts. So most materials like wood are out.
Tried some MDF sheets. Cutting with paper cutter, which works, but requires too much effort and time with low accuracy. Got a small hacksaw, which is ok to cut parts from a stick, but can't make nice long cuts in a sheet. Plus the MDF I tried were dropped a bit.
What else can I try ? Materials and tools to work with them ? Thick FOAM ? Some sort of cardboard ?
Thanks!
Edit: Saw a video showing that a coping blade/saw can be used to cut quite well. Can also make curves with a very thin blade.
I got great suggestions here. Thanks a lot.
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Https://evergreenscalemodels.com
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Hardboard is a very nice material to work with. Like MDF but with a polished, harder surface on one side and a rough surface on the back that accepts glue.
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Another option would be polystyrene sheets - may be two Millimeters thick. They can be scored with a knife and then broken. They can be "welded" by a special glue with dissolves the PS and let it re-harden after evaporating. You can also get L-profiles to glue into the corners.
It is really easy to work with. You can also drill it and cut it with a knife (if thin enough) or saw.
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What about getting your pieces cut to size already. If you use ply wood or particle board you can just glue it together with the help of dowels. Or you can use wooden strips to help gluing without dowels.
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Why not to use thin foam sheets , such as Laminate flooring underlay and epoxy+ fiberglass coating ? Or , mayby , balsa wood with the same lamination...
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Thanks! balsa wood and foam sheets look great. The epoxy and fiberglass technique, I think allows making own boards ? Which is great! but maybe kind of pricy..
I'll check these out. Thanks again
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Take a try. Thats the best practice of RC modellers, off coarse if you need it one's time only.
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Depending on the size of your construction and the strength/rigidity requirements you could try using light plywood, balsa wood, foamcore (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foamcore) or even acrylic sheets.
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Foamcore seems like a winner here. In this video it looks pretty stiff: https://youtu.be/BszihWhD7oE?t=45
Acrylic sheets could also work great for me . Saw video where they show technique to properly cut one with paper cutter (sharding they call it)
Thanks a lot!
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How about a hobby rotary hand tool (similar to a Dremel)? They're small and not too noisy. Use them for plastic and acrylics.
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Actually have one of these, but I didn't know how to use them as they came without a bit. Now I know. Would be handy to use to make holes and maybe then use a hacksaw/coping saw with a thin blade. Thanks!
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You can do a lot of stuff with a can of expanding foam. I use it for pretty much everything.
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I'm curious about this. You have any examples? Do you mean like this? https://www.instructables.com/id/Foam-shaping/
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Interesting material to know of. Will try it
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