USING PLASTIC MODELS FOR PROTOTYPES
Plastic Models Make a High-Quality, Professional Product Presentation.
By Ken Tarlow
PART ONE
I use plastic for most of my finished, quality-looking prototypes. There are several tools and materials you'll need for this work.
1. Sheet Plastic Materials--You can design on paper what you want to build and many of the things that you'll design can be constructed of pieces of tubing, pieces of flat material, pieces of rod, or square tubing that can be purchased at any good plastics store in your area. I recommend that you use 1/8" thick cast acrylic sheets, although sometimes you can use the thinner 1/16" thick pieces for smaller models and 1/4" thick for large models.
There are a number of shapes and sizes that these materials usually come in. Once you identify which ones you want to use, you can make a list of the parts you want and exactly how you want them cut. Then take your list to the plastics store.
Look in the Yellow Pages under "Plastic, Acrylic Sheets, Rods, and Tubes" and find a store that not only sells those materials but will cut them to your size. They also can buff and polish edges for you, and they can do a very clean job. many of them will also fabricate the entire model for you. This is more expensive than doing it yourself, but it's not excessively expensive and they do very good quality work.
2. Safety--You'll want to work in a well-ventilated room. Many of the glues and other spray materials that you'll use when building plastic model can be somewhat harmful to your respiratory system and you want to have good ventilation in the room.
I advise wearing, especially when you're using the glues and other spray materials, a good mask that goes over your nose and has an activated charcoal filter built into it. Any hardware or paint or automotive store has them.
I also recommend that you use a good pair of safety glasses whenever you're cutting or drilling any plastic. You don't want to endanger yourself with little flying bits of plastic or unexpected cracks, so I recommend eye protection always.
3. Adjustable Speed Dremmel Tool--You can make plastic models without having sophisticated shop equipment. I recommend that you get an adjustable speed Dremmel tool. Dremmel is a brand name. Sears has them under the Craftsman brand name. With this tool, and an assortment of tips that go with it, you'll be able to do most of your prototyping activities, especially if you've gotten your plastics store to cut all the pieces to the size that you need. If you're not doing any major cutting and just the more detailed shaping and cutting, this is really the only piece of power equipment you'll need.
With the Dremmel tool, you should also have:
* Cut Off Wheels--You'll want to make sure that you have a good supply of thin, "cut off" wheels. These are disks that are made of a very abrasive material, but are very thin. There is a shaft that these discs go onto. They simply screw on with a small screw head that is supplied. When you turn your Dremmel tool on, this disc spins. The disk is one inch in diameter and will cut through metal and in most cases, through virtually anything. So rather than having big expensive saws and tools and a giant shop, you can really do all the cutting you need to do with this versatile little tool. If you have to cut more than a few inches of material at a time, ask your plastics store to cut it for you. Just do the little detail cutting and shaping with the Dremmel.* Drum Sander--The other pieces you'll need for the Dremmel is called a drum sander. It's a shaft with a rubber drum shaped device on the end of it. A cylindrical sanding drum slips over the rubber tip and allows you to sand into all kinds of tough places. You can round off edges and smooth out rough spots with this sanding drum.
* Disc Sander--Another tip that you want to get for your Dremmel is a disk sander. It's a little flat rubber disk with an area for little round disks of sandpaper to stick to it. You can sand flat areas and do special sanding and shaping with the sanding disk. You'll see--it comes in very handy.
* Rasp--You'll also want a tip that works like a rasp. It looks a little like a drill bit, but instead of going in just one direction like a regular drill bit, the flutes of this bit go in two directions and look like little cross-hatched "Xs". With this bit, you can clear away plastic or other materials in a kind of grinding action to make any kind of irregular hole or shape that you want. It gives you the ability to clear away material very precisely.
In the next article, we'll look at some more necessary items for your prototyping work.
NEXT ISSUE: More on Prototyping Materials
The above article was excerpted from Ken Tarlow's MIND TO MONEY, a workbook package that can help you develop a new product from the idea stage to the marketplace. MIND TO MONEY may be ordered from the Dream Merchant at $59.95 plus $4.95 CA sales tax and$5 shipping and handling ($69.90 total). Send orders to the Dream Merchant, 2309 Torrance Blvd., Suite 104, Torrance, CA 90501.
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