© 2008 Dream Merchant Dream Merchant • 2309 Torrance Blvd. #104, Torrance, CA 90501 (310) 328-1925 email: Jkm316@aol.com ESSENTIAL ITEMS FOR MAKING PROTOTYPES
Keep These Materials in Your Prototyping Toolbox.
By Ken Tarlow
To continue with our series on prototyping, let's look at a few more items you'll need to have handy when making prototypes.
1. Drill Press--Many time when making prototypes, you've got to drill holes of various sizes, and a small drill press is the way to go. You can get these for around $150, sometimes less if they are on sale. Again, Sears or any other store that sells power tools will have a little drill press that suits your needs and your budget.
When you drill holes in acrylic sheet, you need special drill bits that are designed for drilling into plastic. Ask your plastics store to get you some drill bits for the size holes that you want to drill. If you use a regular drill bit to drill through plastic, when you've gone through the plastic and the drill bit is about to go out the other side, it may chip the plastic. So you will see, the special plastic cutting bits are really necessary.
2. Glue--You will also need the glue necessary to adhere the plastic pieces together. The following are possibilities.
- * Acrylic Cement--Acrylic cement is very watery and
comes in a bottle or can. You pour part of the contents into
a smaller bottle that your plastic store will sell you that
has a tip like a syringe. When you want to glue two flat
pieces of plastic together, you put them together the way
you want them. Right where the pieces touch, you flood the
area with this thin, watery cement.
It actually seeps into the joint and fills it by itself, by a method similar to capillary action. You need to hold it there for perhaps 30 seconds, and then the joint will be strong enough to stay on its own. Best of all, it dries completely in about 30 minutes to an hour.
* Five-Minute Epoxy--For joints that are not perfectly smooth, you need to use something that has more filling ability. For this I recommend five-minute epoxy. You can get this at any hardware store. The two parts of this epoxy are mixed together in equal amounts, using a popsicle stick. You can glue joints together, and create a little filling action at the same time.
3. Cyanoacrylate Glues--If you want to get an instant rock-hard bond and get some filling action as well, I recommend the cyanoacrylate type of glues like "Super Glue." There are other brand names, as well. You can use these glues with an accelerator that comes in a little spray bottle. Apply the glue neatly and be careful not to get any on your fingers.
Then, spray the glued area with one spray of the accelerator and instantly the joint will turn into a rock-hard seal. It's really quite miraculous. However, this is one of the more toxic glues, so I really recommend using it in a very well-ventilated area. Turn a fan on, have the window wide open, and use a good mask that will screen out some of these fumes.
NEXT ISSUE: More on Prototypes
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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