Turning FREE Plastic Waste into $75 Pens

two years ago we made this video about how to make pens from recycled plastic today we're going to revisit this but this time we're going to give you three different ways to do it so that should be something for everyone plus we have a big announcement at the end of the video Let's Go [Music] this video is sponsored by Squarespace the all-in-one platform to help you build an awesome website to help run your business our pen video was one of our first recycled plastic projects that we made on the channel and it was our first video to hit 1 million views since then we've been working really hard to hone our skills and now we want to test some new methods to make pens out of plastic waste we're going to go through three different methods that we found and at the end of the video we'll compare their pros and cons first up is our beginner method this is essentially the same as the method in our first pen video but updated with a few extra tips and tricks we've learned along the way first you'll need a method to heat some plastic here we're using our favorite technique with a panini press but you could use a heat gun on a low setting or a small toaster oven we prefer the Panini pressed method as it melts the plastic super quickly and from our tests you get a lot less air bubbles [Music] we're using HDPE plastic here which is the number two inside the recycling symbol and we're loading about 50 grams onto our press coated with a Teflon baking sheet in our last video we used greaseproof or baking paper which definitely does work but it can end up tearing and then potentially ruining that batch of plastic we also suggested using silicone release spray to help remove the plastic from the sheets but since then we've realized you really don't need it foreign [Music] [Music] and ready to combine we roll This Together using a pair of silicone other mitts and then twist and fold to remove all of the air bubbles foreign we've had a load of comments from people telling us that this process will definitely add air bubbles in but after lots and lots and lots of testing we found it doesn't try it for yourself and you'll see once we're happy with the color we pop the plastic out of the press and into a simple mold that we made out of scrap wood this is actually the same wooden mold that we used in the video a couple of years ago who says we're holders [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] the plastic needs some pressure whilst it cools and you can do this with a vise or a couple of clamps it's always better if you let the plastic cool down naturally we did suggest water cooling in the previous video but it can cause cracking inside the blank from rapid cooling [Music] thank you so that's the first blank which we're going to turn into a pen in a minute the main advantage of this method is that it's a pretty low barrier to entry and you're not going to have to invest much money to make your first blank right onto our intermediate pen blank so we stumbled upon this idea when we were in the supermarket and we stumbled stumbled the other day and we saw this chura maker on the shelf for eight pounds it's essentially exactly the same type of machine as a panini press but instead of a flat plate it makes four churro or pen blank shaped objects at a time we thought this would be ideal for making pens so we grabbed one and took it back to the workshop now because of the shape of the slots in the churro maker we found it's quite hard to melt the plastic directly in the machine so to speed everything up we use the panini press to melt the plastic and then use the churro maker to shape them into the blacks which worked pretty well the tried and tested depressed melted around 200 grams plastic into a solid mass then once it was ready we transferred it over to the heated churro maker and clamped it in place [Music] once the plastic had cooled we found that it did take a little bit longer than expected to Wrangle the plastic churros out of the machine this is most likely because this particular machine does feel quite cheap and flimsy [Music] so after our first attempt with the machine we actually did a little bit of DIY just to strengthen a couple of areas so it can be used repeatedly [Music] and overall we were really happy with these lamps so there's definitely a bit of a learning curve that comes with mastering this process but the main benefit is the fact that you can make four blanks in the time it takes to make one with the last method right on to our final method which we're calling our in our original pen video the first blank that we made actually broke where we put it on the lane since then we wanted to come up with a way to make pen blanks in a much more consistent way enter our what is going on I don't know [Music] our injection molders and the machines that we use to make our recycled plastic products in the workshop so we wanted to find a way to use these to help us make these pen blanks with the help of our very good friend Gus we came up with these two pen blank models they're hollow tubes with a threaded injection port on the top cap to allow plastic to enter the bottom cap is also threaded with a small grub screw right in the center which helps for drilling the pan blanks later on foreign mode is assembled we need to get our plastic ready for the machines which means we've got to try it on Oh but before we do that we want to take a second to tell you about the sponsor of this week's video it's got Squarespace okay Squarespace have been a long-term supporter of ours and we're always happy to tell you about them because their website builder is awesome and just like we try to take the guesswork out of making things from recycled plastic Squarespace takes all of the guesswork out of building websites which looks super clean and attractive whether you're an artist or a restaurant owner or a dog walker Squarespace has a whole range of gorgeous templates that can get you started in a Flash and if you take payments using a card reader you can hook this up to your Squarespace site which helps you with stock control and product sales analytics to see what's selling the best we are super happy with our website from Squarespace and we genuinely think that you will be too so if you're looking for a brand new website or a refresh of your current one then check it out for yourselves with a free trial at squarespace.com and once you're ready to go live head on over to squarespace.com slash Brothers make for 10 off your first purchase of a website or domain now you can fit small pieces of plastic directly into the injection molding machine but shredding it into these evenly sized flakes makes for much better results [Music] once we have all our colors shredded we choose our mix and then load these into the machine [Music] these will need to sit in the barrel for about eight to ten minutes to melt fully once melted we clamp the mold in place and then pull the wheel which forces the plastic into the mop foreign [Music] we can unscrew the molds and remove the blacks [Music] we've made two different mold sizes a 13 millimeter for Slimline pens and an 18 millimeter for slightly chunkier pens now the obvious downside to this option is the cost each of these machines cost around 5 000 pounds per piece but there are cheaper options however with these machines you can make blanks far quicker much more consistent and of course you can make a whole host of other products just like we do now we have our three blanks let's turn them into pens one thing that you will need for all three of these methods is a way to turn your blank into a pet we bought this very small lathe second hand for just over 100 pounds however you could always ask a family member or a friend if you could use theirs or check out if there's any local maker spaces or clubs in your area if you're still at school you could always go and ask your technology department if they have a lathe that they would be willing to show you how to use the next thing you're going to need are some pen kits these are going to be what turn your blank into a fully functioning pet now unfortunately the sad truth is that most pen kits are made halfway around the world and they're shipped over to us in loads and loads of tiny little plastic bags more on this later since we're making pens using three different techniques we've gone for three different types of pen kit for our beginner pen we've gone with this entry level Slimline pen kit from atminster which cost us one pound 80. the first thing you're going to need to grab from the kit are the brass tubes that could be anywhere from one to three of these in the bag depending on the style of Kit you've chosen this one has two foreign [Music] before you'll know that the next step is to drill a hole in your blank and then glue the brass tubes in place with CA glue or epoxy but there's an issue with that it is notoriously difficult to get HDPE to stick to anything it's actually used as a material to make epoxy resin molds for this exact same reason fortunately we have found a solution to get around this instead of using a regular seven mil drill bit we drop this down to a six and a half mil bit for a slightly unsized Hull we then carefully push the tube into the hole using a bolt to keep the tube straight foreign [Music] there's two benefits to using this method the first is that you don't have to wait around for glue to dry but the second and most important reason are that the two parts are not permanently bonded together which makes future recycling much more feasible if we ever have a pen fail for any reason we simply cut the plastic off the tubes and reuse them lovely [Music] so once the brass tubes are in place and the ends have been trimmed flush it's time to mount them on the lathe foreign [Music] we're using a square carbide turning tool here as we found it gives a really clean finish but hdp does turn really nicely with alternate tools and this is where you can add your own little bit of style to the pen you may prefer a simpler slender design or you might want to add a bit of flair with some different shapes and grips personally we prefer slightly Slimmer pens so that's the kind of thing we're going to be turning [Music] if you've never used a lace before it is really good fun and very satisfying just make sure you're wearing eye protection as you occasionally do get some pieces flying towards you one thing to note is that because we haven't glued our tubes in the plastic does catch on the tools slightly more often this does only really happen at the start though as you're trying to get that blank into a cylindrical shape so keep it slow and steady and keep that mandrel nice and tight with our first blank here we did find a couple of air bubbles as we got closer to our final shape if you only have a few then these are totally fixable with a heat gun and a pilot knife however if you find your blank has loads of air bubbles it's sometimes quicker to re-recycle that one and start again that's simply the nature of working with this material when you're filling any holes in your blanks make sure you're heating up both the filler material and the blank itself otherwise they won't bond together properly once cooled you can turn the access off and you'd never know any different for the final step on the lathe we're using a product called micro mesh which will polish the blanks these are super high grip pads and basically give a friction polish which gives the pen a really nice shine foreign [Music] and of course all the shavings and dust that come off the lathe either get scooped up into a container or hovered up in our dedicated dust extractor that we only use for HDPE this means we can use it again in future projects assembling the pens is generally pretty straightforward they usually come with a set of instructions which tell you which parts to put together first foreign now you can buy dedicated pen assembly machines however we don't really like spending money unnecessarily so we're just using a dome headed bolt in our pillar drill truck all the parts get carefully pressed together in the order listed in the instructions [Music] next up we're going to repeat the process for our intermediate blank that we made on the churro press for this one we're using another entry level kit and this one's called The Comfort grip kit again from axminster and of course coming with another 703 plastic bags we repeat the same process of drilling the holes and then inserting the tubes before mounting it on the lathe [Music] one thing we did find with these blanks compared to the last ones is that it was a bit trickier to get going as the tools kept catching on those more Jagged edges we were definitely interested to see how many air bubbles were going to be inside these blanks as this was our first time using the chura maker but there seemed to be about the same amount of air bubbles as we had in the first method which is a pleasant surprise because you could probably reduce this down with some more practice we filled in the gaps once again with our heat gun and pallet knife and then finished off the turning this kit had a rubber grip at the tip of the pan which means that we needed to cut away a small section of plastic on one of the blacks after a quick polish with the micro mesh pads again we assembled the second pen using our DIY pair drill press [Music] [Music] so now you know what time it is thanks that's the last one that is the last one and now that we've stepped up the quality of the pen blank we figured it was time to step up the quality of the pen kit as well and it's a good time to ditch all of those crappy plastic bags enter the stainless steel pratchet pen kit we sought this from a company called Taylor's merfield who are currently the only company in the UK manufacturing pen kits just to be clear we're not sponsored by Taylor's merfield we just think that this is a brilliant solution but you do pay for what you get where the other pen kits cost around two pounds each these ones cost 14 pounds a pot but you know what they say by Cheap buy twice foreign [Music] s are already perfectly cylindrical we can actually use delays to drill the holes for the brass tube the small grub screw added to the bottom cap of the pen mold also gives us a perfect starting point for our drill [Music] foreign [Music] this particular kit uses one larger tube instead of two so we got that mounted up on the lathe and started turning straight away we can tell the difference between this and the other pen blanks no catching no air bubbles and lovely smooth shavings [Music] foreign [Music] had no holes at all so we didn't even need to crack out the heater we simply gave it a quick polish and then straight onto assembly foreign [Music] the quality of these stainless steel parts are leagues ahead of the cheap pen kits so we're really happy that we're up with this for our third and final pen so now we have three lovely pens and whilst each of them are fully functional each technique certainly does have its different pros and cons so let's compare foreign press and a wooden mold is perfect for entry-level pen making as well as that being a pretty simple process it's also cheap to get started particularly if you can find a second-hand panini press you also have the benefit that you can use the panini press for lots of other projects once you have it the main downside to this method is speed this is definitely not a fast process which may not be a problem for you if you just want to make a few pens here and there also it can be inconsistent you saw that we did have to fix some air bubbles in our first blank this wasn't hard to do but it certainly does add more time this process is also fairly wasteful as you're turning a square blank into a round you can of course collect all of the waste but it's not as efficient as it could be foreign two our intermediate method we use our churro maker to produce multiple blanks at once this absolutely worked and it was definitely faster than our first method these churro makers are also super easy to get hold of if you can't find a secondhand one then they're everywhere online the downside to the particular machine that we bought was that it was quite cheap and flimsy however we did manage to tweak it so that it worked a bit better for us even when it's fixed this machine is sort of a one-trick pony unless you like eating plasticky flavored churros this method also makes more waste than the last one and the blanks are a bit harder to turn thanks to all the sharp edges foreign lastly was our expert technique using our injection molding machine and custom pen blank molds this method makes super consistent blanks with little to no air bubbles since the blanks are already cylindrical they also make much less waste to collect up and as well as making pens investing in machines like this opens up a possibility for lots of other products that you can make but the big elephant in the room is the cost these machines and molds are a big old investment and won't be suited to everyone's budget they also take up more room which is something to consider if you only have a small space to work it and there's also a steeper learning curve to climb instead of just grabbing a cheap panini press and having a go overall it just comes down to what you're trying to do if you're a hobbyist then the first or second method will be absolutely perfect and if you did want to round things up and start making more without that big investment then you could just get a load of pinning presses and wooden molds just make sure you've got your heat gun close by that being said we do have a solution for you to get your hands on some of these awesome recycled plastic pens without spending thousands on the expensive Machinery as of this month and by very popular request we are finally selling pens over on our website and they will all be using the gorgeous stainless steel pratchet kits since they do take a while to make we're only going to be making a handful at a time and uploading them so it's very much first come first serve if you don't want to miss out then feel free to sign up to our mailing list so you're notified of every pen drop that happens foreign we hope you found this video helpful we did try to cover everything we could think of but if you think there's anything we've missed or tips you could add be sure to drop them in the comments big thank you to you for watching the video but an even bigger special super mega massive thank you and an even bigger special Mega metal thing but a super massive huge mega thank you to the wonderful patrons over in the Brotherhood they are amazing and they're the ones that give us the freedom to spend our days melting plastic in a churro maker how do you go to bed and if you want to join this absolute bunch of Legends don't worry he's not invited we'll leave a link in the description below but as always no pressure thanks for watching I didn't know [Music] [Music] [Music]

Channel: Brothers Make

Views: 139,008

Keywords: what kind of plastic can be recycled, homemade recycled plastic products, how to recycle plastic, how to melt plastic at home, how to stop plastic getting in the ocean, recycling at home, diy plastic recycling, HDPE pen, hdpe tutorial, beginners guide, pen turning, pen turning project, diy making plastic parts, brothers make vita pen, products made from recycled plastic bottles, how to work with HDPE, brothers make hdpe, how to melt milk bottle tops, eco friendly products

Id: VNiHWN1Oc5M

Length: 22min 50sec (1370 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 26 2022