How To Recycle HDPE Plastic & Make Parts!

[@mattferrigno9750]

Best video I've seen so far on how to recycle plastic and make parts with it. Very well done. All other videos I saw was people just making a plastic sheet as thin as paper and telling people you can make all kinds of parts.

[@mrbrown2186]

If you re-melt the shavings you will get a great blank with less voids. The smaller you get your pieces in the first place will result in better more solid blanks. If you can powder the scrap hdpe down (maybe on a belt sander or similar, and collect the powder) then re-melt the powder, it will come out perfect. Great video btw keep up the good work! Another thing you can use to get smaller pieces is to buy an old blender/liquidiser, take the blade out and sharpen it, then reinstall and blitz the scrap pieces of HDPE until it's as small as you can get it.

[@Cactusworkshopchannel]

Very interestnig! It's a pleasure to see the lathe cutter going through the plastic without blinking. awesome!

[@johnnyq90]

+Cactus! workshop Thanks!

[@phaandorpertwee6981]

First thing that I learnt here after watching other HDPE vids on YT is that you guys in the US don't have toaster ovens that make 350 degrees Celsius (OMG!) but that it's Fahrenheit instead. Good video!

[@Dr_Monitor]

HDPE is a fun material. Some woodworkers like using it because you can get crazy colors from household product containers, and end up with awesome colors and patterns.

[@Golo1949]

Brilliant! i would never have thought of that, I'm now going to try to make a part for my lathe.

[@racer67]

Easy when you have the right tools to mill it down into a part! But like alot of people are saying not everybody has a lathe!

[@UndergroundOverground]

Great easy to follow video,. Exactly what I wanted to see. Thank you :)

[@sonotthere]

Some plastic product will contain additives, normally glass beads and fibers to improve the certain characteristics of it. Either structurally rigidity and strength or wear resistance and toughness. This means that machining reused plastics(with additives) can wear down tools quicker as the plastic basically act as a kind of sandpaper. in your case it doesn't matter too much sins you use carbide tooling. But it is a good idea to check if it does contain additives some time it will be marked on the part, but at other times it will not. A quick way to check is to burn a piece of the plastic and crush the remains between two pieces of metal and listing after a crunching sound. place some sand in between two pieces metal to get rough idea of the sound.

[@dogodogo5891]

thks for info very interesting

[@ScrapwoodCity]

Awesome, thanks for sharing!

[@johnnyq90]

Thanks!

[@cryptviper4245]

johnnyq90

[@markfryer9880]

Nice video. I am thinking that part of the problem with the voids in the stock is due to the size of your original chips. A possible solution could be to use a cheap food processor on the grater function to produce smaller shavings from your original chips. They come with a range of blade types so there is the potential to experiment with the most suitable type of blade to use. It is well worth checking out cheap food processors at your local big brand store as the small investment is well worth it in comparison to getting into trouble for ruining someones [usually a she who must be obeyed type] expensive unit which was probably received as a gift.

[@calliesecunda5184]

Use silicone spray to remove it from your can mold. (I'm a machine operator at a plastic car parts factory) It works on industrial steel molds, curious to see if it would work small scale and on a different metal.

[@dr.jaspreetsinghkhandpurChest]

great way to recycle plastic.... silent simple and intelligent video

[@DeeegerD]

"The procedure is quite simple" if you have a lathe ;)

[@intjonmiller]

Digger D Many of us subscribe to the channel because we do.

[@codyfraser9000]

If you're talking about removing the bubbles from the round stock by making it uniform you can also do that by creating a vacuum or adding certain additives so you get a near perfect stock from the get go. I'm not sure what you would be making that wouldn't eventually require a lathe to shape it though unless you were directly adding your melted material to a mold.

[@chuenwai2884]

Jon Miller 0

[@ΝικοςΣθ]

Digger D

[@dabooge]

what everyone doesn't own a lathe? I still have mine that I bought when I was 16 I'm 41 now It's a 1960's standard modern 10" utilathe I love that old girl LOL!

[@OmarDelawar]

You could probably also melt it and use in a silicon mold for recreating small plastic parts instead of resin. Good video!

[@Mike..M]

Hey Johnny I just picked up a HF 7x10 lathe. I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm excited to learn. Thanks for the videos!

[@jackcullen4635]

I really liked this video! It would be cool if you did more HDPE recycling videos in the future. I would like to see a practical application of it in one of your projects. You should do something with it

[@zidwid]

that has to be the cleanest lathe ever.

[@laharl2k]

you can also do the same with PP, most botle caps here are made of pp so when we tried we didnt have enought hdpe to make something like that. We used pp in an oven with a thermostat around 220ºC, maybe a little higher for a little while until we started smelling smoke or nasty smells from the pp. The rresult was quite usable, no bubbles quite smooth, the only thing is that you need to keep it longer and mix it if posible to about layering and weak points. Still the result was as good as aluminium for making parts that do not need friction resistance.

[@racketman2u]

+Laharl Krichevskoy agree, I found PP and HDPE very similar , PP melting without burning around 200, HDPE 220 deg C, PP perhaps slightly more brittle than HDPE

[@laharl2k]

racketman2u we cut a tiny piece with the hacksaw and even thought the bounding wasnt that good we had a hard time bending it or even breaking it. Even in the vice we couldnt break it, it just bent and became white in the bending point..

[@TheBdd4]

Thank you for a very valuable idea. HDPE machines beautifully. I love the idea of recycling.

[@mancavecreations6535]

Will be trying this for my quadbike chain rollers

[@nico8273]

Nice ! If you're planning to use a lot of these you may try out some kind of vacuum chamber or pressure chamber, which may be a little tedious to make but it'll save you a lot of time. Greetings from Argentina !

[@sigvar6795]

Good idea for a DIY. I used to run a small injection molding machine when I lived in WA. Mostly ABS and PVC for Jacuzzii jets and control panel bezels. We had a grinder for making Re-grind from parts that failed inspection. I think the maximum we used was about 35% regrind to new material which came as pellets. Course our pellets went through a dryer for a day or so to remove moisture which cause "splay" or marks on the surface. I have a bunch of those old dremel cases. Wonder if that playground equipment is No. 2? Good Vid.

[@brothyr]

I believe most milk gallons are also HDPE. Very common and in larger amounts.

[@ducknorris9715]

Yup. They are hdpe.

[@Cubeazza]

+ExplodingScience And allot of drinks bottles caps

[@aserta]

+Adam R Blue plastic drums are also HDPE, quite a lot of buckets are too, almost all the liquid detergent jugs i've come across, some plastic bags, and a few of the heavy duty drainage pipes. One of my neighbors is pretty in to recycling stuff and does art pieces on the side with the thing. So i "donate" most HDPE things to him. Beware, of HDPE from gas cans and flammable liquid containers, unless you really know what you're doing with the cleanup part, the thing might flash even after a while, being left to vent.

[@scoob2569]

+Adam R The 10 or 25 Liter plastic containers used for chemicals work too

[@funny1048youtube]

+Adam R yeah hdpe is everywhere detergent bottles are also made of it shampoo bottles 5 gallon buckets and even shopping bags which i molded into a one foot long strip similar to a furring strip and i tried breaking it with two channelock pliers and with all my effort it was nearly impossible to bend this stuff is awesome

[@PedroLarock]

Try making a mold of plaster or clay, filling it up with shavings and baking the whole thing in a charcoal fire (an oven should work just fine)

[@Torbox1]

+Pedro Laroque Will most likely burn the plastic and release the toxic fumes that come from heating somewhere over 425-450F. The best way to mold HDPE is with injection molding, making a mold and inserting plastic under pressure.

[@Torbox1]

To help get rid of some of the voids, try leaving it in the oven for a longer period of time in the last step, this allows the bubbles to work there way up to the top, or at least all the way to one end which gives you more usable material. It would also be nice to see another video once you have done this more to see if there is anything you have learned or changed to yield better results.

[@fintimwhimbim]

Excellent video, great re-use idea. Love the music too. Tip for those it annoys, turn the sound down on your PC.........simple eh? Keep up the good work.

[@2limbo]

NIce video. Liked it and never guessed this would be possible.

[@johnnyq90]

+Roma Maastricht Thank you sir!

[@TheSmallWorkshop]

LOL, looks like we had the same script! Cool video tho!

[@amyasseektruth8246]

+The Small Workshop I subbed to your channel as well. Good video

[@johnnyq90]

+The Small Workshop I was obviously inspired by your video, it was very well done ;-)

[@TheSmallWorkshop]

+johnnyq90 Yea, no worries mate, I was inspired by others and so on :)

[@s0nnyburnett]

+The Small Workshop Immediately thought of your channel less than a minute in.

[@edanthue5174]

Ima check you out next homeboy

[@joeyrivenbark5056]

Cool video as always

[@TrailingThroughLife]

I would caution anyone who attempts this at home. I worked in plastics for over eight years. I have put out countless plastic fires and even in controlled environments these fires spread fast! Also if you get it on your skin in liquid state. You will bear scars for the rest of your days. Let's not even touch the health problems you will get from inhaling the fumes. I am all for DIY but I would leave this one to the professionals.

[@moneyjonah6453]

alexanderracer please i want to learn work from you

[@FrustratedBaboon]

No man stop scaring people. What is your reason to scare people away ? Cooking pizza or cake can burn in the oven also and create fumes.

[@LEARNING-67]

Professionals? What kind of pro? Like a phD graduate in chemistry department or something? 😂 knock it off! The term professional is so wisely abused these days. Professional plastic melter, pro pancake flipper.. 😂

[@felicianoabe]

haha great job brah. at first i thought you where gonna make a mold of the final piece then melt,pour and cast the final piece that way but machining it from stock cylinders u make , brilliant! now if only i could find a lathe machine hehe and space to put it in

[@MaxBrainDevices]

Amazing video. It will be very useful for my projects. thank you

[@meowingmono]

what are you planning on building

[@fourtwozero]

+Nicholas Ruiz What did he build?

[@meowingmono]

MM420 custom plastic parts

[@walterbunn280]

I liked this video. This is a pretty straight forward video. As far as the people hating because you're not telling them why they need to do this, you should ignore them. If they don't see the value in HMWPE that's their failing not yours. I'd really like the video if the volume of the tools turning on were muted somewhat. The video does almost have an ASMR quality to it, but the sound of the tools clicking on is a little harsh. Maybe bring the volume down to 60%.

[@shakeeshakee9457]

Great job..first time or not great work 👍

[@aserta]

One thing you might want to try for the next one, is to try and find one of those metal cans that fit inside silicone dispensers, the gun type with a press. That will give you a lot of pressure, AND, you can machine a disc that fits in place of the regular washer, thus, no more leakage because it doesn't fit the can. :D Heck, if you're down for it, you can machine a small bib (think of it as a bolt and a long nut, the bolt is drilled through, you place the bolt through the end of the can before you melt stuff and keep it shut with a nail or something) and place it on that can, and voila, you have a way to make HDPE cable. :) Which is good if you want to wrap handles and stuff like that. It's durable and you can make it any color you want.

[@TrojanHorse1959]

Excellent idea!

[@SAHBfan]

You make interesting and informative vids - but any chance you can lose the repetitive sound loops, please? They quickly get very irritating and just make me mute the sound, so where is the point? Does anyone like them??? What is wrong with a bit of peace and quiet with the natural noises of what you are doing?

[@danieltoledo9295]

SAHBfan gay

[@kendarr]

SAHBfan true :/

[@pheenix42]

Ahh, now I know what to do with those empty tool cases I see at the local 2nd-hand shop!

[@jimbit22]

Nice job.. A manual bench press and some aluminum tubing would make this a lot easier... I have tons of pla and abs scrap if you want to play with..

[@mantasreika]

Wow very neat!

[@ferreiracanal2585]

always see your videos, thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@johnnyq90]

+Bruno Alves Thank you ;)

[@MattTester]

My first thought when seeing the completed stock is that it would be a great way to make custom pipe adapters for plumbing. I can't help feeling that there are going to be some toxic fumes floating around when melting it though, I would need to investigate before trying this myself.

[@johnnyq90]

+Matt Tester (UKMatt2000) Your concern is valid. That's why the ventilation is always on, to prevent inhaling any of those fumes, although there is almost absolutely no smell at all.

[@MrSam0bot]

Thanks for the great idea

[@JF_Projects]

Cool, nice video, thanks for sharing

[@ProfessorGilligan1]

You maybe able to keep the squeeze out from getting your wooden disc from being stuck inside the freshly pressed HDPE. Just make a longer disc; i.e., a cylinder the length of the can, plus a little extra. This will keep the hot, melted HDPE along the can walls as you press down. You might even be able to use wax paper aid in release of the cooled melt from the mold.

[@mrastroboy33]

Awesome ! Great info !

[@nerys71]

that metal is probably worth more than the plastic you melted and the electricity and the metal would be cheaper just to buy the plastic stock is there any way to make a reusable mold?

[@intjonmiller]

Nerys Silicone is stable at this temperature and makes an excellent nonstick mold medium. RTV (Room Temperature Vulcanizing) silicone is very easy to work with, but ideally after mixing it is put through a quick but thorough vacuum chamber cycle to remove the air bubbles introduced in the mixing stage, so it does require some special equipment to do it properly and get the optimum results. The silicone is rather flexible (which makes it perfect for removing cast parts of complicated shapes which are not flexible and do not have incorporated draft angles), so depending on the form it could deform while pressing the HDPE in. Two solutions occur to me: the silicone could be a lining within a more rigid form, or put the mold, full of HDPE, back in the vacuum chamber to remove all the air (you let the vacuum run until the bubbles stop "boiling", then release the vacuum and the material settles down into the form). Definite potential there for the home workshop, but it would take some experimentation.

[@sajidullah]

excellent...wonderful...very helpful

[@johnnyq90]

+Sajid Rafique Thank you sir.

[@manuelquito6027]

A lathe will set you back a couple of thousandth dollars

[@keithsmodelsandrcs6593]

Is ur cooker reusable for cooking food safely then ?

[@DerKrawallkeks]

great! Thanks for the tutorial. Were you the one who told me about hdpe few days ago? someone told me about it, I didn't know it before, but this video helps a lot!

[@johnnyq90]

+DerKrawallkeks It wasn't me, but I'm glad that I helped;-)

[@DerKrawallkeks]

;) seriously, just a few days ago. Someone was like "hey, to create your own plastic parts, you can use HDPE like that, it's in there, lala and so on"

[@Gunzee]

I really want to make tyre 'shielding', my dog when excited runs in front of my bike. He's shaved his leg in a few places. It would be nice if I could cover those parts that rub on him.

[@eln74]

Thank you sir.

[@s.sradon9782]

remember to wash shavings with detergent to get rid of any machining oil

[@goldbunny1973]

Ive known ballerinas move less gracefully than you rotate a bit of plastic or empty can.

[@sparrovski]

It sounds good. Melting it is easy but forming it into the desired shape is not as easy until you have elaborate jigs.

[@EdgarInventor]

Liked, subscribed, already, shared!

[@mrknowall9104]

johnnyq90, please, tell me what music plays in that video. Thank you.

[@luhomo]

Cool! but sorry for my ignorance, but what´s the machine you use to remove the grasp?

[@passion_proh-jects]

What a pleasure it was to watch this vid! Now if you could only invent a transporter so that you can teleport yourself to my side of the world, materialise next to me and fix my glasses frames... that would be just great! Not sure that/if it means anything to anybody, but you've made yourself a very happy, new subscriber today! We have a winner! (prolly would be more rewarding if it had been a cash prize instead tho'... :)...) Tx again for imparting the knowledge, not to mention some beautiful handywork! Shot bud! ps What did you end up making with that 'stock' piece? And how do you mould your 'stock' piece into other things?

[@crazyDIYguy]

"honey what the hell are you cooking it smells like shit!" Me- 😳😬😳

[@prabhukiran934]

could we put these in shreader

[@MrBiky]

Liked this video. I'm wondering what can we do with the plastic. Gears?

[@TheSmallWorkshop]

Pulleys, rollers, knobs, handles, whatever. That for round stock on the lathe, but you can also make flat blocks and sheets and you can use those for a lot of stuff.

[@OktoPutsch]

+MrBiky anything that doesn't require a high strength, or submited to big efforts. Consider plastic injection to enhance your parts, for a better ratio material/volume.

[@sajidrafique375]

I have some white Delrin 5/8 in dia rods that are warped. How should I straighten them ?

[@grndragon2443]

Now I need to figure out how to make a mold to make a seat pan for a motorcycle.

[@llspragulus]

I saw a carrefour bag!! You must be in a French area LOL

[@mackk123]

cooling it down as slowly as possible aided in air gap pockets prevention

[@cavemansgamingcave9270]

What type of metal can you use to heat it up in the oven?

[@duroncrush]

I thought you were going to pull a vacuum on it when I first saw the wooden piece with the hole in the center. So there isn't a problem with air pockets in the center? very cool idea

[@johnnyq90]

+tom adams The way I did it was not the best. Since I don't have a powerful vacuum system for this, next time I will poke some holes in the can to help air escape. I hope it will work.

[@TheEvanovitch]

+johnnyq90 let it melt a bit longer, the runnier it gets, the easier it is for the air to rise to the surface during melting

[@duroncrush]

+johnnyq90 I think holes would just make a mess. How about after the 2nd addition of plastic placing a heavy weight weight on it while in the oven. I think you could do it with a hand vacuum pump at this scale and it would work better than anything else. I've used a mason jar as vacuum reserve before. It will give you a good quick pull, and it's easy to make. Two holes in the jar lid, and a couple of hose barbs.

[@funny1048youtube]

+tom adams what i would do is preheat the mold in the oven this would make sure the hdpe doesnt rapidly harden and become unworkable while trying to clamp it down and using a vacuum wouldnt work because hdpe is very thick when melted which a vacuum would be able to fix. the best thing to do is clamp it down really tight and keep tightening the clamp every 5 - 10 minutes since hdpe shrinks when it cools down

[@duroncrush]

Dean Walcott A long time ago I had a toy they would never allow now. It made injection molded toy soldiers. It was like a big syringe mounted on a stand. It came with several metal molds that slide in the base. To make a soldier, slide a mold in under the heated cylinder. Plug it in and wait for it to get dangerously hot. Then measure out a scoop of plastic granules and pour them in the cylinder put the plunger in and wait for the plastic to melt. Then quickly press the plunger down until plastic came out of the molds air vent. There were no indicators, temperature gauges, or lights. We learned by experience when it was ready. It was the most dangerous toy I and my brother ever got, even more than the pellet rifle.

[@stevefriedlander7053]

Do you use standard metal cutting blade?

[@mrknowall9104]

Would you be so kind as to TELL me what SONG is playing in this video? Really liked it as well as your job. Thank you so much!

[@bajasandboard7458]

Mr KnowAll whats the song?

[@hellishgrin4604]

I wonder what would happen if you thoroughly mixed titanium or maybe just aluminum powder to it...

[@ducknorris9715]

If you add aluminium powder it will turn out ugly because even if the hdpe is molten it still isn't dense enough for it to mix in

[@funny1048youtube]

+Will6804 you could knead the powder in like dough with oven proof gloves when the hdpe is melted which would give a nice metallic effect but in order to see the effect you would need to use milk jugs which are translucent just realize that powdered metals are flammable

[@bulacomunistu8727]

Titanium powder is highly flammable....

[@thomasvincenti9665]

Awesome

[@vaccavo]

The evil man destroyed a DREMEL case!

[@MrManta2012]

what type of lathe are you using? Great video

[@MrPudd420]

What if you want to inject it into a mold instead of what you did? Can you homogenize it maybe if you shred it finer as in through a paper shredder?

[@3adelz90]

Great. Thanks.

[@mikelemon5109]

Great video! What lathe is it and how much did it cost you?

[@johnnyq90]

+Derpy Herpy Thank you. It's an Optimum TU2004V, costed €1650.

[@kostas24760]

Μπράβο πολύ καλό....

[@truthofdsp]

Try heating the plastic and pouring into the mold for better results.

[@youtubeuniversityofhawksha4621]

hdpe that is brittle from UV exposure is reusable this way?

[@aferetis2379]

μπράβο ρε man!

[@johnnyq90]

+Afer Etis Ευχαριστώ να 'σαι καλά!

[@delvingoh8309]

is it possible to weld this hdpe with a soldering iron for repair jobs or as a filler on other plastic parts?

[@johnnyq90]

+Delvin Goh Haven't tried it, but I believe it can be done if heated correctly with the soldering iron.

[@delvingoh8309]

anyone tried welding this before? wld b really neat if this can be used as an economical alternAtive for bumper repairs

[@nikosadie]

wish I had a lathe!!!!!

[@jairomendo]

what the number inside the narrowed triangle means ?

[@vampcaff]

what's the msds on that plastic for melting it at 350 in your house? doesn't seem very safe.

[@cutsrosescents4950]

You could build a 3D printer that used that plastic and print a box for your dremmel tool.

[@irem3198]

Is this a cooking oven?

[@IohsmdIglomdrnIjsmsIhafmIafmli]

I think I might invest in plastic

[@PuppetWood]

will there be fumes?

[@h7oslo]

Tnx for the vid! I would like to recycle hdpe 5 to a sheet-good product for use in a project. Would it be reclaimed in the same way ? Where might I find the Big source of dta on recycling this sort of stuff ? Thank you very much ! rc

[@johnnyq90]

+Rusty Case Haven't tried it, so I don't have any experience on how you can do it. Do a search on Google, maybe you'll find something.

[@cassiemacleod3634]

I cut my HDPE on the bandsaw it is very much faster than with grinder.

[@Imakevids67]

I have a lot of rustoleum paint can lids, they are plastic but does not have markings on it to tell me what kind of plastic they are, could you tell me how to find out?

[@genndm3946]

Useful

[@Reversal89]

Cost of tin can, chainsaw, lathe and electricity for the oven its lower than going to the corner store and buy something similar to the final piece?

[@hectorgalan408]

creo k mejor lo compro ya hecho saludos buen video

[@RowenSpeed]

Would you mind telling me what kind of lathe that was, and where I might get one. I like that very much, but not sure what kind to be searching for in that particular instance.

[@johnnyq90]

+Patrick Bier It's the Optimum tu2004v lathe. I bought it from a local shop here in Greece with machining equipment.

[@carsonquist2574]

Would a regular food can work?

[@johnnyq90]

+Hatted Toast Of course

[@diymetric9792]

can i use a can for the reciver of HDPE