Chemistry

Alumilite

http://www.alumilite.com/store/p/933-Alumilite-Clear.aspx
http://www.amazon.com/Alumilite-Super-Plastic-Casting-Resin/dp/B004BN81SU

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-plastic-parts-from-scratch/
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-%22make%22-plastic/

http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Plastic/

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Plastic

Sugru

Ref:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Make-Your-Own-Sugru-Substitute/

Mix/cast/sculpt By Volume
      silicone caulk to corn starch volume mix
    5-to-1    thru      1-to-2 (start with 1-to-1 ...1 tablespoon of each)
     the more corn starch you add the faster it will set up.
    mix in small disposable cups using a Popsicle stick that is wrapped with Gorilla Tape to create a spatula.
    Once it cures the Oogoo peels easily off the tape wrapped stick and the mixing/spreading stick can be reused.

    Fast Mix (1 corn starch to 1 silicone caulk ...putty in <2 minutes)
     clay in <4 minutes still moldable but hard to smooth
      <10 minutes of working time with this mix.

    Slower Mix
    A mix of 1-to-4 will give you up to thirty minutes working time.
    A mix of 1-to-5 will give you an hour or more working time.
    Depending on how fast it is mixed, the thickness of the structure, the temperature and the humidity,
    the slower mixes will turn solid and rubbery in from 5 minutes to an hour.

The dry starch and sticky silicone do not want to easily mix.
  but keep quickly stirring/mashing the mix, until merger into a thick paste.
    The resulting Oogoo is very sticky and will stick to anything that you spread it on.
    Most things it will stay well glued to.
      On a few things like some plastics and metals, it will easily peel off after it has cured.

The resulting Oogoo is a nice reflective white
 but I recommend coloring it to see if you have an even mix.

WARNING: While mixing, Oogoo will give off the strong smell of Acetic acid which can be irritating to the eyes and respiratory system.
I strongly recommend that the mixing and forming be done outside or in a VERY WELL VENTILATED room.
You should also wear nitrile gloves while mixing as the uncured silicone contains other solvents that might be absorbed by the skin.

One recurrent problem with silicone caulk is that once opened, it will tend to set up in the tube tip.
To get a good seal I have had good luck using Gorilla tape wrapped over the tip.
If you leave a quarter inch gap between the wrapped tape and the tip
 you can squeeze out just enough silicone to seal the tip well from air and moisture.

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Oogoo can be hand molded onto or around just about anything. but move fast
 as the fast mix will fairly quickly go
    from sticky
    to putty
    to a clay like material
 in just a few minutes.

Mix up some Oogoo as quickly as you can and then use the mixing stick as a spatula
 to spread the Oogoo on whatever you want it to stick to.
  While it is sticky mound it up to a shape that is roughly what you want the final shape to be.
   Let it set up until it is barely sticky and then start patting it into the form you want.
    At some point it will be like clay and can be fine tuned to its final shape.


If while mounding your shape, you run out of Oogoo, don't worry as you can just mix up another batch
 and add to it while it is curing. A fresh mix will stick really well to Oogoo
  even Oogoo that has cured for several days.
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create vibrant colors in Oogoo w/very small amounts of linseed based oil paints.
Apparently the pigments in oil paints are very fine and dense
 so a little goes a long way.

5 drops of oil paint per teaspoon of silicone will result in solid colors.

I mix the color well with the silicone before adding the corn starch.

Adding color does not appear to significantly effect
 the hardness or flexibility of the final result.

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u can cut Oogoo with a knife, its rubbery flexibility makes it difficult to get precise cuts.
  It is more easily carved or sanded with power tools.

I used a stationary disk sander with 150 grit sandpaper to sand smooth the hand formed stopper in pic8.
It sands cleanly but It is slow to sand, so before it cures,
  hand form the structure as close as possible to the final desired size.

I made the mistake of not putting a mold release such as Vaseline on the glass vial
  and it was very difficult to remove the stopper after it cured.

Oogoo can also be carved with a Dremel tool and a high speed carbide wheel.

Wait at least twenty four hours before carving smaller objects and up to several days for thicker ones.
Do not carve until the strong smell of acetic acid is mostly gone when you put it up to your nose.

Otherwise you will be shooting very small particles containing irritating acid into the air. Not Healthy.
 Do this outside with a filter mask or with a good vacuum system.

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Casting/molding In Plastic Containers
 Just after mixing, Oogoo is very adhesive and will stick to almost anything.
  It will not remain stuck to some plastics such as PVC, polyethylene and polycarbonate.
   So any kind of container made out of these plastics can be used as a form or mold.
    The blister packs used to package many products contains clean smooth forms that can be used as casting forms.

Clear polycarbonate cups and dishes can also be used.

Simply smooth on the mix to fill up the form in layers while working out the bubbles. It does not have to be done in one mix.
A fresh mix will stick very well to older oogoo that is ALREADY set up/hardened/cured, ...So layers can be added at any time.

Casting in Gorilla Tape
 Oogoo does not stick to Gorilla Tape so the inside or outside of
  any container or surface covered with the tape can be used as a form.
   After it cures the Oogoo will peal easily off.

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Oogoo has many possibilities for lighting fixtures or light ribbons.
 Pic12 shows a 4" translucent cube that was made by coating an acrylic cube
  that I had with a thin layer (about 3/16") of translucent Oogoo.
   It was then lit up using a 1 watt white LED.

The Oogoo can be made translucent by using a
    1 corn starch to 4 clear silicone caulk mix

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Making Conductive Glue Using Gorilla Wood Glue

 To make a flexible pumpkin head Led circuit, a way to glue the components to the
    cloth circuit board   
           is needed.

Gorilla Wood Glue can be easily made conductive and still have good adhesive qualities.

Mix by volume:
    3 powdered graphite to 2 Gorilla white glue.
    The powder is reluctant to mix but keep at it till you have a sticky paste.
    You can then blob it onto the wires you are gluing to the conductive fabric traces.
    While you can add a few drops of water to make it easier to work,
    this will increase somewhat the final resistance of the conductive joint. Let it dry overnight.

This conductive glue has a very low resistance and is good for connecting two conductors that are close to each other.
You can obtain powdered graphite from: http://www.elementalscientific.net/

Pic17 shows how the glue joints looked after the led wires were glued to the conductive circuit board.
Because the PLCC2 surface mount LEDs do not have enough surface area to directly glue them with conductive glue,
I first soldered thin tinned lead wires to them. This gave more surface area to the glued conductive joint.
I zigzagged the leads thinking that might increase the flexibility of the final result.


Gorilla Tape Helping Hands Jig

See pic18b for a helping hands jig I used to hold the surface mount LEDs and thin wire while soldering.
 It is made of Gorilla Tape taped sticky side up on a piece of cardboard.
 I had previously used blue tac for this, but this works just as well.

Laminating the Pumpkin Head
Pic18 shows the pumpkin head after laminating with orange Oogoo. The Oogoo was cut off to expose the LEDs.
 Translucent and colored Silicone paint was then used to finish the pumpkin head.

I have been experimenting with conductive glues for a few years.
 For other ways to make and use conductive glues see here:
  http://www.instructables.com/id/Make-Conductive-Glue-and-Glue-a-Circuit/


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