In the Maker Shed: ShapeLock

Craft & Design
In the Maker Shed: ShapeLock

ShapeLock
ShapeLock is a super tough, space age plastic that can be hand molded by simply heating it in hot water. It’s completely non-toxic and can be reused indefinitely. When cool, this lightweight material can be drilled, machined, and even painted with acrylic paints. Shapelock is available in both 250 gram and 500 gram bags in the Maker Shed.

22 thoughts on “In the Maker Shed: ShapeLock

    1. Anonymous says:

      yep, aka Polycaprolactone …it’s a quite interesting material.

    2. A Burns says:

      Thanks, I was about to ask if this is the same thing.

  1. David Seitz says:

    Is possible to permanently fix it so it your shape won’t melt around 150° ?

  2. Andrew Micallef says:

    Probably irrelevant but can it be dyed like nylon? As an alternative to painting it.

  3. Nick Taylor says:

    I use it to fix broken laptop cables… make the joints stronger – but unless there’s a tutorial somewhere describing how to use this stuff… it is incredibly hard to use. It doesn’t work like plasticine for example… if you try to wrap a blob around the end of a pencil (for example) instead of squishing tighter, the hole around the pencil gets looser and looser… but then shrinks when it gets cold.

    1. David Seitz says:

      Thank you for the information!

    2. Brian says:

      Another pointer – it’ll only stick to itself properly when it’s heated well into being clear. As it cools off it’ll start to turn white again, the cold joint you get at that point will be weak.

      Hot shapelock will stick to some plastics like crazy, so you can’t just mold it against anything willy-nilly. Test, or work with a barrier if you want to keep your model shape safe.

      One of my happier projects was to make replacement toppers for glue and RTV tubes. The regular toppers tend to split around me, but a big lump of plastic molded against a new tube can seal just as well. Don’t go all the way down to the tube body, so you have room to really screw that sucker down.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Could this be used with a reprap machine or other 3d printer?

  5. Anonymous says:

    While this stuff is great fun, it can’t be used “indefinitely”. As a matter of fact, over time, it becomes more and more brittle. I used the “Friendly Plastic” brand of this stuff in the late 80’s-early 90’s, and all of the parts I made have since broken to rubble. And the unused Friendly Plastic pellets no longer soften to a useable state, it just turns into weird flakes. (If anyone wants proof, I’ll send you some).

    So, yes, it’s really cool to quickly prototype with, and mess around with, but don’t make anything you intend to be permanent or under stress for long.

    1. madDCscientist says:

      Oh, thanks for the tip! I’ve been having fun with this stuff for about 5 years, and haven’t ran into the issue, but it’s nice to know that it can “expire” at some point and stop working.

Comments are closed.

Discuss this article with the rest of the community on our Discord server!
Tagged

The Maker Shed is brought to you by Maker Media, the makers of MAKE Magazine, the Maker Faire, and much more.

Launched originally as a source for back issues of MAKE Magazine, the Maker Shed expanded rapidly to meet the demand for 'projects in a box,' otherwise known as kits. Now we have a little bit of everything for makers, crafters, and budding scientists, from Arduinos to sock monkeys to chemistry sets .

View more articles by Maker Shed

ADVERTISEMENT

Maker Faire Bay Area 2023 - Mare Island, CA

Escape to an island of imagination + innovation as Maker Faire Bay Area returns for its 15th iteration!

Buy Tickets today! SAVE 15% and lock-in your preferred date(s).

FEEDBACK