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Old 25th Sep 2020, 5:20 pm   #1
Wendymott
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Default Making "Styrene" boxes

Hi Peeps... More "lockdown fever".
For years I have made many boxes and other parts from Styrene sheet. This was very plentiful in 1m x 1m sheets of various thickness's from 1.5mm to 3mm. The sheets were used as packing for spares for fridge parts from Romania.
The adhesive used is MEK.. Methyle Ethyle Keytone or similar, which acts as a reagent.
The stock of material had depleted over the years and now I must order material from the tinterweb.
One problem... not being a bonafide mechanical engineer was making edges butt up correctly before sticking, and this was always a problem.... til now.
I ordered two "Vee" blocks from a local engineering supplier, I had hoped to magnetise them and use on a steel plate. However my knowledge of magnetising such lumps was out of my scope
I had a rather powerful cylindrical magnet, and when this was attached to one of the blocks both were well stuck to the metal base plate.
I Ordered two more from the tinterweb, equally as strong
Now I have two fully adjustable 90 deg in two axis blocks.
The third magnet can hold the bottom piece in place if needed, but it did leave a mark...which in reality is unimportant.
The other tool I find indispensable is the Minikraft rotary saw, which cuts styrene with a nice right angled cut surface, which again makes assembly much easier.
Ok you can make stuff these days with 3D printers, but this method is probably cheaper and less highbrow.
To make the box very strong..I add little fillets along each connecting joint after I am happy with the basic box.
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Last edited by Wendymott; 25th Sep 2020 at 5:23 pm. Reason: Additional info
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Old 25th Sep 2020, 7:06 pm   #2
stevehertz
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Default Re: Making "Styrene" boxes

I'm just trying to think of what practical uses this may be used for in the vintage wireless field?
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Old 25th Sep 2020, 8:22 pm   #3
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Default Re: Making "Styrene" boxes

Battery boxes, block capacitor cases, odd shaped plugs/sockets... my list goes on and on. I use "Plasticard", much the same and I use liquid model adhesive (smells nicer than MEK!)
 
Old 25th Sep 2020, 10:24 pm   #4
Wendymott
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Default Re: Making "Styrene" boxes

Steve.. There are many uses for styrene or Plasticard in renovating, its easily worked, to make all sorts of bits.. not just boxes.
Merlin... Spot on... lots of things to make...Plasticard is rather expensive... there are other suppliers with different thickness's , but its not cheap now. Thankfully I still have a few bits of my thicker material left.
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Old 26th Sep 2020, 1:11 pm   #5
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Default Re: Making "Styrene" boxes

Have you noticed any chemical interaction between the 'Styrene' sheets and PVC insulation on cables, etc?

Expanded polystyrene tends to stick to PVC cable sheaths.
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Old 26th Sep 2020, 2:25 pm   #6
Wendymott
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Default Re: Making "Styrene" boxes

Hi Silicon. No. That problem was with Polystyrene as in poly packing...BIG problem.. but with Styrene sheet....no...... infact it may technically not be Styrene...but some other whizzbang plastic.
If you check say the Vero boxes... other suppliers are available.... there is no problem, and these are a similar material.
I stay away from the Nylons....very difficult to join... unless you have RF welding.
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Old 26th Sep 2020, 7:05 pm   #7
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Default Re: Making "Styrene" boxes

I too use heavy gauge "Plastkard" from my local model shop, both sheet and various sections, for making small boxes. I use "Plastic Weld", which is actually just Methlyene Choride ( Dichoromethane) packed in 57ml [2 fluid ounce] bottles. There used to be a plastic cement called MEK-PAC that was not Methyl Ethyl Ketone but might have been Methylene Chloride, that, in the 1960's, was sold as a MEK substitute after its use was discouraged for use by modellers due to its toxicity. MEK vapour inhaled through a cigarette gets converted to Phosgene, one of the poison gases used in the First World War. So I was surprised to find genuine MEK sold in small bottles as a plastic weld solvent for use by modellers at a model railway exhibition a couple of years ago.
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Old 26th Sep 2020, 7:59 pm   #8
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Default Re: Making "Styrene" boxes

I bought a product called FloPlast SC250 when I was building a structure from salvaged UPVC windows.
The warning label on the bottle says that it contains MEK.
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