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Plastic That Turns Into Clay and Back Again

Haplafreely goes elastic when exposed to hot water

By Rain Noe - January 5, 2016

in Materials

A company called Polysis specializes in producing polyurethane resins, and with their secret recipe of herbs and spices they've produced a peculiar plastic called "haplafreely." What's unique about the stuff is that simply dropping it into a glass of hot water turns it into a clay-like substance that can be freely molded by hand; once it cools back to room temperature, it hardens again, while maintaining its new shape. Check this out:

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I wonder how well the stuff "molds." For example, let's say you needed to take an impression of something, like a stamped tin ceiling in an old building. It would be neat if you could capture the impression of a tile, then bring the haplafreely back to the 3D scanner in your office and capture the pattern in software, for later reproduction.

I could also see survivalists taking a shine to the stuff, particularly those folks who improvise their own tools; haplafreely could provide an instant ergonomic handle as long as you had access to water and flame.

It's also bound to have some applications for modelmaking and prototyping, and I like that it can be reused again and again.

If you had access to the stuff, what would you use it for?

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Tom Jennings

8 years ago

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In the UK Polymorph has been available for a long time, and it's really useful, strong, and quick to use.

I've used it for repairing a yankee screwdriver, making custom bike brackets, fixing a blender and used it to remove a strange nut from a hot-tub pump.

The main challenge is it doesn't like to bond back to itself once it starts cooling. For example if you need a ring, make a hole then enlarge it, rather than making a sausage, and trying to join the ends.

http://www.polymorphplastic.co.uk/default.html

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george sewell

8 years ago

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ye I remember using polymorph in a build your own electrical toy car/ robot thing type science kit like 15 years ago when I was a kid it is cool stuff though just old news haha

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Anthony Barbato

8 years ago

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sex toys. for sure

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