Material for scales?

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 1:40 pm

I'm looking for an alternative to fabric for cladding my big art car and am considering using scales. I'm looking for something about 1 foot across, strong and stiff enough to stay attached and stay flat, but not something that might cut people so no sheet metal.

I'll need something like 5000 of them, so they need to be cheap! Bonus if it's something that would have otherwise been thrown out.

Any ideas?

Tiahaar · Post by **Tiahaar** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:44 pm

how about those filing cabinet plasic document separators, the durable ones in colors as opposed to the paper manilla standard ones? sorry no known source at the moment (fleabay?)...but there's got to be millions discarded annually.

Post by **AntiM** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:50 pm

cardboard pizza trays?

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 2:55 pm

aol cds?

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 3:02 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:aol cds?

Tempting, but they're a little small so I'd need a lot more attachment points and at least 20,000 of them.

Not sure about paper or cardboard, seems like they could be moopy. I'd also like the stuff to be a little more permanent.

phil · Post by **phil** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 3:25 pm

You don't want CD scales because of the small size, but they are also tough to cut.

Roger says he cut each CD by hand because power tools either broke the CDs or melted them, making it impossible to get each on they way he wanted it, so he cut everyone by hand.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 4:25 pm

Oh if you cut you also run the risk of the shiney part peeling off and becoming moop.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 4:25 pm

thrift store vinyl records?

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 4:43 pm

Yeah you probably want something that will be scrapped because 5000 of just about anything 1'x1' that I can think of will be fairly expensive retail. I thought of PVC foam sheets but the one source I check will cost you about $1500.
http://www.sdplastics.com/pvcx.html.

I'm sure you can find cheaper and similar things but you're still looking in the hundreds.

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 4:57 pm

MikeVDS wrote:I'm sure you can find cheaper and similar things but you're still looking in the hundreds.

Hundreds I can live with if it's something that will work well. I was looking at 500 square yards of fabric before, which doesn't come cheap.

Billboard plastic keeps coming to mind but I'd have to figure out a way to keep it rigid, and a way to paint it or hope that I can get enough sections in colors I like.

phil · Post by **phil** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 5:43 pm

fixing broken link:

(and no moop from within the CD)

Rusted Iron · Post by **Rusted Iron** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 6:11 pm

If you use CDs be prepared for a bit of waste.

I covered one side of a boxy scupture with them. All I had to do was drill them out, in two places, with a little tiny drill bit. I lost about 20-30% to shattering, either from the drilling process or when I bolted them in place.

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 5:03 am

How about aluminum or plastic lawn edging, the kind that comes in a roll? Instead of individual scales, cut a scalloped edge and overlap the strips on your surface. Fewer fastening points, and much less MOOP potential. You could also use aluminum roofing coil, but that doesn't come with the nice rolled edge that the garden stuff has.

jimstamper · Post by **jimstamper** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 6:39 am

[quote="Dork"]I'm looking for an alternative to fabric for cladding my big art car and am considering using scales. I'm looking for something about 1 foot across, strong and stiff enough to stay attached and stay flat, but not something that might cut people so no sheet metal.

I'll need something like 5000 of them, so they need to be cheap! Bonus if it's something that would have otherwise been thrown out.

Any ideas?[/quote]

Bathroom scales can be had at most yard sales. cheap. (sorry) could not resist..

I've noted that plastic binders when a company changes it's logo, it's marketing and many other odd things you go to weird stuff store, or some salvage place and they got hundreds of binders cheap, each binder = 2 scales. Look for the slick ones all plastic without the cardboard filler type? Now what to do with all those weird 3 ring metal parts? could be fun!

Post by **mdmf007** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 9:31 am

Rusted Iron wrote:If you use CDs be prepared for a bit of waste.

I covered one side of a boxy scupture with them. All I had to do was drill them out, in two places, with a little tiny drill bit. I lost about 20-30% to shattering, either from the drilling process or when I bolted them in place.

I just stuffed my soldering iron through a CD with no breakage, and it left a nice clean hole with the material piling up around the hole to form a sort of burned grommet.

later

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 9:30 am

jimstamper wrote:I've noted that plastic binders when a company changes it's logo, it's marketing and many other odd things you go to weird stuff store, or some salvage place and they got hundreds of binders cheap, each binder = 2 scales. Look for the slick ones all plastic without the cardboard filler type? Now what to do with all those weird 3 ring metal parts? could be fun!

If I you had any idea of how many old binders are left at the reuse center where I work. 100s a month. With cardboard, but if anybody found a use for them, I"m thinking that with a little legwork they'd be free...

Atar · Post by **Atar** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 10:21 am

Binders are great for stenciling (making a standard message you can spraypaint all over town). At least, I take it you mean these?

http://www.mnstate.edu/sci/BS%20milk%20binders.JPG

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:02 pm

I have the vinyl covered cardboard ones....

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:29 pm

theCryptofishist wrote:I have the vinyl covered cardboard ones....

I'll pick one up locally and perform an autopsy to see if they would be usable. Still, though, 100's a month would not be enough. I would need a few thousand.

The single piece flexible plastic ones would be PERFECT, but again there's the problem of not being able to source enough of them.

jimstamper · Post by **jimstamper** » Wed Jan 31, 2007 6:06 pm

thousands of binders can be yours. You kinda need to do the leg work. Office supply places, bankruptcy auction houses, thrift stores, printing houses for typos... oopsie.. ! be careful, you'll get overrun with binders in no time. put the word out on craig's list and what happens.. dunno. but be prepared to enjoy the productivity of our corporate market's waste.

Disect and discover, if it works, boy are you in for a zillion helping hands saying I got a couple of hundred here, and here and here and here. I hope it works for ya. now back to those bathroom scales.. Jim

Ps. I once was on the island of Guam, guess what the thrift store had? Binders!

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:54 am

Scroungers Resourse for Reusable ARt Parts doesn't even bother to charge for binders they are so ubiqutious. I'm sure that mine is not the only office innudated.

MikeVDS · Post by **MikeVDS** » Thu Feb 01, 2007 4:56 pm

Hmm. Roof shingles? Might be able to get some free ones if you want to help clean up after a roofing company re-roofs.

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 10:23 am

We got a line on a whole bunch of 5 gallon buckets and there should be more for the taking so we're going to cut them up for the scales. Our test piece had a little more curve than we wanted, but a little force sets them right. Strong, light, available in several colors for free - just what we needed!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 11:03 am

How do you plan to cut 'em up? One of my favorite studio toys is my power shear, which is like blunt, heavy scissors on the front of a powerdrill body. They'll zip through streetsign metal, and make short work of stubborn plastic like cat litter tubs and those five-gallon "pickle buckets" of yours. An adapter for a regular drill costs about thirty bucks. Leaves a clean, smooth edge that needs minimal finishing, which is EXTRA nice.

Dork · Post by **Dork** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 11:21 am

For the test piece I used a jigsaw, which went through the first 90% of the cut real easy, but at the end there was little supporting the material so it would start vibrating instead of cutting. The edges were pretty rough too. We were talking about all sort of whacky solutions to cutting them like hot knives and dremel attachments.

I've seen those shears used on metal but didn't think of trying them on plastic. I'll have to pick one up and give it a shot. Thanks!

robotland · Post by **robotland** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 11:32 am

You also get a fun twisty piece of cutout material when you use 'em! (about 1/4" wide.) Makes good "robot hair".

Material for scales?

Material for scales?

Re: Material for scales?

Re: Material for scales?