www.ultimatehandyman.co.uk

jebus197 wrote:I'm looking for a simple solution to a simple problem.

....which is cardboard and scissors.

Are you trying to put over a practical, useful concept or demonstrate your plastic cutting skills? The person receiving the demonstration is looking for something other than shiney plastic - or is this what university education comes down to these days? Show......

We're on page 3 of a thread that is basically telling you that you're concentrating too much on the 'flouncy' bits and not enough on the content. IF the concept is accepted and proves workable, THEN go into 'production'.

Good luck with your demonstration.

I already did the cardboard, but as I said I need to prove it's actually useful in a room full of boisterous young kids. The cardboard lasted approximately 5 minutes. It didn't make for a very convincing demonstration. The plastic is and was intended as version two of a rough prototype, so by no means a 'production unit'.

I appreciate that you don't feel able to help. Everyone has different demands on their time. But thanks for the suggestions in any case.

merlin50 wrote:I could go into my workshop and select a piece of plastic from my stock pile of the thickness you are suggesting and cut it with the tile saw, but what is the point as I have been doing this before you were born. If you try and cut it with a saw the blade it will snag on thin material and it will split, if you use a diamond blade it will not split, and with a bit of sanding after cutting you get a perfect edge.

Well at least that might be a little more convincing. Unfortunately I don't have access to any kind of diamond blade cutting device. Is there at least a service somewhere that might offer this, so that maybe if and when resources allow I could ask them to do this for me?

Jebus, you can buy one, delivered next day for £36 from here http://www.toolstation.com/shop/QEP+Dia ... ter/p10565

I'm not convinced that it'll do what you want with those cd cases though, they are very brittle...

You'll be even more broke and poor when the plastic bits end up shattering or cutting one of the the kids.

Assume you CAN get someone to cut the CD case or a plastic of a similar ilk. Then assume the kids are still going to be boisterous with them, like the cardboard. Now snap on of your cd cases and see how sharp it is....THIS is what you are to defend against when someone comes running up to you with blood running down their arms or face or a shard of plastic in an eyeball.

Can't you just do your shapes in cardboard and laminate them? All sorts of places laminate stuff. It's quick, easy and cheap to replace.

I think you are asking for trouble unless you buy a safe, SUITIBLE product for what you intend.

BG where there's blame, there's a claim

wine~o wrote:Jebus, you can buy one, delivered next day for £36 from here http://www.toolstation.com/shop/QEP+Dia ... ter/p10565

I'm not convinced that it'll do what you want with those cd cases though, they are very brittle...

Which is kind of why I was looking for someone to test it. I appreciate that maybe nobody wants to do a potentially slightly fiddly job for next to no reward (although I am only looking for maybe 6 or 8 small hexagons and pentagons to be cut), but I would still appreciate if someone could test this on an old CD case they might have lying around, before I throw some of the very little cash I have away on something that may or may not work.

There is widely varying opinion on this. As a science student, my instinct is to test theories out first before stating for certain if they will work or not.

BillyGoat wrote:You'll be even more broke and poor when the plastic bits end up shattering or cutting one of the the kids.

Assume you CAN get someone to cut the CD case or a plastic of a similar ilk. Then assume the kids are still going to be boisterous with them, like the cardboard. Now snap on of your cd cases and see how sharp it is....THIS is what you are to defend against when someone comes running up to you with blood running down their arms or face or a shard of plastic in an eyeball.

Can't you just do your shapes in cardboard and laminate them? All sorts of places laminate stuff. It's quick, easy and cheap to replace.

I think you are asking for trouble unless you buy a safe, SUITIBLE product for what you intend.

BG where there's blame, there's a claim

I think there are plenty of child safe plastic products around, lol. This is after all just a prototype. If it ever went further than this (which is highly unlikely), it would all be entirely child-safe, shatter-proof, non toxic and the pieces would all in general be a bit too big to pose any significant choking hazard. But the idea of a blood spattered room full of kids, horribly injured by using a simple chemistry modelling kit is pretty amusing all the same! :P Hopefully I can do something to avoid this, lol!

Laminating might be an option, but it is still more of a stepping stone than an actual solution I think. Durability and longevity are key in this matter I feel. The pieces themselves will in the end have some relevant markings on them, a bit like the markings on a ruler. Overall in fact the look and feel of the pieces might resemble (somewhat) the feel of a precision plastic tool such as a ruler.

However I do acknowledge that rather than being the simple solution I assumed it to be, regardless of how 'neat' it may be, getting this done in any kind of plastics appears to be vastly more complex than I could possibly have imagined.

jebus197 wrote:I think there are plenty of child safe plastic products around, lol. This is after all just a prototype.

There are plenty of products made of plastic, but they aren't made out of CD jewel cases.

You were also the one who said they would be going to kids - doesn't matter if they are prototypes or not, you are responsible for the outcome and safety.

Snap one, seriously - see how sharp it is. Doesn't take much.....

BillyGoat wrote:

jebus197 wrote:I think there are plenty of child safe plastic products around, lol. This is after all just a prototype.

There are plenty of products made of plastic, but they aren't made out of CD jewel cases.

You were also the one who said they would be going to kids - doesn't matter if they are prototypes or not, you are responsible for the outcome and safety.

Snap one, seriously - see how sharp it is. Doesn't take much.....

I'll take that on board. Thanks for your concern.

Still, all the same if anyone could attempt to cut as much as a single straight line in a CD jewel case using the above method, this might at least count as some small confirmation that it might be worth having a stab at it - and laying out the expense to get a tile cutter. (Which seems quite wasteful regardless, since it would be unlikely to be used for any other purpose again after this.)

I have just been to my workshop and cut up a CD case I will add photo. Why do people not believe what I say? I help people on this forum and get very little thanks and almost get banned. I may not be very good with words but there is very little that I can not do.

merlin50 wrote: Why do people not believe what I say?

Perhaps it's your natural charm and wit....

merlin50 wrote:I help people on this forum and almost get banned.

Eh?? No-one has ever been banned from the forum for being helpful Sfaia...

cut with a tile cutter, not a very good photo

if jebus197 can not understand what i am saying this must be a wind up or he is ...... com on mods ban me if you must i have better things to do than help thoes that are beyond helping

I don't want to rub it in, but the first reply to this post (just so happened it was me said)

someone-else wrote:Could you not try using a junior hacksaw? I hate to say it but my cd cases snap very easily. Could you not use plasticine? Roll it out thin, then cut the shapes out.

As said, a CD case is just not suitable.