The Power of Smallᵀᴹ

Do you remember the time when most of the things were made here, they were durable, repairable and they would last for a very long time?
Do you remember the time when shop and other hands-on trades training were part of the school curriculum?
And you also probably remember when all this deteriorated, was bought and moved oversees and centralized by mega corporations... And this is great for few industries, but for a lot of small shop and inventors, makers and hobbyists, there is a real need in local distributed manufacturing. We are looking for your help to spread the word about our new initiative which we call "The Power of Small".




What is The Power of Smallᵀᴹ ?

• Small businesses doing big projects with low amounts of capital;

• Office-desk sized machines making large parts - 100lbs and more;

• On-shore, distributed manufacturing on a national or international scale;

• Converting 100% waste plastics directly into viable finished goods - affordably and locally;

• A sustainable and economical plastic molding and extrusion technology;

This isn't our fantasy. This is our reality.

Plastics have a reputation of being very harmful to the environment. While this may be true of plastics incorrectly disposed of, a lot of plastic can, and should, be recycled. The ability to convert previously used plastics into new products on a local scale isn't commercially viability. Yet.

We are actively working on a video series to explain how our new Omachron Plastics Inc. Molding and Extrusion Technology enables sustainable use of plastics.
You can check out our introductory clip here.

On our YouTube channel, you will also find another video series. Its purpose is to assist people with fabricating and machining plastics.

Our goal is to enable like-minded people to create a community dedicated to manufacturing high-quality plastic products cost-effectively, locally, and sustainably.

We are the most environmentally friendly company in this industry. Bold statement? Sure (literally and figuratively) - but why not subscribe to our channel and decide for yourself.

We encourage you to share your thoughts and recommendations with us. We're all in this together, and this is just the start!

 

I don't think plastics has a place on a machinist forum.

[moderator's note: This vendor has done a lot to support our site and encourage hobby machining. They belong here.]

 

It is a material that is used vastly and machined to a great deal. It can be a challenge to machine plastics. It is just another type of material. Take alook at all the plastic products out there that are machined. It s huge!

 

I have a textile machine shop... I've turned a lot of plastic in my time...

 

Wow please don't tell my grand daughter that plastics don't belong on a machinists forum. I helped her machine a complete working model of one of our inland river locks. Mostly out of acrylic. And it worked.




David

 

I would think since the same machines are used to convert chunks of plastic to usable objects just like chunks of steel are converted to usable objects that plastic certainly belongs in a machinist forum.

 

Ok, you have piqued my interest. But I'm a bit confused after seeing your vid as there was no machining plastic mentioned but only molding.

Your opening statement "remember when?" was something that is very timely and close to all our hearts. One MAJOR component of this statement that's missing is more jobs have been lost from automation initially and is now really ramping up in the offshored jobs too as they are being replaced by automation. There is now 1/8 of the workforce that was being employed just a couple of years ago. Quickly the jobs of even tending machines is even going to dwindle. But these mega factories have a hole and that's specialized small runs. This is where small,smart, light, local and fast is going to find a niche IMHO. I believe the relatively cheap transportation over vast distances is also going to play havoc with bottom lines for even the mega corps. So a bleak as it looks right now there might be a place for the right next thing.

Problem with plastic is there needs a drastic evolution. It's synonymous with cheap throw away so this stands in contrast to your "remember when they were durable, repairable and they would last for a very long time? "

 

Machining is machining, in aluminum, steel, plastics or wood. It is still machining.

I often prototype something in wood or plastic to get the kinks out before doing it in metal for the final. It is a great way to save time and money, and easy to fix problems.

 

I tend to look at plastics more like alloy steels. They can add this and that. There are some tough durable and hard plastics out there. I ve spun some in chucks being too greedy with no mark left at all. Nightmare on tooling. Probably worst job I have ever ran on a screw machine. Could not get any production with tooling deteriating so fast until high dollar carbide tooling was made. We kicked that one out the door and my boss lost huge. All kinds of brilliant stuff out there. Don t underestimate them.

 

I tend to look at plastics more like alloy steels. They can add this and that. There are some tough durable and hard plastics out there. I ve spun some in chucks being too greedy with no mark left at all. Nightmare on tooling. Probably worst job I have ever ran on a screw machine. Could not get any production with tooling deteriating so fast until high dollar carbide tooling was made. We kicked that one out the door and my boss lost huge. All kinds of brilliant stuff out there. Don t underestimate them.

I agree, the right material for the job. I guess I'm most interested in how different plastics can truly recycled. Right now it's a degenerative process that each time it goes through it degrades and after the fourth gen it's done. I saw a while back where a Stanford prof had found the chemical additive or something that would make it recyclable indefinitely. There is a lot of potential there that I'd like to see evolve where we are not just turning the oceans to plastic slurry. And in the process moving ahead instead of a looming brick wall.