Plastic

Introduction

This session will cover the creation of molds and the manufacturing of products out of recycled plastic using Precious Plastic open source machines fabricated by Plastiki Rafiki here at ISK. The workshop will cover the use of the different plastic recycling machines and the creation of different type of molds using CAD / CAM. Depending on your familiarity with the materials and tools participants can choose to follow a step by step tutorial (guided project) to create your own recycled plastic keychain/magnet or you can design a different product that helps to solve the provided challenge using recycled plastic as the material (open ended project).

About Plastiki Rafiki

Guided Project *Skill Building / Formative

Please upload your final .PDF design to the following folder: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kvkggRlG3snFBI06TqFOcBy0Rww78EYJ?usp=sharing

Important!!: please find the mould template right below. You will need this to start working on your product!

102x102mm Mould Template

Creating a simple 2D keychain / bag tag mold for injection molding. We will be using Adobe Illustrator as the design software and the will be cutting the mold out if 6mm acrilic using the glowforge.

Step 0: Download Adobe Illustrator if you do not already have it installed.
https://www.adobe.com/africa/creativecloud.html

DEVELOP
Step 1: Brainstorm and sketch some possible keychain / magnet / bagtag ideas.

CREATE:

Step 2: Follow the "Create Simple Illustrator Keychain Mold" to come up with your own keychain design.

Step 3: Cut out a sample of your mold design out of 3mm cardboard using the Glowforge or ULS Laser Engraver. Check for any

Step 3: Cut out your design out of 6mm acrilic sheet using the Glowforge or ULS Laser Engraver

Step 4: Injection mold your keychain using recycled plastic flakes (Plastiki Rafiki Machines)

Step 5: Drill appropriate hole/pocket to add keycain or magnet

EVALUATE:

Step 6: Evaluate your design - how could the mold and/or product be improved? Evaluate the design process (cycle) - how could the process be improved?

Open Ended Project

Design Problem / Challenge: Many toys are made from unsustainable materials. Toys have a limited lifespan - kids grow up / they break - leaving a lot of plastic waste in the environment (possible deeper focus: beach toys, educational toys - limited access in low income settings)

Design Opportunity: Use recycled plastic to design a toy

INQUIRE
Market research: What products exists within this market segment? What plastic products exists within this market segment?
Problem research: Are there any existing products that use virgin plastic or other unsustainable materials that could be made using recycled plastic? Are there any new products (innovations) you can think of that could be made out of recycled plastic?
User Research *: User interviews, surveys, qualitative observations, etc...
Product Specificiations: Develop 5 (SMART) specifications that your product needs to meet. Things to consider depoending on your product.
Target audience:

Function :
Production constraints:
Materials:
Environmental considerations:
Saftey and Compliance:
Aesthetics:
User Interaction, Dimensions, and Ergonomics:

DEVELOP:
Sketches and detailed drawings: Sketch possible product ideas. Pick 2- 3 ideas that you think have the potential to be succefull products.
CAD Drawings: Using Adobe Illustrator, Fusion360 or any other vector based CAD software design a mold for your product
Modeling: Two dimensional molds can be tested using lasercut cardboard and and 3 dimenional molds using FDM printing.

CREATE:
Create your product mold: Following successful modeling. Using laser-cut acrilic and/or the SLA resin printer - create your mold.
Create your product: Using injection, compression or extrusion molding create your recyled plastic product

EVALUATE:
Evaluate your design: Evaluate your design according to your specifications (from Inquiry Stage) - how could the mold and/or product be improved?
Evaluate your design process: Evaluate the design process (cycle) - how could the process be improved?

Generative AI can help with specifications:

Possible Prompt:

Resources: Working with recycled plastic

Recycled Plastic Resources

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