Florida Plastics Projects

Frequently called mini or "cheese" cutting board, because of the small proportions,
these pass-outs are for a plastics distributor.
They had a lot of offcuts, and wanted something unique to put their business card onto.
Standard 1/2" white poly cutting board is relatively easy to machine to shape.
The slot in the handle is extra wide, and my contribution.
Lately molded shapes have appeared in retail stores, with second material inserts, colors, and low pricing.
But the plastics distributors are now stocking the primary colors, for separation to prevent cross contamination.

This mini stage is orbital sander frosted clear acrylic.
It was made out of 3/4" and 1/2" sheets, so clear was used to save money.

The factory frost pattern P95 is twice as expensive as clear, and these two
partial sheets, made out of P95 would have brought my material costs to $1000.
Using the clear, material costs are only about $200.
The sanded by hand clear is not as good a finish, especially close up.
Sandblasted clear is another option, but from a distance, the sanded clear has the same effect. An event company did the led lighting, I just supplied the box.




A 30" cube with 3/4" top is adequate to support the models.

The buying manager at the local
Fort Lauderdale Calvary Chapel Church
gave me license to speculate on various item designs.
So far the response has been moderate, but these are hand made,
original religious store products. So they were glad to try them out.
That church has helped me find, a sometimes intensely real connection to Jesus Christ.
I feel honored to be a participant in that family.

The historic Lauderdale Beach Hotel has the snazziest 2nd floor apartment I have ever seen.
The finishes, the textures, are beyond miami vice, beyond high tech.
In the middle of the strip, a small portion of the building was conserved, to satisfy the public.
This 2 inch clear acrylic slab handrail was machine sanded to create the frosted look.
This project designer has done this style railing before, with success.

Acrylic sheet is available up to 4" thick, but 2" and above is getting to be a special order, rare commodity.
The distributors don't want to stock a $1000 sheet and have it sit for years, to have the masking gum up.
There is just not much call for the super thick, like in the deco furniture heydays.
But everything old is new again.

This public moving mobile display has 1/4" colored sheets.
Of course the artist is very precise about his work, including color.
These quotes and orders, take a long time, as custom colors are not common.
Mostly because of price and turnaround. But honestly, sometimes the plastics
sale people don't volunteer, that such a exists or is possible.
There are layers or discs, paired with a single, "fin", on each single mobile module.

This stack is a common site around my shop.
1.25" thick BR, or bullet resistant acrylic sheet, the material 95% of the glass companies
use for their protective window jobs.
I see a bulk polishing job, like this about once a month.
You can see some of the slider door hangar hardware.
I work outside, because of the bulk and weight.
They pickup and deliver the same day, so handling is reduced.
So, basically, I am a laborer, something I've learned to be content with.

P95 is a factory frost pattern that had seen some popularity with event and display designers lately.
Simple "rest on" new aluminum traffic trestle setup.
Large sound activated led flood lights like you see under trees in parks are spaced a few feet apart.

The hotel staff demonstrated it by clapping their hands, and the different color came on.
As usual, I had the boring part, just rounding and polishing the edges, but it's always cool to see the final application.
Clear acrylic sheets can be machine sanded, but they effect is not the same, especially close up.

A plastics distributor salesperson has a nickname "lucitelady".
She has retail and whole experience in the plastics industry.
So, Rusty Schulz laughingly gave me this vintage bracelet to photograph and blog.
That was the mentality years ago, that "lucite" was valuable and copied material.
Of course it is a respected brand name, but today the generic term acrylic would work.

Hand carved from the back with looking thru the front,
these pieces are excellent artistry.
Randy Rich acrylic carving site has examples of
reverse carved and colored trophies.









A design sketch is made on the acrylic.
Then high speed grinders with a variety of drills,
bits and burrs, are employed.

They are hand carved directly into the
back of the panel for a three
dimensional image.

Not a production machinery produced product.

This reverse carving technique
is fascinating to watch, viewing the front of the piece
while working from the back. Once the design is
detailed, the process of reverse painting begins.
Working in reverse, the first paint applied is what would normally
be the last layer, and cannot be painted over.
This makes the planning process very critical.

Editors recently reviewed this blog and have given it a 7.2 score out of (10) in the recreation category of Blogged.com.
We evaluated your blog based on the following criteria: Frequency of Updates, Relevance of Content, Site Design, and Writing Style.
After carefully reviewing each of these criteria, your site was given its 7.2 score.

Even though I am only a one man shop,
and it is a two week update, and I always have some fresh designs to post here.
The text is sparse, and the pictures are large, but hey, it is an easy scroll.


http://www.blogged.com/blogs/florida-plastics-office.html

Yes, glass would be better, but for temporary use or to save money, this works fine.
Even 1/8" thick mirror flat enough, that you almost can't notice any waves in the surface.
Still I hesitate advising this, because driving optics safety is a serious issue.
This one was ordered by a plastics distributor salesman, so he was aware of the material properties.

Made of medium grey starboard, they are a departure from
my normal routine.
The cutout in the top is for the card terminal.
There is room for signage on the front sliding door, and also the top.
Assembled using screws, not glue.
Leveling glides are on the bottom.

Mostly self explanatory, this one is in front of my shop.
Large enough for small packages, and easy to visually check if mail has arrived.
A clear "piano" hinge is used for the 1/2" thick plexiglas sheets.
Some people have the opinion that it temps theft, but who is going to steal your bills anyway.
Mounting is a hastle, because you need a standoff from the wall, to allow hinge to pivot.

Prepare to be grossed out.
Yes, this is my vegetable juicer with carrot and beet juice stains.
It happened within a couple days, they must of been hungry.
This is not common, just a reflection of my lack of sanitary habits.
The juicer is used 365 days a year, in a shop environment.
My distributor acted like he has never seen anything like this.
Those sheets are not soft, like foam pvc.
Sometimes I see rodent bite marks on my buffing compound,
because it has a beef tallow fat base.

Was scrounging the alley, and acquired a jewel in the rough.
A padded desk chair, that was stained and worn out.
Remove the upholstered part and replaced with 1" clear acrylic and
this novelty item is produced.

The hard surface takes some getting used to,
but if the back angle is right, it is not too uncomfortable.
One of those large blue gel pads is cool and helps with the hard surface issue.

OK, so I acquired a pile of butcher block materials from a free craigslist listing.
No worries, I am not giving up the plastic ship.
A little adventurous speculation is good.
The pivot pin classic Japanese cocktail base design is normally seen in black lacquer,
but I have done some clear and now this wood version.
Really the wood is not well received, because it is not a neutral color to blend with home decor.
The 2 inch thick clear acrylic, I have been making for a few years, it sells well.

There are pathlighers, with a flashlight, and good sites about decorative inserts, but this insert is novelty.
Glitter, shells, sand, dried flowers, and silk flowers are all common inserts.
Sometimes a customer dreams up inserts that are very custom, like military artifacts for a family member present. There are plenty of choices, for other walking cane functions, but cane collectors, will be amused with this one. Removable led unit, has solid or various flashing sequences modes.

Black and "green edge" acrylic sheet, comprise these 3 units.
Hole size is almost exactly 1.5" for some unspecified collectors coin.
This was ordered by my best customer, and supplier.
1" black acrylic sheet is the thickest that is commonly available,
so these were laminated black.
Since the seams are visible, no attempt was made to camouflage them.

Overrun price deals, sometimes lead to, speculation projects.
I would not choose this color, but someone did, and paid a premium price.
Not only custom color up charge, but the P-95 factory texture, adds to the cost.
It is similar to sandblasting or frosting.

To my surprise, the mid century modern furniture stores wanted more.
They are "standard" heights of 36" and 42".
How can you tell someone a pricepoint 1, and then say the next one will be
at a price point 10 times greater? Every two weeks I find a fresh original blog post,
even though I am in sort of a personal funk about the labor.
The work is there, and good for me.



These (2) 12" x 12" amber color acrylic pedastals are bizarre,
but hey that is what people want.

Dangling, sheer cantilever, lamp lens, or half moon, take your pick.
Custom designed and constructed by the staff at the
Fort Lauderdale Museum of Science and Discovery.
I just did the cutting and edge finishing. (polishing)
Most of it was 3/4" clear acrylic material.

The specimen quality of these earth crystals are impressive.
It is interesting to note, the large variety of shapes and colors,
of crystals, within the same name lable group. like calcium carbonate.
Maybe more specific mineral name classifications are not available.