Thread: Advice needed.

Crocy,

Make some tubes out of wood, why play with plastic? Bore a hole through some squares and then turn them round on a mandrel like a pen.

Jim

That';s a good question, Croc.

I'd imagine that if it's rated to handle drinking water it'd be food safe, but I don't know how long any plastic would stay scratch free when containing salt. Salt is pretty abrasive stuff, although it may actually not be a problem.

Perhaps a tall, narrow (eg. sauce) glass bottle would be of a size to cut the top & bottom off?

(Finally! A use for that 70's "convert bottles into tumblers" kit! )

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

.............(Finally! A use for that 70's "convert bottles into tumblers" kit! )

Sorry to go off topic but . . .. Thought I was the only one that ever got sucked in by the mail-order ads in the back of the comic books . BIL that only lasted 12 months in the job 'borrowed' it and I never saw it again


Croc - how about some perspex tube?? I got some from a mob in Coffs many years ago from their off-cuts bin - used to be a good range of sizes - don't know if it's BPS free or whatever

Originally Posted by powderpost

Crocy,

Make some tubes out of wood, why play with plastic? Bore a hole through some squares and then turn them round on a mandrel like a pen.

Jim

Jim, the reason I wanted to use plastic was so you could see the light through the holes, otherwise it will just look like patterned wood,
Thanks,
Rgds,
Crocy.

Originally Posted by TTIT

Sorry to go off topic but . . .. Thought I was the only one that ever got sucked in by the mail-order ads in the back of the comic books . BIL that only lasted 12 months in the job 'borrowed' it and I never saw it again


Croc - how about some perspex tube?? I got some from a mob in Coffs many years ago from their off-cuts bin - used to be a good range of sizes - don't know if it's BPS free or whatever

Funny that, I have one of those hidden somewhere, but after several accidents with glass drinking glasses, I got rid of them and use acrylic now.
Like I said, there is a lot of different "plastic" tubes available on evilpay, including Perspex, but I was not sure of their properties, so I asked the question.
Rgds,
Crocy.

Hey Richard, gonna use that Cholla, huh? I haven't done it yet, but acrylic tube seems to be what people use here. A 1" ID tube has about a 1 3/16" OD. You probably have to turn a small portion of the bottom ID to accept the 1 1/16" mechanism. ................. Jerry (in Tucson)USA

Originally Posted by Nubsnstubs

Hey Richard, gonna use that Cholla, huh? I haven't done it yet, but acrylic tube seems to be what people use here. A 1" ID tube has about a 1 3/16" OD. You probably have to turn a small portion of the bottom ID to accept the 1 1/16" mechanism. ................. Jerry (in Tucson)USA

Yes Jerry, it's only been 2 years since you gave it to me, I finally worked out the design I wanted to utilise Crushgrind mechanisms.
Back to the plastic issue. I got the resident scientist to do some serious research for me. What a minefield, it seems that the acrylic tube that Jerry mentioned and what I was going to use is a Number 7 plastic, one of the least food safe products there is.
The next thing we found was most of the resins for casting fit into the same category.
Back to the drawing board for a while, till I find a solution.
Thanks,
Rgds,
Crocy.

Richard, I'm gonna disagree with your scientist on the acrylic. My info comes from the manufacturer and wholesaler of this acrylic tubing. It's the extruded clear 1"ID x 1 1/8"OD. The company rep/salesman didn't have the answer for my question about this being food safe. He said he would call me back, and to my surprise, about 15 minutes later he did. His answer was verbal specs from the FDA stating their product IS food safe. I will track down his source later today with the specs to verify what he said is true.

Ask your scientist what water bottles are made of?? That would be the plastic you would want for food safety.


With salesman's confirmation of acrylic being food safe, I ordered 4 pieces at 6 feet each. If you want, I will cut and send you a piece when when they arrive. No cost to you. ............. Jerry (in Tucson)

Originally Posted by Nubsnstubs

Richard, I'm gonna disagree with your scientist on the acrylic. My info comes from the manufacturer and wholesaler of this acrylic tubing. It's the extruded clear 1"ID x 1 1/8"OD. The company rep/salesman didn't have the answer for my question about this being food safe. He said he would call me back, and to my surprise, about 15 minutes later he did. His answer was verbal specs from the FDA stating their product IS food safe. I will track down his source later today with the specs to verify what he said is true.

Ask your scientist what water bottles are made of?? That would be the plastic you would want for food safety.


With salesman's confirmation of acrylic being food safe, I ordered 4 pieces at 6 feet each. If you want, I will cut and send you a piece when when they arrive. No cost to you. ............. Jerry (in Tucson)

Well, I got access to a Professor of Chemistry, who I had an extensive conversation with, provided me with a lot of links to sites that explains it all.
Your water bottles are a Number 1 plastic, PET actually and that would be great if I could get it but been searching, no luck yet.
Most acrylic tubes are a Number 7 plastic very similar to the casting resins and if you check out the link below to a US manufacturer, not listed as food safe.

Food Grade Plastic: What's Safe & What's Not - OMICO Plastics, Inc.
So for now, I will park the idea and keep searching.
Rgds,
Crocy.

Thanks for the link, Richard. I watched the video, and at 48 seconds into it, food grade plastics are numbered 1 through 7. The PP number located on the bottoms of the product will tell you what the plastic is. Unfortunately, both the video and the text description doesn't get into #7. It stops at #6, so I don't know what the plastic would be in the PP7. Heck, the medications containers are labeled PP5, which is polypropylene. I believe most of the off road 4 wheeler's have fenders made of it, and probably most cars today have at least 25% in them. So, you can now eat off the dash of your car without fear of ingesting poisons........... Jerry (in Tucson)USA

Originally Posted by Nubsnstubs

Thanks for the link, Richard. I watched the video, and at 48 seconds into it, food grade plastics are numbered 1 through 7. The PP number located on the bottoms of the product will tell you what the plastic is. Unfortunately, both the video and the text description doesn't get into #7. It stops at #6, so I don't know what the plastic would be in the PP7. Heck, the medications containers are labeled PP5, which is polypropylene. I believe most of the off road 4 wheeler's have fenders made of it, and probably most cars today have at least 25% in them. So, you can now eat off the dash of your car without fear of ingesting poisons........... Jerry (in Tucson)USA

Not exactly correct Jerry, plastics are numbered 1 to 7, but none of the number 7 group are food safe, that's the problem. I can't find the website now, but it explains that manufacturers throw all the odd stuff into the 7 group. It said none of them are food safe, but with the right ingredients they can be, but finding them is a needle in a haystack.
Rgds,
Crocy.