About

The Plastics and Composites shop is for Makers who want to use liquid rubbers and resins in their projects. In the P&C shop you can pour a live-edge river table, create multi-part molds to reproduce complex objects, reproduce parts to restore antiques, build an ultra-light carbon fiber drone and many other things. You can also infuse wood with resin to stabilize it for turning and other operations and create composite materials called micarta for knife scales and other decorative uses.

The P&C shop is an area within The Studio. It is a low dust environment (No sanding, no sawing, no milling, machining or turning in The Studio)

Stewards

Lead Steward: @Steve Fritzinger

Rubber and Resin Policies

The Plastics and Composite area in The Studio is for active projects using mold rubbers and resins. These might include resin pour tables and serving boards, castings, epoxy art and jewelry and other projects. While these materials are generally safe and easy to use, there are several important guidelines to using them in a shared space. These guidelines ensure that The Studio is safe, clean and ready to use. They also reduce the workload on the steward and make The Studio more pleasant for everyone.

• Wear appropriate PPE - Gloves are required when mixing and pouring resins. Safety glasses are encouraged.
• Protect the work surface - Put down paper or plastic before mixing or pouring any material on the benches or casting table. The Studio provides heavy paper which protects from incidental spills. If your project is messier or overhangs the bench/table, use a plastic drop cloth.
• Clean up - Properly dispose of all used material when finished. Gloves, stir sticks, measuring cups, etc. can be put in the trash. Excess liquid material should be allowed to cure fully, then discarded. When you are finished with your pour, empty the trash immediately. ******Uncured resin in the trash can be a hazard to other Studio users.
• Spilled material - For mixed two part materials, such as silicone rubbers and urethans, allow to partially cure. Then scrape off surface with a putty knife. For unmixed liquids, wipe up immediately and clean with an appropriate solvent. Acetone can be used for most resins.
• No open liquid containers - Some materials are soaked in a liquid for long periods, e.g. wood stabilization. These materials must be in a sealed container. No open liquid containers are allowed in the Studio.
• No storage of member material or projects - The casting table and curing racks are for active projects only. All projects must be labeled with the owner, start date and finish date. Any materials in The Studio, e.g. epoxies, silicone rubbers, are available for any member to use. If you don't want others to use your material, take it home.
• Follow the refrigerator rule - The project areas will be clean periodically. Anything which is unlabeled or past its finish date may be discarded without warning.

Long Term Resin Pour Policy

The Resin community shares The Studio with many groups. Stained glass, leather work, jewelry and others. When making table tops and other resin pours which take a week or more to cure, we most make sure we are not interfering with classes, meetups and other Studio uses.

Please follow these guidelines when pouring any project which will take more than one day to cure.

1. Check the class schedule. Make sure there are no classes that will conflict with your curing.