This is 100% ocean bound plastic, although to be correct a reasonable percentage did make it to the ocean, and then back onto the beach. It’s a roughly 50/50 mix of HDPE and PET
The curved seat was an absolute pain to do. I had overestimated how tight a radius curve could be made with a board so wide. It took a solid day just to force the seat into that curve. Really comfy to sit on though.
The material is made here in Timor-Leste by a company called Caltech. They’re still in early stages of figuring out their full set of processes for its production, although they are in production.
This was a one-off, so the ‘jig’ was the base support /back leg. Apart from that a heat gun was used to try and bend the board. But really, I should have limited it to a radius of about 500mm, which can be done with a few clamps
It cuts well, but there are significant differences.
Chip clearance is a factor. I found that whatever bit I use will throw out a lot of the chips, but the remainder end up packed in behind the bit and ever so slightly welded together, so if you’re doing multiple passes you can have secondary clearance problems.
Also HDPE is naturally (yeah I know) very slippery, so the bit really has to cut through it, you cannot use a slightly worn out bit and just bash through it.
I’m still figuring out feeds and speeds.
The colours look awesome, but they actually represent grain boundaries in the plastic, where one grain of plastic may delaminate from another. If your bit is a bit dull this is a likely place for plastic’s version of tear out.
