educatedguess417
Plastic
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2016
Howdy:
I'm not a regular visitor here, but could use your insights. There's so much knowledge in these pages.
I own a guitar pick company that makes really expensive picks. Our cheapest model is $30. We are three years in business and doing extremely well.
Here's our store: charmedlife | store
Our main line of products is made from a strange bioplastic called CASEIN plastic. If you're familiar with casein nutritional supplement, it's made from the same stuff -- milk, plus the addition of an acid. We don't make the stuff ourselves but buy it overseas (it never caught on in the States). This particular material gives the tone and feel of genuine tortoise shell picks, which were outlawed in the seventies. It also is considered one of the most beautiful plastics in the history of mankind, and can be colored almost any color. To this day it is known as the "Queen of Plastics." Here's a snap of our most popular model. Pretty cool, huh?
Okay, now the problem. This stuff is far and away the most difficult material in the world from which to make guitar picks. It's just brutal. It cannot be injection-molded, so you must but sheets about 4.0 mm thick (.160") and machine it from finished stock. And that's just the beginning of the fun.
It does not like heat, and it HATES water. 15 minutes of exposure to water warps it and makes it unusable.
Once the material is cut into a pick shape and ground down to, let say, .040" (1.0 mm), the edges must be fully radiused and the pick buffed and polished. It shows the tiniest micro-scratches and requires a lot of man hours. I'm looking for a way to automate.
Sorry to drag this out. Has anyone ever tried vibratory tumbling with oil instead of water? This stuff is fine which all oils I've tried on it, but will the oil just negate any cutting and deburring because it increases lubrication?
I'll stop here. Appreciate your insights. I'll figure it out, but just trying to reduce my trial-and-error, which has already cost me thousands of dollars and thousands of hours of experimentation.
All the Best,
Scott
I'm not a regular visitor here, but could use your insights. There's so much knowledge in these pages.
I own a guitar pick company that makes really expensive picks. Our cheapest model is $30. We are three years in business and doing extremely well.
Here's our store: charmedlife | store
Our main line of products is made from a strange bioplastic called CASEIN plastic. If you're familiar with casein nutritional supplement, it's made from the same stuff -- milk, plus the addition of an acid. We don't make the stuff ourselves but buy it overseas (it never caught on in the States). This particular material gives the tone and feel of genuine tortoise shell picks, which were outlawed in the seventies. It also is considered one of the most beautiful plastics in the history of mankind, and can be colored almost any color. To this day it is known as the "Queen of Plastics." Here's a snap of our most popular model. Pretty cool, huh?
Okay, now the problem. This stuff is far and away the most difficult material in the world from which to make guitar picks. It's just brutal. It cannot be injection-molded, so you must but sheets about 4.0 mm thick (.160") and machine it from finished stock. And that's just the beginning of the fun.
It does not like heat, and it HATES water. 15 minutes of exposure to water warps it and makes it unusable.
Once the material is cut into a pick shape and ground down to, let say, .040" (1.0 mm), the edges must be fully radiused and the pick buffed and polished. It shows the tiniest micro-scratches and requires a lot of man hours. I'm looking for a way to automate.
Sorry to drag this out. Has anyone ever tried vibratory tumbling with oil instead of water? This stuff is fine which all oils I've tried on it, but will the oil just negate any cutting and deburring because it increases lubrication?
I'll stop here. Appreciate your insights. I'll figure it out, but just trying to reduce my trial-and-error, which has already cost me thousands of dollars and thousands of hours of experimentation.
All the Best,
Scott