Luke Duncan

I bought myself some ShapeLock recently.

From their website:

What is ShapeLock?
-ShapeLock is an Ultra-High Molecular Weight Low Temperature Thermoplastic.
-What does “Ultra-High Molecular Weight Low Temperature Thermoplastic” mean in laymans English?
-ShapeLock is a super strong plastic similar to Nylon or Polypropylene in toughness.
-However, unlike the two former plastics it does not need high temperatures or high pressures to form into useful shapes.
-ShapeLock is easily hand-formed into shape at just 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

I could not put this stuff down. My first-run creations below are lame compared to some of the incredible uses that others have found.

Here it is as raw material after being melted down from beads, smoothed out with a rolling pin, and cut into squares and slivers. I found squares and slivers much easier to work with than beads:

Here are some first attempts at making something useful: A stand for an iPod touch.

First attempt, hand-smooshed:

Here it is in action:

Functional but ugly. We tried again, using a similar design. Here’s #2 in action. Still a little bulky and unshapely:

But I like the design, so we simplified it. Here’s #3:

And here’s the simple one in action:

We could probably even simplify it further. Meanwhile, we also created a back scratcher, version 1:

Here’s version 2:

Version 3 will probably use much less material and maybe have a different, less representative shape.

One of the first things I did was melt a big ball of ShapeLock and smoosh it down over an aluminum can to make a can lock. It worked amazingly well:

Here’s what it looks like on the inside:

ShapeLock is a LOT of fun. Put some on your Christmas list.

For more inspiration, check out Creatrope. Or just Google “Shapelock” or “Friendly plastic.” This stuff has been around for years.

More designs to come, perhaps.