DIY, Making your own Frag Plugs - Page 5

H20ENG · #**101** 06/13/2006, 05:24 PM

IKEA has some nice little silicone ice cube trays for a buck, in different shapes too

comatose · #**102** 06/16/2006, 01:17 PM

Well, i'm trying a few different plug form methods as i write this, i haven't got around to looking for candy or ice cube forms in the stores yet, i did do a search on the net and didn't see anything of interest other than stuff to make your own forms (some are pricey).

RobinsonFam1 · #**103** 06/16/2006, 04:42 PM

i had a friend send e some frag plugs that he used whith eggcrate. i spent 4 hours re-working my prop setup today and only to find out the flugs are a fraction of an inch too small.
i was able to use them, kind of........but am still looking for something better and easy to make.
i would love to have a machine shop and make actual molds!

H20ENG · #**104** 06/19/2006, 05:03 PM

How about a Uni bit drilled into some acrylic or pvc stock? It would make a nice tapered plug

comatose · #**105** 06/20/2006, 03:35 PM

If you don't like playing with sand or feel it's to messy then try this paper method, First take a white piece of letter size paper.

then cut it in quarters

Start at a corner and start rolling it up into the shape of a cone.

put a small piece of tape when your finished, it should look like this.

Now pinch off the bottom and fold it over, you really don't need tape here.

comatose · #**106** 06/20/2006, 03:35 PM

Now cut off the top to size

and it should look like this after it's cut.

Stand it up in some eggcreate.

now fill it with concrete.

comatose · #**107** 06/20/2006, 03:36 PM

Here is a few pictures of what they should look like after they harden then cured in water.

after you make a few pick out your best one and you can use this as your form to roll up future cone shaped paper.

the only problem with this method over sand is that you need new paper for each four plugs you make.
you can buy some transparency paper(plastic sheet) which you can use over and over again.

comatose · #**108** 06/23/2006, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by RobinsonFam1
well done comatose!
ill let you all know how my PVC molds turn out!

Any luck yet ?

gobygoby · #**109** 06/23/2006, 01:22 PM

WOW, the paper method seems so simple! thats awesome! nice job

comatose · #**110** 06/24/2006, 01:31 PM

Computer printer paper works a bit better, its a tad more thicker. and the water from the cement won't bleed thru as much.

zeuss zoso · #**111** 06/25/2006, 05:40 PM

Is curing in the toilet good or bad? I am going to do that because I don't want to set up another tub. On thursday I am going to make some plugs with the sand in tub method because I am going to have a lot of extra sand from mixing the aragrocrete type mix. I am going to use the cap of a magic marker and superglue it to a top for a cup of lotion for creating the mold. The cap is 6/10ths of an inch in diameter at the bottom and 7/10ths of an inch at the top. The top for the lotion is 1.75 inches in diameter. It will look like this.

http://img54.imageshack.us/my.php?image=photo468pa.jpg

TheBigBadReefer · #**112** 06/25/2006, 06:00 PM

great thread im going to go make some now!

Pyrojon · #**113** 06/25/2006, 07:05 PM

Toilet should be fine.

comatose · #**114** 06/25/2006, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by zeuss zoso
Is curing in the toilet good or bad? I am going to do that because I don't want to set up another tub. On thursday I am going to make some plugs with the sand in tub method because I am going to have a lot of extra sand from mixing the aragrocrete type mix. I am going to use the cap of a magic marker and superglue it to a top for a cup of lotion for creating the mold. The cap is 6/10ths of an inch in diameter at the bottom and 7/10ths of an inch at the top. The top for the lotion is 1.75 inches in diameter. It will look like this.

A toilet is fine, so many people do it that way, and never heard of any problems, i never have because i always made more rock or plugs than i could fit in a toilet.
what you did for a form in the picture is fine, whatever works and is easier is fine.
what i did was make the cap part of my first plug much taller and use that as a form for the rest of the hole making. here is a pic of a normal plug on the left and the form maker on the right.

sassyfish · #**115** 07/02/2006, 08:45 PM

On average, I need to cure for 1 or 2 months? Does it differ denpening on the material used?

comatose · #**116** 07/02/2006, 09:42 PM

Yes, but it depends on what material your thinking of using, cement is the only thing i know that takes that long.
What material you thinking of using?

gobygoby · #**117** 07/03/2006, 07:38 AM

I have a thought...actually a few of them.

Molds: How about nipples from baby bottles. they are made of silicone and are the perfect shape! I thought I would share my super secret idea becuase I wont have time to try it out for a while.

curing: How about this for those of you with RO units. on the bad water drain have it dump into a bucket instead of the drain first. it would then overflow from the bucket into your drain or sump, whatever, and put your plugs in the bucket.....it would get changed out almost daily(depending on your setup) and then you wouldnt have to put it in your toilet or manually cure them. I cant put it in my toilets becuase we use 200 flushes!

let me know if anyone uses these ideas and how they work.

Thanks
Goby

comatose · #**118** 07/03/2006, 09:05 AM

I think the baby nipple idea is a great one, i'll have to try a couple, nice one Goby.
I'm in the middle of building a new calcium reactor so i may not get to it in the next week or so either, but if someone does try it before i do let us know.

I would hang out at the local hospital and score some baby nipples, but with my Occupation they don't allow me near hospitals, lol

i myself only turn on the RO unit once a week, so that wouldn't work with me, but some people do use theirs every day,

H20ENG · #**119** 07/03/2006, 10:19 AM

I wonder about the RO waste being absorbed into the plugs. All that stuff that we want the RO to remove from the water so it doesnt get to our tanks... may end up there soaked into the plugs.

Just a thought. Maybe just paranoid. Probably a good ? for the chemistry forum.

comatose · #**120** 07/03/2006, 10:54 AM

actually i believe the waste water is cleaner than the plain water coming from your spigot, after all it's filtered thru three different micron filters a few times before it comes out the waste tube of your RO unit.

Alot of people drink the waste water cause it's cleaner than your tap.

H20ENG · #**121** 07/03/2006, 10:59 AM

good point.

gobygoby · #**122** 07/03/2006, 12:15 PM

I figures the RO waste water has got to be better then the water in the back of your toilet! You never know if once something like 2000 flushes was used and almost every single toilet I have seen had some part rusting in the tank!

comatose · #**123** 07/03/2006, 01:07 PM

well i look at it this way, if you look at my DIY rock that i made(almost 200 lbs), i cured half of it in my swimming pool, of course i took it out of the pool when i shock the pool then put it back in after the Clorine levels went down, but still there was some clorine and whatever else was in the pool from swimmers when it cured, and that had no ill effects when i added it to the tank, i did let it soak in regular tap water for two week after i took it out of the pool.
i also don't use any kind of algecide in my pool either, all i use in my pool is clorox bleach and thats it.

So i don't think anything in your toilet tank would hurt it, as long as the 2000 flushes wasn't in there recently.

comatose · #**124** 07/04/2006, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by gobygoby
I have a thought...
Molds: How about nipples from baby bottles. they are made of silicone and are the perfect shape! I thought I would share my super secret idea becuase I wont have time to try it out for a while.

let me know if anyone uses these ideas and how they work.

Thanks
Goby

Ok i ask the wife if she had any extra baby nipples i could use to try this, and she had one, so lets see how this works, there should be different shape nipples i'm sure, but here is the one i'm using.

i just filled it up, so when it hardens and take it out i'll let you all know how it comes out, here are the three pics i took.

Pattylucylaura · #**125** 07/04/2006, 06:05 PM

Sweet idea my kids are finally off of formula and I have probably 20 plus in my house let us know how it works the ones we have are a little different in size which might make a larger top.