Why I Spent $20.54 For A $1 Bill

It’s Never About The Price

Recently I purchased a Rhodesian dollar bill from ebay. There were three bids on the item with two days to go and I NEEDED that dollar bill so I set the max to $20. Low and behold a bidding war escalated and the price jumped up the ladder right to where I was waiting for it. My co-workers couldn’t understand why I spent what I spent.

Beyond the fact that Rhodesia doesn’t exist anymore and that the currency is truly a collectors item, I had a need and it had nothing to do with a bank note. Another co-worker brought in a brown bag of treats filled with Rhodesian militaria. I envisioned a display box showing off these wonderful pieces of history and to bring a little colour and timeliness to the presentation I thought a dated piece of Rhodesian currency would top it off nice – and price really wasn’t a concern here – much like finishing off one’s living room or dining room.

Acrylic Shadow Boxes

HAND THEM THE DREAM

Now, I can’t say that I’m an outstanding salesperson – I’ve never brought in $3Million in new business or carved a new market out of nothing. But, I am an effective salesperson – not because I know the 72 standard responses to objections, but because I’m a great interviewer and listener. My mastery of the art is in asking questions that dig fast and furiously through the superfluous dust of the prospect’s mundane day-to-day towards the pay-dirt. Then, I just sit back and let the well purge itself spilling out the real reason why they want what I have to offer. No one ever wants a hunk of plastic – they want to to spend more time enjoying their deck, even when it rains; they want protection for their cherished possessions in their cottage when they’re not there; they want to display their kid’s first home-run baseball so they can re-live the joyful experience each time they explain it to a passer by.

Acrylic Display Box

• You can make your own displays with the tools laying around your workshop. You will need to buy a jig saw/table saw blade rated for Acrylic and a drill bit for plastic too (so it doesn’t crack the piece when it breaks out the backside)… these, as well as the cements, polishes, and little accessories from acrylic locks to hinges can be acquired in a Warehoused Plastic Sales store.

Notice that none of these reasons for buying plastic has anything to do with the plastic – it’s all about the emotional payoff of satisfying a void that plastic can fill. And that, my friends, is where a lot of people in this business are missing the real opportunity.

We don’t sell plastic.

We fill a void.

The challenge and the fun of this game we call plastics distribution is finding one that has never been found before.

See-Through Plastics

Plastic is plastic, right? No. Nadda.

Just as there’s different kinds of wood (pine, spruce, oak, et al) there are many different types of plastic. Here’s how Wikipedia defines plastic:

The term “plastics” covers a range of synthetic or semi-synthetic polymerization products. They are composed of organic condensation or addition polymers and may (often) contain other substances to improve performance or economics. There are few natural polymers generally considered to be “plastics”. Plastics can be formed into objects or films or fibers. Their name is derived from the fact that many are malleable, having the property of plasticity. …

Some common plastics are acrylic, polycarbonate, Teflon, acetal/delrin, polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, and Nylon. And, each of these have additional members of their respective families based on additives or how the molecular chains are re-arranged.

Assorted Plastic Sheet, Rod, & Tube

Granted, Warehoused Plastic Sales is a distributor of sheet, rod, & tube, and many of the pictures below are injection molded pieces, I offer them as examples of similar see-through items that, unless you phsyically tested them, you might not know exactly what type of plastic they are.

Styrene Measuring Cup

If it’s clear and you drink out of it or pour something into it, and bought it at Walmart then it’s probably styrene – you’ll know because when you drop it, it cracks and breaks apart in long linear shards. Styrene is a very inexpensive, utilitarian plastic ideal for this type of application.

Fancy Acrylic Cups

Acrylic is another see through product. Common brandnames are Acrylite, Lucite, and Plexiglas. It’s about 10 times the strength of glass and will crack and break under impact. Its optical characteristics are better than glass achieving upwards of 93% light transmission. It can be printed on, painted on, and accepts paint and vinyl lettering. It’s naturally UV stabilized and, depending on the manufacturer, it can be guaranteed for upwards of 20 years against discoloration providing its properly cared for (soap and water only). It isn’t very resilient to chemicals and will craze, haze, and crack if cleaned with ammonia based cleaners. It can be glued, its edges flamed to a glassy gloss, and cut with simple hand tools. Clear Acrylic is FDA approved and can be used for food applications.

Polycarbonate Cup

Polycarbonate is the most rugged of the see-throughs. About 30 times tougher than Acrylic is often used for security applications such as protective coverings for doors and windows. It’s resilience is due to a rubberizing agent that allows it absorb and distribute shock. It can be cut and glued but you’ll never get a glass-like edge. If you are thermoforming it then the material must be dried first to reduce the amount of moisture in the sheet. Clear polycarbonate is FDA approved and can be used for food applications such as bulk food bins – that’s where you often see it used because of the constant contact with hands and scoops. Unlike acrylic, polycarbonate will be affected by sunlight so if you have an outside application you need to order UV treated polycarbonate – usually a liquid film applied to the sheet during the manufacturing process. Depending on the manufacturer, treated polycarbonate can be guaranteed for upwards of 10 years against discoloration from the sun.

Clear PVC Component

PVC is a rugged plastic as well but doesn’t have the clarity usually associated with acrylic and polycarbonate. You’ll often see it used in home-workshop vaccuum system components. PVC is a lot more resilient to chemicals than either acrylic or polycarbonate. You’ll see a lot of PVC pipe on shelves but rarely clear sheet, however there is clear vinyl film which was often used as blotter covers.

PETG Table

PETG, known under the brand VIVAK, is often used in thermoforming applications. It comes in sheet form and can be cut, glued, painted, printed on, and takes vinyl lettering. It is a bit tougher than acrylic but doesn’t come in the same brilliant colours or textures. It is primarily a printing and display product. Clear PETG is FDA approved for food applications.

Bullet Resistant Plastic

Bullet Proof Plastic – well, no manufacturer will ever say that exactly due to the potential liability associated with such a statement so, they’ll refer to their product as bullet resistant. We carry a Sheffield Hyguard product that, like the picture above and on the right, is a laminate product comprised of both acrylic and polycarbonate – each layer absorbs kinetic power as the round passes through it – so, in theory, by the time it gets to the final layers, the bullet has spent all of its energy.

Food Grade Plastics

Recently, China executed Zheng Xiaoyu, its former head of food and drugs for his inability to ensure not only the safety of its own citizens but the country’s credibility as an international supplier of such goods (remember the contaminated dog food ruckus a couple of months ago). Food safety is a #1 priority at the federal level of any country and there are laws in place that go beyond just what’s in food, but the materials food comes in contact with from holding the raw materials to displaying them in the local coffee shop. In North America, we refer to plastics approved for such purposes as FDA approved. Granted, this is an Americanized term but it works for Canada and Mexico, too.

As a general rule of thumb – and a whole lotta common sense – you don’t want food coming in contact with something that can contaminate it. Such materials would absorb and hold a contaminate, such as bacteria, or leech/transfer harmful residue such as rust. Wood is a fibrous compound that absorbs water and, if you cut chicken on it, it will absorb the juices which often contain some kind of salmonella bacteria. The only way to truly clean the board would be to steam it or boil it. How many people do you know apply the proper sterilizing techniques in their home? Not many. Plastic is an ideal product for working with foods – but not all of them. Clear acrylic and polycarbonate can be used to house raw materials and finished products but not coloured material – unless the manufacturer is using FDA approved colour dyes. Natural, virgin acetal (Delrin), polyethylenes, polypropylenes, and Teflon are FDA approved.

Acrylic Sneeze Guard

You can request a certificate of compliance from a manufacturer to ensure the material you buy is FDA approved. Teflon (450 degrees F) and high-heat UHMW (225-280 degrees F) are usually used during the baking process, often as a conveyor component, handling food as it comes out of ovens. Acetal and HDPE are often used as flights or arms pushing and directing food as it moves down the conveyor; and also make excellent timing screws too.

Polyethylene Timing Screw // Food Guide

HDPE is the most common material used for cutting board, and there is a grade specific to the task that has a pebbly finish which helps keep the meat on the table if you will. Some manufacturers provide coloured cutting boards: red-meat, yellow-chicken, green-vegetables, blue-fish.

Coloured Cutting Boards

These are particulary useful in restaurants where there are multiple chefs chopping up multiple products with multiple knives slicing and dicing – you don’t want the chicken to come in contact with the fresh vegetables, now, do you?

Cutting board comes in 4×8′ and 4×10′ sheets and can be custom cut to just about any shape or size and can be customized with a logo routered into the top – a great gift idea. This material can’t be glued but it can be mechanically fastened or siliconed down as a table or counter top.

Warehoused Plastic Sales carries complete lines of food grade plastics and can assist you in putting together a customized solution for processing or displaying your food products – we aren’t fabricators per se, but we sure know a lot of them that can help you out.

P95… Crystal Ice… or Satin Ice…

These three types of acrylic sheet share a common texture… kind of a sandblasted finish… however, each has unique characteristics for specific display-style applications.

The above is an example of Acrylite P95. It is a cell cast product which puts it in the premium price category. It is textured on one side but if you bend the product you will lose the textured finish at the bend. It is sexy but if you have an application where the display is constantly touched you may find the texture wearing away since the finish is rolled on at the time of manufacturing. The edges can be polished to a glass-like finish.

The above is an example of Crystal Ice. It is an extruded product. Sexy but only on one side. About 2/3rds the price of P95. The big advantage is that if the material is bent you DO NOT LOSE the texture at the bend – the texturing is part of the “genetic” make up of the material and goes all the way through. The edges can be polished.

The above is an example of Satin Ice. It is an extruded product similar to Crystal Ice – the difference being the texture appears on both sides of the material. One of the neat things about the Satin Ice family of acrylics is that you can get it in tubes too…

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As far as which to use it comes down to the colours and/or thickness you want – each has its own palette and I suggest you visit the manufacturer’s links above to hone in on the specifics. Then, call us here at Warehoused Plastic Sales and we’ll help you get exactly what you need and even cut it to the size or shape you desire.

Sticking Plastic To Stuff

I often get inquiries about attaching plastic to wood, metal, glass, or other stuff – in the biz the stuff is called a substrate.

IPS is a company specializing in sticky stuff for plastic and I suggest you start there to figure out exactly what you need and then give us a call or visit one of our stores to place your order. We stock primarily acrylic, vinyl (PVC), and styrene cements as well as a few other two-parters so you may want to call first to see what’s available.

NOT ALL PLASTICS STICK REAL GOOD. The fact is, some plastics were designed not to. These fall into families such as mechanical and industrial plastics such as acetal, polypropylenes, polyethylenes, and PVC’s. These products are used in applications where you don’t chemicals affecting their containment systems. For example, polypro or HDPE are commonly used to contain nasty chemical baths for electroplating metals. These materials are welded together similar to how metal is welded.

Polypropylene Chemical Baths

On the other end of the spectrum are the acrylics, polycarbonates, PETG, and styrenes which are your primary fabrication materials – why? because you can stick them together or stick other things to them.

PVC, however, is the magic plastic because it is both resilient to a lot of chemicals AND you can cement it together making it very easy to work with to fabricate into fume hoods and ducts…

However, for larger PVC applications, such as creating chemcial baths, it’s also common to weld it…

(notice the curly, thin-gauge rod being used to weld the pieces together)

From The Inbox – “What exactly… are you gize?”

I’ve received some very interesting emails of late, from people desiring to know what the cost of of a plastic parachute would be (we don’t sell parachutes) to wanting 60 pink plastic flamingos installed on the family patriarch’s front lawn for a birthday (we don’t sell plastic flamingos either). Warehoused Plastic Sales is a distributor of plastic sheet, rod, & tube. We don’t make the plastic rather, we buy it from people who manufacturer plastic profiles (called converters) and make it available into the marketplace. Think of coming to one of our service centers like going to the Home Depot – plastic is sold in profiles similar to wood products.

plastic sheet being cut on a table saw

In wood you might think of a 4×8 piece of 3/4″ plywood sheet – same as plastic. Anything over an inch in thickness is often referred to as “plate”. In see-through plastics (acrylics, polycarbonates, & PETG) common thicknesses for fabrication (making things) are 1/16, 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, 3/8, & 1/2″. You can get heavy guages too but they’re usually special order.

plastic tubing

Plastic tubing is used everywhere from gas line and pressure hose to bushings for conveyor systems. Heavy wear applications will call for acetal, nylon, PVC, Teflon, or polyethylenes. For rigid see-through applications such as watching fluids pass you’ll want acrylic, polycarbonate, or vinyl – the latter is the most resilient to caustic chemicals. For flexible tubing there’s HDPE as well as TEFLON or a hybrid called “duality” tubing too. Long tubing over 2″ is often referred to as pipe.

plastic rod

For machining out rollers or gears then you’ll probably want a rod profile – we stock1/16″ up to 14″. Thinner gauge materials are sometimes referred to as “welding rod” because it is used in plastic welding to fuse like-materials together similar to metal welding.

Above are some finished components machined out of PEEK rod, sheet, & tube. Remember that some plastics are very pricey and you don’t want to be machining away your profits so you have to figure out the best profile to minimize your machining time as well as your waste.

Challenges Of Recycling Plastic

I’d recently read an interesting article in The Economist magazine entitled “The Truth About Recycling” (June 11th, 2007) that explained the mechanics of how plastic is recycled and the value of single stream over multi-stream processes allowing San Francisco to achieve a recycling rate of 69%! There’s a lot of solid technology that does what the fathers of modern recycling envisioned so many years ago. And now, with the Durham Region, where I live, in the final phase of approving an energy-from-waste facility we’ll have some real working models for other Canadian regions to base their recycling and diversion programs on.

In her July 6th, 2007 article entitled “Market For Plastics Just Not There“, Erin Hatfield indicates that although there is a reasonably efficient process in place to collect recyclable plastics there doesn’t appear to be enough market demand for the stuff in Ontario to push municipalities towards a more aggressive stand on the issue – remember that someone has to buy what the municipalities collect and reuse it or the whole program is a waste of time and money. I was truly surprised to read this considering I’ve visited a number of operations within the area that turns blue box plastic into plastic lumber (Northern Plastic in Lindsay, ON) and a fiber board used in agriculture and construction (New City Resources, Bowmanville, ON).

Being in the plastics distribution business, we, here at Warehoused Plastic Sales , work with hundreds of businesses that end up with plastic scrap – acrylic, polycarbonate, PETG, HDPE, & a host of mechanical plastics. We are constantly hounded by offshore middle men willing to pay real money for the bits and pieces that come off our saws. China is eating up everything it can get turning our leftovers into all kinds of products. So, why aren’t municipalities working with industry recycling professionals, such as one of Ontario’s larger regrind operations, Post Plastics, to find offshore buyers?

It’s important that plastic distributors, the people who bring plastic sheet, rod, & tube into the marketplace, share our expertise with non-industry agencies looking to do what we’ve been doing for a long time. It’s also important that we also put programs into place to ensure our customers are benefiting from the recycling technology available and diverting as much of their scraps from landfill as possible. Either we do this as an industry or the government begins implementing more industry watch dog programs such as “Stewardship Ontario“; or puts a recycling tax on plastic sheet, rod, & tube as it crosses the border.

** LINKS OF INTEREST **

Avant Garde Recycled Plastic Chairs

Patio Table Crash!

Well, it looked good while it lasted, right?

And it still can.

You wouldn’t believe the number of people we talk to who, after visiting one of our branches, kicks themselves for tossing out their favourite odd-shaped patio table because they didn’t know they could get a replacement for the glass that broke.

Cutting To Shape

Using a CNC router, we can custom design or create just about any shape out of plastic. For example, here’s a hex table we did for someone. Now, the blue isn’t the colour of the material – it’s a protective film that you pull off when you get home.

Choose A Texture Or Colour That Suits Your Style

When you went looking for a patio set you probably ended up selecting something because that’s the only ones the store had. Well, maybe you might consider tossing the glass off in favour of customizing the colour or texture to your particular style or taste rather than that of a big-store buyer who brought 10,000 pieces over in a container from China.

Acrylic (brand names Acrylite/Plexiglas/Lucite) is your optimum choice – it looks and feels like glass but is about 10 times stronger and won’t shatter. It’s very safe around pools and other areas where children play. Acrylic is also UV stabilized meaning it won’t yellow or haze in the sun UNLESS you forget the most basic rule of maintaining acrylic – use soap and water and avoid any chemicals like ammonia. Don’t go using your Windex or you’ll be looking for a new table top. Don’t try and polish it unless you’re using a polish specifically for acrylic.

You can pick just about any flavor of acrylic you’d like – colour, texture, edge finish (of course if its going into a frame there’s no use in paying for a glowing edge or glass-like edge). Here is a DP-30 pattern that is often used giving the table top a bit of friction so things don’t slide around.

Home Made Templates

There are times when the glass breaks and you just can’t give us an original to cut from. So, many people attempt to trace the frame onto kraft paper or cardboard – but forget that the piece has to fit into a frame and forget to take that into account. REMEMBER THE FRAME FACTOR!

Also, please avoid paper templates. We need something a little heavier and there’s usually a $50 fee for any trace on material that’s less than 1/4” because we have to invest time and people into redoing the trace on something more useful.

Standard circles are pretty easy if you just give us the diameter but please make sure it’s not an oval – where there’s more than one radius measurement from the centre.

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Remember that all this applies to interior tables too – dining room tables or coffee tables. So, remember acrylic and Warehoused Plastic Sales when you need to repair your glass table.

Call us with any questions (800) 268–6784