If I can direct your attention to [www.flickr.com] for a moment, I am hoping someone here can figure out which company makes this material, and whether the material itself is protected by patents or other burdens. In short, the stuff is a salt-water hardening polymer that glows in the dark. While the glowing function isn't that interesting, the viscosity change is. If the material is easy to produce or procure, it might be interesting for someone who wanted to make a more toy-like fabricator. (I consider it to be in our interests for a toy company to make a fabricator of some type, since toy-market economies of scale mean that a cheap hackable platform wil become available for anyone wanting to make a RepStrap.) EDIT: The stuff seems to be a variation of Be Amazing's "Insta-Worms" (http://www.beamazing.com/ProductDetails.asp?prodid=16). I'm guessing that this stuff is not patent-protected. EDIT 2: And we have a winner! The "Worm Goo" is nothing other than the darling of the Molecular Gastronomy movement, Sodium Alginate! [www.stevespanglerscience.com] has a rough explanation of what's going on. https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,21572#msg-21572 Thu, 10 Sep 2026 15:11:53 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,25007#msg-25007 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,25007#msg-25007 Any acid will do - lemon juice, ascorbic acid(vitamin C), mineral acids, whatever.
Sodium silicate is very common and cheap, sold in paint shops as "liquid glass" or "water glass", sometimes as glue.
It will not glow but it hardens well and the properties are easy to adjust by adding water.]]> Neeme Vaino Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 13 Jul 2009 02:14:13 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,23171#msg-23171 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,23171#msg-23171 Catty Nebulart Plastic Extruder Working Group Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:40:44 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,23143#msg-23143 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,23143#msg-23143
what's with replacing the water with waterglass for mixing Alginate?

Waterglass shrinks some percents when the embedded water evaporates, but then forms a hard body out of silicate.

Search the forums for "waterglass" - i made some suggestions and experiments with ceramic-slurries, but it can be used for other mixtures too ...

Viktor]]> VDX Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:23:52 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,23138#msg-23138 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,23138#msg-23138
It can be made to set pretty fast (some seconds) in air by mixing it strong with warm water.

What they told us was that it is short life (hours) and dimensionally unstable, because it's a water gel: A solid matrix filled with water. You can make it harder or softer by changing the proportion of water, but there's no way to stop the water evaporating off, and once that happens, it turns to dust. Also, it has a low rather tear strength.

So I don't think it would be a good RP material in itself.

On the other hand, it could possibly make a good support structure, if we could build an extruder that would mix it on demand. I have to say that doesn't sound easy, though. :-/

Leo]]> leo.dearden Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 27 Apr 2009 00:29:28 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,21710#msg-21710 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,21710#msg-21710 Gene Hacker Plastic Extruder Working Group Wed, 25 Feb 2009 02:23:19 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,21586#msg-21586 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,21586#msg-21586 mycroftxxx Plastic Extruder Working Group Thu, 19 Feb 2009 18:56:34 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,21575#msg-21575 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,21575#msg-21575 nophead Plastic Extruder Working Group Thu, 19 Feb 2009 16:14:32 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,21573#msg-21573 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,21573#msg-21573 mycroftxxx Plastic Extruder Working Group Thu, 19 Feb 2009 15:10:19 -0500 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,21572#msg-21572 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,21572,21572#msg-21572 www.flickr.com] for a moment, I am hoping someone here can figure out which company makes this material, and whether the material itself is protected by patents or other burdens.

In short, the stuff is a salt-water hardening polymer that glows in the dark. While the glowing function isn't that interesting, the viscosity change is. If the material is easy to produce or procure, it might be interesting for someone who wanted to make a more toy-like fabricator. (I consider it to be in our interests for a toy company to make a fabricator of some type, since toy-market economies of scale mean that a cheap hackable platform wil become available for anyone wanting to make a RepStrap.)

EDIT: The stuff seems to be a variation of Be Amazing's "Insta-Worms" (http://www.beamazing.com/ProductDetails.asp?prodid=16). I'm guessing that this stuff is not patent-protected.

EDIT 2: And we have a winner! The "Worm Goo" is nothing other than the darling of the Molecular Gastronomy movement, Sodium Alginate! [www.stevespanglerscience.com] has a rough explanation of what's going on.]]> mycroftxxx Plastic Extruder Working Group Thu, 19 Feb 2009 14:56:35 -0500