Instamorphing a Nametag

For the build night in FabLab Breda we got to play around with Instamorph and see what kind of things were possible.

Instamorph is a moldable plastic, which turns moldable when you 'melt' it in hot water. It turns very hard again once cooled of.

I tried out a bunch of things, including a simple keychain/nametag.

Step 1: Getting Ready...

Grab a bag of Instamorph and boil some water. While you boil the water, put about half of the package in a wide cup and place it on a towel. Once boiled, pour the water onto the grains of Instamorph and leave about half of the bowl empty. Since you're going in with your hand to get the material out, don't put too much water in or you'll flood your table.

Step 2: Use the Right Type of Acryl As a Mold

I'm not sure what kind of acryl I used to make the name tag, but I've tried three types and had trouble with two of them. With a red shiny piece and a piece of mirror I failed to get the plastic off again. I think these types were to smooth. The one which worked out fine was a little rougher.

In hindsight I guess I should have asked what the difference was, but nonetheless I liked the experiment.

And, one of them worked fine so I was happy anyway :-)

• Take the original name tag
• Get Instamorph out of a cup with hot water
  • Make sure it's elastic
• Rub the soft material over the mold
• Wait a minute to let the material cool off
• Bend the edges of the Instamorphed tag of the original version
  • There you have it!

You can put a ring through it to use it as a keychain