Polymer clay is a synthetic clay made from PVC plastic and is available in many colors and brands. The clay remains soft and pliable until cured in an owen. This is one of my favorite ways to be creative. There is so much you can make with polymer clay and there are loads of colors and techniques to chose from. Every brand of polymer clay has it’s own particular feel about it. For example Fimo soft, is just that, softer than many other clays and easier to work with.

A flexible workstation equipped with a solid state laser operating at 266�nm wavelength was used to machine holes in polyethylene terephthalate, polyimide and polycarbonate. An optical pulse picker was employed to reduce the high repetition rates of the laser, while a breakthrough sensor was used to avoid over-drilling of through holes. For each material, different repetition rates and designed pulse trains were tested to improve feature quality and process efficiency. Although the three polymers had very different reactions at this wavelength they all showed an improvement in feature quality with decreasing repetition rate due to a reduction in thermal effects. Up to 10�kHz the average depth per pulse remained unchanged and afterwards a slight increase was observed but this was accompanied by large uncertainties. Bursts of pulses at 40�kHz inserted inside the low repetition rate pulse train reduced the drilling time and the amount of debris redeposited without affecting the feature quality. It was found that a number of cleaning pulses after perforation eliminates the heat affected zone around exits. Holes with entrance diameters below 20�[mu]m and exit diameters as small as 2�[mu]m were obtained with high repeatability.

A fabrication technique involving the extremely rapid impingement mixing of two chemically reactive liquid streams, injected into a mold that results in the simultaneous polymerization, cross-linking and formation of the part.

A fabrication technique involving the extremely rapid impingement mixing of two chemically reactive liquid streams, injected into a mold that results in the simultaneous polymerization, cross-linking and formation of the part.

Typically, this low temperature process typically takes less than a minute to complete, including time for mixing, curing, and demolding.

A fabrication technique involving the extremely rapid impingement mixing of two chemically reactive liquid streams, injected into a mold that results in the simultaneous polymerization, cross-linking and formation of the part.

A fabrication technique involving the extremely rapid impingement mixing of two chemically reactive liquid streams, injected into a mold that results in the simultaneous polymerization, cross-linking and formation of the part.

Process of forming a thermoplastic sheet into a three-dimensional shape by clamping the sheet in a frame, heating it to render it soft and flowable. Then applying differential pressure to make the sheet conform to the shape of a mold or die positioned below the frame.

Process of forming a thermoplastic sheet into a three-dimensional shape by clamping the sheet in a frame, heating it to render it soft and flowable. Then applying differential pressure to make the sheet conform to the shape of a mold or die positioned below the frame.

Process of forming a thermoplastic sheet into a three-dimensional shape by clamping the sheet in a frame, heating it to render it soft and flowable. Then applying differential pressure to make the sheet conform to the shape of a mold or die positioned below the frame.