Wednesday, February 18, 2009

[papercreters] Re: How do you use grocery store cardboard?

Hi,

I have been too busy with other things to write lately, but the
cardboard and tape thread caught my attention. Cardboard is easy to
mix, with the right mixer and blades. An inefficient tow mixer will not
work as well.

Self-cleaning blades will also take care of the short pieces of tape.
Long ones are best removed, although some will be shredded. A few will
catch on the shaft, not a problem unless they carry a big chunk of
cardboard. That has only happened once to me. It made quite a mess,
but caused no damage.

Eric Paterson's patent described a powerful electric mixer and
self-cleaning blades that I used as a pattern for mine.
*http://tinyurl.com/VincecreteMixerBlades
*
My mixer is driven by a two horsepower electric motor, much more
efficient than a tow mixer. It will even shred phone books, envelope
windows, and an occasional aluminum can (the sides, but not the top or
bottom) - without pre-soaking!

If you would like to make your own blades, just follow the pattern of a
food processor. I used old circular saw blades. My two tine blade is a
blown up photocopy of the blades of the food processor. The three and
four tine blades were made free-hand. The four tine blade does not
sweep back enough and does catch some plastic. It is now at the top of
the stack, where a simple swipe before pouring removes a baseball sized
mass of plastic.

Thanks,

Vince

P.S. don't ask me questions about how to implement this on a tow mixer.
Most tow mixers are junk, there are much better designs.


papercreters@yahoogroups.com wrote:
> --- In papercreters@yahoogroups.com, "David Schutt" <deck_arme@...> wrote:
>
>> I was wondering if anyone has experience working with this kind of
>> cardboard? How did you use it? Did you have to rip it up into
>> smaller pieces before you put it into your towmixer? How did the
>> blocks turn out?


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