Recycled Plastic or Composite Cylindrical Turning Blank [Replay]

These 3-inch-diameter cylindrical blanks are made of recycled plastic! The turning blanks are ready to mount on a lathe for turning (a wood lathe and tools work fine), or to use with a CNC or other hand/power tools. The 3" diameter often fits directly into a 4-jaw chuck without needing to first turn a tenon between centers.

Each blank is unique in terms of colors, pattern, and materials. Price is for a single blank. Individual length varies but is at least 6 inches.

Recycled HDPE: These blanks are made of recycled High Density Polyethylene (HDPE, identified as the #2 resin code inside recycling arrows). This plastic is used in diverse consumer goods such as milk jugs, pails, soda bottle caps, snow sleds, and much more.

Each blank has a unique pattern determined by the materials selected and mixed by hand while hot, then compressed while cooling inside a steel pipe form. Note that there may be impurities and minor inclusions of different colors and materials, due to the artisanal nature of our process.

Random Colors: We've been messing around for months with a lot of different colors and source materials, from bottle caps to snow sleds to a discarded Sleep Number bed. We have lots of incredibly interesting blanks made of different vibrant colors (sometimes three or more) swirled together. Pick this option and we'll send you a totally unique cylinder. When we have enough blanks of the same color mix to make a standardized combination, like the Black & White, we'll make a separate listing for them.

Composite Mix: The primary material for these blanks is HDPE. The color is predominantly gray, due to the eclectic mix of materials. We actually sweep up the waste dust and shavings from working with recycled plastic (or capture it with our shop vacuum) and recycle it too! The composite blanks also include whatever else was swept up, which may include LDPE and PP plastic, aluminum shavings, sawdust and little bits of wood, sometimes even pine needles! The result is a fascinating, stone-like conglomerate that tends to be overall gray, but have complicated patterns of varying sizes of plastic material, from chunks to fine dust, and inclusions such as sparkly aluminum. Exact colors vary, but all are fascinating.

Re-Recylable: Yes, you absolutely can re-recycle your turning waste! Sweep up your shavings, melt them in an oven/toaster oven/sandwich press at 350º F, and smush them together into a new blank. Wear oven mitts or welding gloves while you knead it, and the more pressure the better to reduce or eliminate voids/bubbles. We use a form and compress it in a 12-ton shop press. Even so, the shrinkage from cooling gives it a bumpy surface texture, but it turns away to a nice matte luster. Thermoplastics like HDPE can be recycled this way many times over with no discernible loss in quality!