Plastics Workshop

The term ‘plastics’ represents a huge category of flexible and durable materials, with vast potential. The Plastic Workshop is staffed by Lorena Miguel, Alfred Valk and André van de Wijdeven, who are experts in the manipulation of these materials.

The team supports and guides students in the use of plastic materials to realise their projects and provides basic training for the use of machines and tools available within the workshop. They can answer questions ranging from glueing to fixing and repairing to cleaning, painting and polishing.

Located on the first floor, the majority of the facilities provided within the workshop space are focussed on modelling mould-making and casting. The workshop has a large library of thermoset materials available for students to purchase, including PU foams for modelling, Silicones and Alginate for mould-making, and PU, Acrylic and Epoxy resins for casting.

Tools and machines available in the workshop include:

• Lathes
• Band saw
• Sanding machine
• Bending machine (for Acrylic sheets, tubes and rods)
• Welder (for plastic foil)

A small number of machines in the workshop can only be operated by one of the instructors. These include two Thermoforming machines, a CNC milling machine for computer-controlled 2D and 3D milling in foam and wood, and a manually controlled lathe and milling machine for machining hard plastics.