Shrinky Dinks!

Well, I remember them being called ShrinkyDinks.  I have read a few places online that say plastic with the #6 recycle symbol also works as shrink plastic, but I have not tried that.  Other internet reading cautions that when heating plastic to do it in a well ventilated area.  Apparently some plastics when heated release a very fine powder, and of course fumes are always something to be cautious of.

Here's my nice set of sharpie markers.  I wrote each colour on a scrap of this shrink film to see how the colour changes when heated.  The strip on the right is what some permapaque markers by Sakura look like once shrunken.    A little experimenting up front helps get better results.  The colour gets darker after shrinking for some, more intense for other colours..

This is a sample ruler to determine shrinkage.  The package says it will shrink 20%.  Ya, using cross multiplication I figured out its more like 35-37% shrinkage.  I'm not a math person but I do remember how useful that equation is to solve for an unknown.  Here is where going back and forth between imperial & metric is an asset for simple measuring.  6"=15cm.  I have no idea how to make a teeny decimal point number translate into imperial.  I'm no math teacher so you can do an internet search for "cross multiplication" if you need a refresher.

I did an inch ruler, each number is one inch apart.  The side bars on one side are 1/2" marks, the other side is 3/4" marks.  They don't lay 100% flat once shrunk to the stopping point.  I really like my Ranger heat gun, its hot, low force, easy to hang onto, and best of all its quiet!

This shrink film stuff gives me ideas like the little shrunken head apple faces from old elementary school projects.  I wonder how distorted I could get doodle faces to look on shrink plastic, hee hee hee!  I shrunk these on an inverted cookie pan with parchment paper to prevent super bonding to the pan.  I used an old chopstick to push the pieces around while heating.  I did it over my stove cooktop with the fan blowing high and the patio door open to drag in fresh air.  Be careful if you try this yourself.  There will be another post using shrink plastic in July.