The unique properties of InstaMorph make it highly adaptable as both a material and in some cases a tool. In this technique series, we’ll cover how to use InstaMorph to make stuff for all things threaded. Nuts, bots, and even the wrenches to work with them.
Awh Nuts!
Because InstaMorph can be molded to take on any shape, why not the shape of threads in a bolt? In can do just that! All this in just a couple of minutes without an expensive tap and die set or an extra trip (or two) to the hardware store.
Making your own InstaMorph nut is easy. Simply heat up a small quantity of InstaMorph using the instructions outline on this site and mold around the threads of the bolt in question. It’s that easy.
While you’re waiting for it to cool, you can mold your own “wings” to create a custom wing-nut. Try pressing the cooling bolt into your favorite sized wrench to make the perfect sized bolt. Once it has fully cooled, back the InstaMorph nut off the threads and you’re done. Screwed it back on, tighten it down, and enjoy your custom plastic nut you created in less than 5 minutes.
Put a cap on that bolt
Now it would be pretty difficult to create an entire bolt out of InstaMorph, but it’s super easy to create a cap for an existing bolt.
You can use it as a quick tightening tool or for decorative or safety caps for exposed hardware. Again, the process is simple. With some warm InstaMorph, press over and around the bold to take an impression of the existing hardware, then mold whatever you want around it.
Mold “wings” on this one to make a quick tightening tool for quickly tweaking all the bolts on a project. Press decorative patterns into the top of your InstaMorph to make ugly exposed hardware into little artistic expressions. Tired of that bolt catching on everything that brushes by it? Cover it up with some InstaMorph and stop it from cutting, snagging, and scratching everything in its path.
Have your bolts and tighten them too.
InstaMorph is not just a material; it is also a powerful medium for creating custom tools quickly and easily. We alluded to this in the section above with making a small tightener for bolts, and we did this without knowing the size first.
Need to take something apart and don’t have the right wrench? Even a little bit of InstaMorph is quite strong. Mold a wrench by rolling out a tube of InstaMorph and pressing one end into the hardware in question. Once cooled, you’ll have yourself a tool ready to go. When you’re done with it, you can keep it around for later, or you can melt it down and form it into another custom tool. InstaMorph is great for making tools when you:
- Don’t have the correct size of wrench available. InstaMorph doesn’t worry about the size.
- Realize it isn’t a hex bolt. If it can be molded, then you can build a tool for it out of InstaMorph.
- F1/6/2015igure out your existing tools can’t reach or don’t fit. InstaMorph can be made in any custom angle or bend you want.
- You only need to do it this one time, and then you’ll never use it again. InstaMorph can be reheated over and over again.