what is the melting temp of those little plastic beads that they make fake stained glass windows with?

Question

If you know what I mean. those little plastice bb- beads- pieces of plastic that they melt in the oven? i'm guessing. I bought a whole bunch of them. at a yard sale. can I run them through a hot glue gun and make me a plastic sign with them?
thanks
chris

Answer 1

Hi there. I don't know much about this stuff, but I know a lady who might do. Her name is Sue and you can contact her through her website http://www.glass-fusing-made-easy.com/

Hope this helps. x

Answer 2

I wouldn't think that someone who deals with glass fusing would know much about plastic fusing, as suggested by the poster above.

But most thermoplastic plastics will melt at around 250-375 degrees.

I wouldn't put them into a glue gun though (the hotter ones or the low temp ones)...unless you don't mind losing the gun. Could work, I guess, but there are also glue sticks for glue guns that are transparent and colored which you could also use.

If the little beads you have are opaque instead of transparent, you may have the little meltable chips of "Friendly Plastic" though. They will melt together when heated just like the Friendly Plastic strips will.

There may also be plastic beads that are totally transparent that are meant to be melted for faux stained glass (so you could look at a craft store for time and temp).

But the transparent plastic beads that come as cheap faceted beads for stringing will also melt (as will amber prescription bottles and other thermoplastic plastics).
There is info (and some links) you might be interested in about melting various kinds of plastics on this page at my site, if you want to check it out:
http://glassattic.com/polymer/MISC.htm
(... click on the subcategory there called **Melting, Softening, or Shrinking Plastics**...)


You don't say what you actually want to make though... a "sign." Do you want to make a sign from these, then write on it? Or do you want to just make lettering from these then attach them to a sign?
And what size do you have in mind?? ... 3 inches, 15 inches, 3 feet, or what?


HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 3

In the foundations of Christianity, the majority of Christians were not literate. The only way to be literate for a long period of time was to become a priest or lawyer. So, in order to help the people who were more visual instead of aural listeners, they used statues and windows to depict important figures and Biblical scenes. This way, the laypeople would still know about their beliefs without having to go through the hassle of learning how to read. Why they're still used today is more of a tradition and beautifying process than anything. Individuals may seem like they're worshiping these depictions, but churches tend to get people to worship or just learn who/what is depicted instead of the image itself.