I had an idea how to make heat-shrinkable clamps that could be used for various household purposes. The idea is based on the ability of PET plastic to shrink when exposed to hot air. Through experience, I came up with three types of clamps, which I will tell you about.
This clamp consists of two parts
Composite clamp
Making the first part:
The first element of the bundle is a ring approximately 2 cm wide, cut from a plastic bottle. The diameter of the ring is determined by the diameter of the bottle: the larger the volume of the bottle used, the larger the working diameter of the finished clamp.
Holes are made along the edges of the strip using a punch. To make this easier, I fold and iron the ring to form a double strip of plastic. I also punch a second hole combined with the first to widen the holes.
Making the second element:
For the second part of the bunch, I suggest using a plastic handle taken from wine packages. It has T-shaped ends, which are monolithically connected to the handle itself, so it is quite reliable against tearing.
Using a Clamp
One side of the plastic handle (T-end) is threaded through the hole in the bottle ring. Next, the clamp is wrapped around the product being crimped or the objects being connected and fastened at the other end.
In order for the harness to tightly compress and fix the desired object, it is necessary to apply heat. For these purposes, you can use a hair dryer (heat gun) or other sources of hot air. At home, even a gas burner from a household stove will do.
When exposed to heat, a strip cut from a plastic bottle contracts, resulting in a reliable fixation of the two elements.
Note! The shrinkage of the plastic turned out to be not very large, so it is necessary that the strapping initially fits as tightly as possible to the object.
For this type of clamp, I use handles from plastic mayonnaise buckets. The general technology for making straps is similar to the previous version, with one difference: such handles have round latching loops, so round holes are made in strips of PET plastic.
The handles of plastic buckets are longer, so they allow you to crimp products of larger diameters.
Finally, I will tell you how I made a cut-out clamp from PET plastic.
For this binding, I cut several strips about 1 cm wide from a plastic bottle. I made a hole at one end with a punch.
At the other end I made semicircular cutouts located symmetrically on both sides of the strip.
After this, all that remains is to pass the sharp end of the strip into the hole and the heat-shrinkable clamp is ready!
Advice! If you need to lengthen the plastic strapping, you can combine several strips into one design. As practice has shown, the rigidity of the connection remains just as reliable.
