Vulcan Materials

Closely related to Vulcan Fabrication these are materials to work with. Where Fabrication provides the materials as goals, the materials listed here are for consideration and evaluation.

Woods

• Construction Lumber
• Hardwood
• Plywood
• OSB
• MDF

Metals

• Aluminum: really ideal, good strength, can be melted, cheap.
• Zinc: also good, similar reasons. Very dense, can be used to add mass where needed.
• Steel: challenging all around

Plastics

Foam

Particularly in the form of insulation, this is pretty cheap and can be used to form molds. Makercise has had good results coating this in plaster then placing the whole thing in sand to do casts.

Composites

Epoxy

Can be very strong, kind of expensive in quantity but can provide a good surface or connection.

Wood/Cement

I'm really interested in this combination. I think it can provide a great balance of strength, rigidity and price. With an outer coating to harden the surface, it might match steel.

Fasteners

Threaded

There will be a preference for bolts over screws, though it's hard to beat a screw for connecting two pieces of wood. Threaded rod allows for customization.

Zip Tie

These are surprisingly versatile.