Dow Corning's 3179 DILATANT COMP 22.6KG

That depends on what you make your home-made silly putty out of. I am inclined to say no.

What ratio of flour to water are you using?

Jack of all trades,

There is neither flour nor water in "silly putty" (aka Dow 3179).

It's actually comprised of:

Dimethyl Siloxane, Boric Acid, Crystalline silica (quartz), Thixotrol ST, Polydimethylsiloxane, Decamethyl cyclopentasiloxane, Glycerine, and Titanium Dioxide

You can find an MSDS here:

http://www.hazard.com/msds/f2/bjr/bjrsz.html

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Just my $0.02...

Thanks, Jman, you are correct on Silly Putty's chemical make up. The common ingredients in home made Silly Putty are Elmer's glue and starch. I asked the question originally because I want to test an idea that incorporates the behavior qualities of Dilatant comp 22.6kg and do not want to purchase 50lbs of it at $800, nor do I want to purchase 20 +- Silly Putty toys before I do some early simple tests. I am looking for a substitute that behaves and performs exactly like the Dilatant comp 22.6kg would.

You are NOT going to be able to get home-made silly putty to match the same operating parameters and act exactly like Dow Corning's 3179 dilatant compound. However, you MAY be able to get something close to match a specific application.

It really, seriously depends on the application and what you need. What is the application? We don't have home-made silly putty down here, but I cannot see it being as robust, its life as long or its results as repeatable as 3179 (especially from home-made batch manufacture).

I am thinking small scale testing is your best bet in any case.

JOAT, Yes, I agree small batch testing is what I'm going to have to do. Incidentally, when I say homemade, I'm referring to Elmer's glue and starch ingredients in a 2-1 mixture as demonstrated on You Tube and elsewhere: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwv29ZPmuHs Thank you. Stevec77

Note that the listed ingredients comprise only 32 weight %.

Cardio07,

The MSDS (material safety data sheet) only identifies the ingredients that are considered to be "hazardous".

According to a different source on the web, a more comprehensive (approximate) compositional breakdown of Dow Corning 3179 is as follows:

65% Dimethyl Siloxane, hydroxy-terminated polymers with boric acid

17% Silica, quartz crystalline

9% Thixotrol ST

4% Polydimethylsiloxane

1% Decmaethyl cyclopentasiloxane

1% Glycerine

1% Titanium Dioxide

(I realize that this only accounts for 98% of the composition)

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Just my $0.02...

According to the web site below, a homemade silly putty created from Elmer's glue and Borax will be similar to the commercial stuff, differing mainly in the chemistry of the long-chain polymer.

http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/sillyputty.htm