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HDPE takes machining very well. You can turn it on a lathe or mill it. I hit the edges of mine with a router. I have banged the hammer against a few things and it has held up ok. If I slammed it against a pointy surface it would gouge just like a wood mallet. If you are not familiar with HDPE, for comparison, most 5 gallon buckets are HDPE. If you have ever handled one of those, that could give you an idea of the hardness. There is a guy on Youtube who melted buckets. Buckets have much more material than the milk jugs I used.
When you find plastic containers, you have to look for the ones that have a 2 in the middle of the recycle symbol. You cannot do it with the other numbers, with the exception of 4 which is low density polyethelene (LDPE). Most of the time the caps are made of the same material as the jug, but occasionally they are not. If it is questionable, then just toss it. Some plastic can off gas toxic fumes.
I have been trying to think about what to make next. I have little kids so I have a steady stream of milk jugs right now. The surface is slick. I could see it begin a good bearing surface. It could be used as better alternative in instances where people use two pieces of wood sliding against each other. With a lathe you could make single or step pulleys.
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