Cheap(er) UHMW

[kbrandon]

I read about this site on another WW forum. They sell all kinds of plastics, many in sheets. Since I have been looking at buying some UHMW, I checked them out. I got a 12"x48"x1/4" sheet for about $27 to my door. Comparing that the 4" strips I have been looking at in WW catalogs selling for $15 ea, that's a deal IMHO.

Anyway, just wanted to share this info with everyone. Here is the link:

http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&category%5Fname=UHMW&product%5Fid=UHMW+Cut+Sheet

Kevin

[Dave Arbuckle]

Wow, cool! That's excellent pricing indeed.

I take it they didn't give you any guff about a small order?

Dave

[daveferg]

Depending on the sizes you need, check your yellow pages for plastics/fabrication, etc. There's a chain store out here call Tap Plastics---they have a scrap bin selling anything for .50 to $1.00 a pound---great for jig material, etc.

[Jeff P]

Our local army surplus store sells plastics by the pound for around $1.00. I bought a chunk of plastic to make a router plate for my router table. Works great, and really cheap! Sure stinks when you cut it though!

[kbrandon]

Dave A

They allow you to order as little or as much as you want. They also sell the smaller pieces.

Just received my email confirmation from them the other day. My order will be here on Monday.

Kevin

[Dave Arbuckle]

Neat, thanks Brandon. Don't you wish you lived near these other guys? Our local plastics places sometimes have scratched acrylic (usually in some lurid purple color) they'll part with cheap, and that's about it. ;)

Dave

[kbrandon]

Gee Dave, I didn't even know we had local plastic places. smile.gif

Kevin

[Dave Arbuckle]

In Dallas. Cadillac Plastics is the name, if I recall correctly. Should be in the yellow pages. Granted, a little more local to me than to you. ;)

Dave

[Bartee]

Try this LINK (http://www.machinist-materials.com/Direct_sale/Direct-sale-uhmw-flat.htm)

I have purchased once from these guys. Great Service. No sure of price comparison

[Green Wood]

Would 1/8" thick stock be strong enough for a zero-clearance insert in my 2424?

[kbrandon]

Originally posted by Green Wood:
Would 1/8" thick stock be strong enough for a zero-clearance insert in my 2424? I would think it would work great. I know there are several companies that sell zero clearance inserts made from UHMW. (Peach Tree USA sells them for $12.95 ea + S/H.) You can make ALOT of your own for that price.

Kevin

[Mike H.]

Not really a reply about where to find UHMW, but I'm curious how does one work with UHMW? Can you cut it on a table saw? With a jigsaw? A knife? And how about gluing it to things like jigs? Does regular old wood glue stick to it or do you have to use something like superglue or some other adhesive? I've never worked with the stuff before but plan to in the near future, so I'm curious.

Thanks!

[kbrandon]

Mike H.

You can machine UHMW with regular woodworking tools. I also talked to the tech people at US Plastics about gluing UHMW. My question was whether UHMW could be glued to itself to make thicker pieces. The answer was yes, with the proper preparation. Basically, you need to rough up the surfaces to be glued together since this stuff is pretty smooth. Also, they recommended contact cement or epoxy for the adhesive.

I plan to attach UHMW to wood/jigs using countersunk screws or bolts.

Hope that helps,
Kevin

[rmacmec]

I was looking at plastic prices for another purpose and noticed that the US plastics link posted above was significantly more expensive than McMaster-Carr (a company, like Grainger, that many of you probally already know about). I didn't compare everything but for example a 1/8" UHMW 24"x48" sheet was 25% cheaper!

The link for McMaster-Carr is www.mcmaster.com (http://www.mcmaster.com)
Their website is harder to navigate but if you go to the bottom right under "Raw Materials" you can click plastics. Once you have made enough selections, click on catalog pages to see what is available.

[kbrandon]

rmacmec,

Is there a separate charge for shipping & tax on mcmaster.com?

Their prices look a little cheaper, but if you have to add shipping & tax to it, they may not be.

Thanks for the tip though.

Kevin

[rmacmec]

Kevin,

I honestly don't know. My dealings with McMaster have been through work. Being a state university we don't pay tax and McMaster doesn't charge us shipping either.