I love Delrin . . . .. I Hate Delrin!

[Steevo]

I love working with Delrin for its machinability, but I hate the mess it makes!

I have a power steering valve I am going to adapt to a garden tractor that i am rebuilding, and it had "too much slop" in the shaft, so today I polished up the shaft and made a new (tighter) bushing for it from a delrin rod I had in stock.

But the mess I made was much larger than the bushing:

That white plastic "snow" goes everywhere within ten feet of the lathe.

I don't know how much of it I ingested, as it was floating in my rum & coke, and I wasn't going to waste that.

It took much longer to clean up the mess than it did to turn the bushing, even with the reaming time spent to get a tight fit.

 

[laser3kw]

if you do much, rig up a shop vac with a wide floor attachment. It reduces the mess.
Use HSS and hone to a keen edge.

 

[Strouty]

I was going to suggest head and shoulders.

 

[kazlx]

I just literally shop vac everything after machining,esoecily delrin. It does machine really nicely though...

 

[longlivepunk]

Yeah, a vacuum attached to the tool-post might help (like laser said) I remember someone suggesting that when I was turning some plastic that wouldn't make a chip. (long stringers of razor-sharp plastic are sketchy)

I recently machined brass for the first time, it cut beautifully but WOW did it ever make a mess. Tiny chips everywhere that stick to every bit of coolant they can find.

Nice job on the bushing!

 

[txvwnut]

I will set my shop vac for delrin or anything that makes small curls or fine shavings when I'm turning something.

 

[Fluxion]

Just strain the rum and coke through your teeth.

What garden tractor are you putting the power steering on? I am wanting to add PS to a few of my Cub Cadets.

 

[87jeepwrangler]

I've machined a lot of delrin, but never had a mess like that. Looks like your chips are way too small. Have you tried taking larger passes?

 

[87jeepwrangler]

Checked my youtube channel and here is an old clip I found of me turning some delrin. This particular video is on the same lathe as yours... Atlas 12". Notice the chips come off in a coil, maybe I'm doing it wrong (right)!?

 

[Ed ke6bnl]

I just threw in a piece of delrin in the lathe yesterday, I just used the carbide insert that was on the lathe and it did a great job. the turning were stingy but the finish was nice. what turning tool were you using?

 

[AndyA]

I can usually fiddle with the speeds/feeds/etc to get it to make stringy chips. These are easier to cleanup. Maybe these are more dangerous. They won't cut you, but you might get tangled. I just wait until the spindle is stopped before pulling chips out.

Brass and cast iron are the worst. Powdered chips that FLY!

 

[xtremek]

I machined some on the mill once. I milled about a dozen of the same parts. When I got done, it looked like the mill and I had just come through a blizzard. Grabbed the broom to get the bulk of it, then vacuumed for a final clean up.

 

[chruler]

This might help.

http://www.cncplastics.com/PDFs/Machining Acetal Delrin.pdf

 

[Kevin54]

If you are grinding your own bits, increase the rake on it, and it will throw off a clean curl like others have stated. I use carbide, but I take a big bite and leave just enough for a cleanup pass. Delrin will cut nice when you take a big aggressive bite.

 

[Strouty]

But how does it taste?

I have a bunch of delrin, I can't wait until I setup my lathe.

 

[Kevin54]

But how does it taste?

I have a bunch of delrin, I can't wait until I setup my lathe.

Delrin won't hurt you. I believe that is what is on my prosthesis. You may want to add a little bit of ketchup to it though, as it can be rather bland. But the Rum and Coke should really help out with the taste of it.

 

[Strouty]

Delrin won't hurt you. I believe that is what is on my prosthesis. You may want to add a little bit of ketchup to it though, as it can be rather bland. But the Rum and Coke should really help out with the taste of it.

Good one. I prefer catsup myself.

I have used parts made of delrin for my RC cars, it is some rugged stuff. I would imagine it would hold up well. I hope so for your sake. A few more surgeries and guinness will want to talk with you.

I see you have your avatar hard at work posting away!

 

[tdkkart]

We run a lot of plastics on a couple machines at work, makes a hell of a mess of everything, gets all hung up in the chip conveyors and elevators, floats in the coolant tanks, sticks to everything. Just a mess.

 

[laser3kw]

My problem is it's one long piece that wraps around everything causing me to have to stop and cut it from the tooling and part, then start back up.

ya - when the string gets long enough and - suddenly- gets hooked on the chuck / part and instantly turns into a swarf tornado gathering everything in it's path and throwing it at you and attacking you like some alien predator.
that *****.

 

[Strouty]

ya - when the string gets long enough and - suddenly- gets hooked on the chuck / part and instantly turns into a swarf tornado gathering everything in it's path and throwing it at you and attacking you like some alien predator.
that *****.

I totally LOL with that one!

 

[ryanm]

have similar experience with something called UHMW. strong, lightweight and machines/cuts/taps really well. but yeah, makes a mess like delrin. sometimes the cleanup takes longer than the setup or fabrication

 

[t100]

have you ever tried PTFE(aka Teflon)? you've got to clean the shop and machines all the time because its chips turn the machine shop into a big slip 'n slide in no time.

 

[bmxdad]

Try spraying some MEK on it before cutting ... or was that for hard rubber? Been awhile ...

 

[nglauer]

Steevo, I started following your thread on the Bolens today while cruising through the tractor forum! It's looking good. Funny to see another person i recognize on another forum, but i suppose there are more folks than i realize across the different boards. I guess using the same name and picture makes ya stand out

On a side note, i believe that is the same stuff the machine shop across the road from me machines on occasion. I have some small sheets of it and some other type of material they use on occasion.

 

[chruler]

ya - when the string gets long enough and - suddenly- gets hooked on the chuck / part and instantly turns into a swarf tornado gathering everything in it's path and throwing it at you and attacking you like some alien predator.
that *****.

Ba ha ha! Those who have seen it know exactly what you're talking about!

 

[930dreamer]

I have a few piles of what I think is HDPE?, let me know if someone here has a use for it.

 

[jd_1138]

Time to add a 3D printer to the shop! I think there's one for under $400 that gets great reviews. I am not sure which brand I am thinking of.

 

[nglauer]

I just toured the delrin facility at dupont in washington, wv. Pretty interesting to see how it is made.