Source for cheap nylon stock?

[Tanshanomi]

Anybody know of a source for cheap nylon rod and sheet stock? Quality/durability doesn't have to be anything special, because I just want to use it to make test fit/prototype motorcycle chassis parts that will eventually be fabbed from steel or alloy.

Wood is compressive and splinter-prone, so templates tend to be sloppy and/or weak. Metal is needlessly difficult to work with for pattern development. I've tried PMMA sheet, but it's prone to cracking and stock isn't available in many dimensions.

I'm thinking nylon would be a good compromise—strong but easily fabricated—but the cost is the question. Are there any quality/price options below the real, high-durability production stuff?

Or is there a whole other train of thought I should headed down for this?

 

[mayday0017]

I would think metal would be the best choice you can weld it if needed. We use delron at work but not for prototype work, if it is a prototype we make it out of aluminum it is cheap, machines well, lightweight, and can be welded if something needs to change.

 

[zuk123]

Cutting boards?

zuk

 

[Tanshanomi]

I would think metal would be the best choice you can weld it if needed. We use delron at work but not for prototype work, if it is a prototype we make it out of aluminum it is cheap, machines well, lightweight, and can be welded if something needs to change.

What alloy would you use for ease of cutting/drilling? 2024?
EDIT: I guess that would be a poor choice, given that it's not weldable.

 

[Kevin54]

I'd check with McMaster-Carr or MSC. How thick of pieces do you need? MDF wood makes a good candidate for prototyping although it is really dusty. And if you would use it, wear a dust mask. If you have a ReStore around, check some of the items that have been dropped off thqat you could recycle. Quite a bit of materials can be reused and recycled if you look around different places.

Check this place out. They'll have almost anything you will need. http://www.usplastic.com/catalog/default.aspx?catid=795

 

[Kevin54]

What alloy would you use for ease of cutting/drilling? 2024?
EDIT: I guess that would be a poor choice, given that it's not weldable.

What type of machinery are you going to be using? Do you have access to mills, lathes, drill presses, or will it all be done by just hand tools?

 

[trainer]

+1 on MDF
Although it is made out of wood and can be worked with woodworking tools, it's dimensionally stable and doesn't behave like wood. In the woodworking world, it's the standard for making jigs, patterns and fixtures. Just keep it dry.

 

[Tanshanomi]

What type of machinery are you going to be using? Do you have access to mills, lathes, drill presses, or will it all be done by just hand tools?

That's the problem. I only have access to basic hand and bench tools: 12" drill press (620 RPM min. RPM), Dremel tool, 14.4V hand drill, jigsaw, cheap scroll saw, hack saw, grinder. I really don't want to waste money on tools until I can afford "real" lathe and milling equipment, but that's clearly not going to happen for a couple of years. In the mean time, I am sending CAD info a local machine shop, but I need to be able to make up reliable patterns to confirm exactly what I need so I don't waste money having things mis-machined.

 

[Kevin54]

That's the problem. I only have access to basic hand and bench tools: 12" drill press (620 RPM min. RPM), 14.4V hand drill, jigsaw, cheap scroll saw, hack saw, grinder. I really don't want to waste money on tools until I can afford "real" lathe and milling equipment, but that's clearly not going to happen for a couple of years. In the mean time, I am sending CAD info a local machine shop, but I need to be able to make up reliable patterns to confirm xactly what I need so I don't waste money having things mis-machined.

The basic home hand tools makes it kind of rough to do machining style of prototypes unless you use a little ingenuity and buy some additional items like a small drum sander to fit into a drill press and things like that.

This is a suggestion and it may or may not save you money, but you don't know until you ask......Check with fellow member deere2210 He has a thread here http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=161227 He's breaking into CNC work and from what he shows, he is doing some decent stuff. Check with him and see how he can help you out. If I had my mill and lathe hooked up, I'd be more than happy to try and help you out. I don't have CNC capabilities, but I've machined as a Tool & Die Maker for 31 years, so I could whittle something up for you. There are quite a few members on here that have machining capabilities. Just look through the "fabrication" threads and find out who they are. It may be cheaper than going to a job shop to have items made. You may not get it done for free, but if you explain what you are doing, it may save you a bundle. Most job shops charge for time and material. They'll tell you what material, or if they have to order the material, it's going to cost. And their time....You're probably looking at close to $100/hr. depending on the shop. If you're lucky, maybe half that just for something you don't know whether it will work or not.

I'll have my mill and lathe hooked up by the weekend, and like I said, I'd be more than happy to help you out. I'd just charge you for the material I have to get, but it will get my **** off of the chair. It will definitely break up some boredom. In the meantime though, check with Deere2210, or check with NASTYZEN as he also has the capabilities to do some great machining. I can't remember some of the other members right off, but if you look through the FAB forum, you'll find who they are.

Hopes this may help you somewhat.

 

[MoonRise]

"strong but easily fabricated"

That all depends on just how 'strong' you want/need your part(s) and just how 'easily' you want the fabrication to be.

Also depends a bit on how 'big' you are making things.

Real easy machining? Machinst's wax. Cuts like butter.

Prototypes and mock-ups of 'small' to 'medium' parts (ie: not an entire vehicle frame or an engine block or a bulldozer blade or bracket? Wax, plastic, aluminum, 'resin', etc. Or a combination of all of the above.

 

[Gradyhd]

Check out www.onlinemetals.com . They sell nylon, UHMW, etc. by the foot. They also have a large selection of most metals, also sold by the foot.

 

[rkevins]

I needed some acrylic tube for a project and found estreetplastic.com they had the best prices on material and shipping for what I needed.

 

[Tanshanomi]

I just ordered some 3/16" thick HDPE from US Plastic. I got a 2' x 4' sheet for ≈$25, plus $11 shipping. I'll mock up some engine mounting plates from it and see how it works for me.

 

[deere2210]

The basic home hand tools makes it kind of rough to do machining style of prototypes unless you use a little ingenuity and buy some additional items like a small drum sander to fit into a drill press and things like that.

This is a suggestion and it may or may not save you money, but you don't know until you ask......Check with fellow member deere2210 He has a thread here http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=161227 He's breaking into CNC work and from what he shows, he is doing some decent stuff. Check with him and see how he can help you out. If I had my mill and lathe hooked up, I'd be more than happy to try and help you out. I don't have CNC capabilities, but I've machined as a Tool & Die Maker for 31 years, so I could whittle something up for you. There are quite a few members on here that have machining capabilities. Just look through the "fabrication" threads and find out who they are. It may be cheaper than going to a job shop to have items made. You may not get it done for free, but if you explain what you are doing, it may save you a bundle. Most job shops charge for time and material. They'll tell you what material, or if they have to order the material, it's going to cost. And their time....You're probably looking at close to $100/hr. depending on the shop. If you're lucky, maybe half that just for something you don't know whether it will work or not.

I'll have my mill and lathe hooked up by the weekend, and like I said, I'd be more than happy to help you out. I'd just charge you for the material I have to get, but it will get my **** off of the chair. It will definitely break up some boredom. In the meantime though, check with Deere2210, or check with NASTYZEN as he also has the capabilities to do some great machining. I can't remember some of the other members right off, but if you look through the FAB forum, you'll find who they are.

Hopes this may help you somewhat.

Drop me a PM and I can see if I can help you out.. I use a laser to cut out prototypes in plexi-acrylic and at times cardboard as first steps. I'm going to be trying some MDF myself in the near term as a potential prototype for some forward controls I am building.

 

[Tanshanomi]

Drop me a PM and I can see if I can help you out.. I use a laser to cut out prototypes in plexi-acrylic and at times cardboard as first steps. I'm going to be trying some MDF myself in the near term as a potential prototype for some forward controls I am building.

Thanks. I might take you up on your offer, but first I need to get my arms around exactly what I need these parts to look like...which is what I am trying to do now.

 

[EdT]

I have found it difficult to get a decent looking part from HDPE. It really doesn't like to be machined, but it may be fine for what you are trying to do. You might want to take a look at some of the synthetic countertop stuff which lies somewhere between MDF and aluminum as far as machinability and is very stable. You can machine it with ordinary carbide wood working tools and I've not seen any ill effects on regular drill bits. I'd stay away from the quartz filled stuff. I have ben using some LG stuff, but I think they are all similar. Check with some local counter places and see what they have for drops and scraps. as suggested above, plexi is a good bet too and it's easy to glue.

 

[Kevin54]

Cutting boards?

zuk

Some kitchen places will sell some sort of plastic cutting boards. I don't know whether it is hard nylon or some other type of plastic.

 

[Tanshanomi]

My 24" x 48" sheet of 3/16" HDPE arrived on Friday. I finally had a chance to play around with it this morning and the stuff worked a treat. I was able to make up the template I needed in about 20 minutes.

I used a 10 tpi blade in a variable speed sabre saw to make the rough cuts, which were admittedly pretty rough, but it was not supported as well as it could have been and was flexing all over. Keeping the speed down helped.

​

I read a web page about HDPE that recommended NOT using a pilot arbor when drilling large diameter holes in it, so I tried that method at the slowest speed (640 RPM), and had no problem at all. A lot of swarf curled up around the teeth, but as long as I worked through it in small steps, that didn't cause any problems. I drilled two 1/2" dia holes with a regular twist drill that went through cleanly and quickly.

​

The whole point of this was to positively locate the rear engine mounting bolts in relation to a frame cross tube. I made two separate pieces which I installed separately, then clamped together to get the relationship right. I then drilled a couple of holes for small machine screws before I took the clamp off. Once they were attached, I could make some accurate measurements, and make up an accurate drawing for the final 1/4" steel plates.

​

Overall, the HDPE worked better than I had been lead to believe. I can understand why it wouldn't work for any sort of precision machining, but I only needed to be accurate to about a quarter millimeter at the very most, so it worked great for me. I did have to de-burr the edges, but I did that with a combination of my thumbnail and a dull X-acto blade.

 

[930dreamer]

I have some 2" thick HDPE if you need some.

 

[Tanshanomi]

I have some 2" thick HDPE if you need some.

Not sure I'd ever have use for 2", but if you're selling for a bargain price...

 

[Tanshanomi]

Thought I'd share another photo that shows a completed HDPE template holding the engine in place as I worked out the side-to-side alignment. Stuff works great for my needs.

 

[chevy.stroker]

I know you mentioned not wanting to spend money, and your pieces are not real thick, but you did mention CAD so I'll just throw this out:

http://www.solidoodle.com/