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Nylon and Acetal Shapes
 




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Nylon and Acetal Shapes

Acetal Homoploymer vs. Copolymer Polyxoymethylene (POM), also called acetal, from Ensinger is one of the workhorses of the engineering plastics family.

Since its commercialization in the early 1960s it has been used in a wide variety of applications because of its balance of strength, toughness and lubricity.

There are two general types of acetal in the market: homopolymer and copolymer. Acetal homopolymer (POM-H) is produced through a condensation polymerization of formaldehyde. Acetal copolymer (POM-C) is manufactured using a different process through the polymerization of formaldehyde and a co monomer. The type of co monomer and the amount used vary from one manufacturer to another. The differences in acetal chemistries will yield differences in a number of properties.

Since this class of polymers has been used extensively for close to 50 years and both the homopolymer and copolymer have similar properties, the trend has been to treat POM-H and POM-C as interchangeable materials. This is not always the case. Despite the similarities between the two polymers there are design scenarios where the acetal homopolymer has better performance than the copolymer.

Acetal homopolymers exhibit a higher level of crystalline structure than their acetal copolymer counterparts. Typically the crystallinity of acetal homopolymer runs from 55 to 60% whereas, acetal copolymer ranges from only 45 to 50%. This results in acetal homopolymer materials that are superior to acetal copolymers, offering higher temperature rating, mechanical strength, mechanical stiffness, toughness, creep resistance and fatigue resistance. These property variations can often mean the difference between the success or failure of a part.

Ensinger offers acetal homopolymer in a variety of formulations in plate, rod, and thin gauge sheet.

For additional information, contact Bruce Dickinson, Ensinger, Inc., 365 Meadowlands Blvd., Washington, PA 15301, 800-243-3221/856-227-0500, Fax: 724-746-9209, Web: www.shopforplastics.com.


Acetal Sheet & Rod

GEHR Acetal, Co- Polymer (POM-C) can be used in temperatures ranging from -58°F to +230°F. POM shows good sliding properties and good resistance to wear because of the high strength and smooth surface. Copolymer (POMC) exhibits a good thermal stability and a high resistance to chemicals.

In addition to the standard 48” sheet lengths, they now offer them in lengths of 96”. The sheets are available in 24” width, thickness from 3/8” up to 8”, in black and natural color. Electrically conductive, GEHR Acetal ELS; antistatic, GEHR Acetal ESd; and wear resistance food grade WEARGEHR Acetal FG formulations are also available.

For additional information, contact Bill Shields, GEHR Plastics USA, 24 Creek Circle, Boothwyn, PA 19061, 800-PVC-GEHR/610-497-8941, Fax: 610-497-8901, E-mail: info@gehrplastics.com, Web: www.gehrplastics.com.


Extruded Shapes

Hi-Tech Profiles, Inc., a leading manufacturer of extruded stock shapes, has entered into its 21st year of service to the plastics distribution industry. Established in 1988, the company has grown steadily from its initial roots of offering only nylon and acetal stock shapes and continues to expand its product lines with the addition of co-extrusion. HTP has moved into a brand new facility in Ashaway, Rhode Island along with its two sister companies, HTP-Meds LLC and Hi-Tech Molds. The three companies combined offer concept to part service with extremely fast turnaround time.

HTP specializes in the extrusion of all engineered thermoplastic materials in sizes ranging from 0.050” to 2.5” OD. The company offers an extensive line of tubing, hollow rod and bushing stock in nylon and acetal that is in stock and available for immediate shipment. Custom sizes are quoted upon request with over twenty different materials to choose from including ECTFE, Polycarbonate, PVDF and Polysulfone. Custom cutting and printing are available upon request with standard stock sizes available. Co-extruded tubing with two and three layer construction in sizes ranging up to 1” OD is also available. Please call for a quote on your next co-extrusion project.

For additional information, contact Brian McGregor, Hi-Tech Profiles, Inc. 15 Gray Lane, Ashaway, RI 02804, 800-342-5495, Fax: 401-377-2423, E-mail: info@hitechprofiles.com, Web: www.hitechprofiles.com.


No Tooling Charge on New Jobs

HPE Extrusion Solutions, specialists in complex plastic extrusions, is offering a limited time waiver of tooling charges on new custom extrusion projects. Tony Madison, HPE President, said the offer had a dual purpose. “We are, of course, interested in expanding our customer base. But we also see this as our own kind of ‘stimulus program.’ Many of our customers are Original Equipment Manufacturers. They look to us to extrude plastic components that are integral parts of their own end products. By offering to design and manufacture a customer’s extrusion dies, we help OEMs keep their production costs down and make it easier—and a lot less expensive— for them to market their industrial or consumer products. To put it another way, we like to think we’re helping in our own small way to ‘jump-start’ the economy.”

For additional information, contact Tony Madison, HPE Extrusion Solutions, Inc., 20 North Front Street, Suite 1, Bally, PA 19503, 610-845-9111, Fax: 610-845-9113, E-mail: tmadison@hpeplasticextrusions.com, Web: www.hpeplasticextrusions.com.


Larger Cast Nylon Sheet

Nylatech, Inc., manufacturers of cast nylon 6 and 6/12 as rod, sheet and tubular bar as well as finished or semifinished custom cast components, can supply sheet in sizes up to 4’ x 10’ in all of their grades including Nylatech® Oil, Nylatech® SL and Nylatech® Nythane™.

For additional information, contact Calvin Petersen, Nylatech, Inc., P.O. Box 455, Everson, WA 98247, 800-506-9566/360-966-2838, Fax: 360-966-2838, E-mail: nylatech@nylatech.com, Web: www.nylatech.com.


Nylon Profiles

Petro Extrusion Technologies, Inc., extrudes custom and stock nylon shapes, in FDA or heat-stabilized grades of Nylon 6 and Nylon 12. Semi-rigid or flexible grades are available for most custom shapes. Profiles can be made in natural, standard or custom colors as required. Petro also offers custom cut to length capabilities. They can also custom extrude profiles based on customer drawings.

For additional information, contact Bob Petrozziello, Petro Extrusion Technologies, Inc., P.O. Box 99, Garwood, NJ 07027, 800-229-3338/908-789-3338, Fax: 908-789-0434, E-mail: rpetro@petroextrusions.com, Web:www.petroextrusions.com.


Tubular Bars

Plastifab Industries offers one of the widest ranges of extruded extra large tubular bars in standard materials such as HDPE, Polypropylene, LDPE, PPS, nylon, acetal and Delrin® AF. Current size offerings range from a combinations of 22” outside diameter to 1.75” inside diameter. Combining longer length availability than other traditional engineering thermoplastics processes, these tubular bars reduce machining costs and provide greater flexibility in many applications.

For additional information, contact Robert S Sowka or Johnny Lapadula, Plastifab Industries, 7777 Transcanadienne, Saint-Laurent, Quebec, 800-361-4774/514-325-9840, Fax: 514-325-5222, E-mail: infoprod@plastifab.ca, Web: www.plastifab.ca.


Custom Tubing & Profiles

The Spiratex Company is a custom thermoplastic extruder of tubing and profiles, founded in 1955. ISO 9001; 2000 certified, Spiratex is an industry leader specializing in a wide range of thermoplastic resins, including nylon and acetal. Their unique capabilities include in-house tooling, co-extrusion, tight tolerance tubing and profiles, ram and screw extrusion processing. The ability to extrude a wide range of thermoplastic resins insures our customers get the right material for the application. Today The Spiratex Company runs 130 ram and screw extrusion machines 24 hour a day. Their employee-owned company prides itself on its work ethic and dedication to problem solving in all industries.

For additional information, contact Barry Mills, The Spiratex Company, 1916 Frenchtown Center Drive, Monroe, MI 48162, 734-641-4111, Fax: 734-289-4804, E-mail: bmills@spiratex.com, Web: www.spiratex.com.


Antistatic Acetal

Westlake Plastic’s Pomalux® SD-A stock shapes are manufactured from a specially compounded, non-carbon filled, permanently antistatic resin which is non-migratory and non-humidity dependent. The material won't slough, has enhanced lubricity, is dimensionally stable, chemically resistant and easy to machine. Enhanced lubricity provides superior wear resistance. Its extremely low outgassing values and nonsloughing characteristics make it ideal for applications where particulate generation cannot be tolerated. In addition to the standard anti-static materials, which allow for a surface resistivity range of 10^7- 10^11 ohms/square, Westlake can now offer Pomalux SD-A in the range of 10^8-10^10 ohms/square. At this time, this special formulation is available in sheet from 1/4" up to 4" thick and soon to be available in rod and thin gauge sheet.

For additional information, contact Gary King, Westlake Plastics Company, P.O. Box 127, Lenni, PA 19052, 800-999-1700/610-459-1000, Fax: 610-459-1084, E-mail: gary@westlakeplastics.com, Web: www.westlakeplastics.com.


Nylon & Acetal Shapes

ZL engineering plastics, inc. supplies high quality nylon and acetal stock shapes, as well as PET, PC, PEI, PEEK and PVDF machining stock. Their inventoried extruded and cast nylon formulations include: natural, black, MDS, blue (cast only) and oil filled (cast only). ZL stocks both homopolymer (Delrin®) and copolymer acetal in natural and black. A broad size range of nylon rod and plate, and acetal rod, plate and tubular bar is ready for immediate shipment. Rod is available from 1/4" to 28" diameter in 36", 48" or 120" lengths. We offer plate from 1/4" to 6" thick in formats from 24" x 48" to 48" x 120". Acetal tubular bar is available from inventory in a wide variety of sizes including O.D.'s from 1" to 10" and I.D.'s of 19/32" to 7.5".

For additional information, contact Lisa Schmid (East), Anna Lopez (West), ZL engineering plastics, inc., 12 John Walsh Road, Peekskill, NY 10566, 914-736-6066, Fax: 914-736-2154, E-Mail: info@zlplastics.com, Web: www.zlplastics.com.


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