At some point in the future I will need a sheet of delrin/acetal, 4 x 8
feet and 3/16" thick. The color doesn't matter. I can't use smaller
sizes since I'll need unbroken strips around 72" long.

Assuming I can pick up, what would be a reasonable price for this?
There's not too many places listing prices for whole 4x8 sheets, just
smaller pieces. Judging by those prices, the full-sheet cost could be
anywhere from $600 to $1000.



Also does Cope Plastics sell single sheets to individuals? There is a
warehouse location near me I'm hoping that will. I won't need it for a
while so I haven't bothered them yet.

"DougC" wrote in message
...
At some point in the future I will need a sheet of delrin/acetal, 4 x 8
feet and 3/16" thick. The color doesn't matter. I can't use smaller sizes
since I'll need unbroken strips around 72" long.

Assuming I can pick up, what would be a reasonable price for this? There's
not too many places listing prices for whole 4x8 sheets, just smaller
pieces. Judging by those prices, the full-sheet cost could be anywhere
from $600 to $1000.



Also does Cope Plastics sell single sheets to individuals? There is a
warehouse location near me I'm hoping that will. I won't need it for a
while so I haven't bothered them yet.

No ideas on a supplier where you are, but consider getting them to cut it to
size for you. We do this with some plastic we buy & the cost is reasonable
considering it comes in ready for final machining.

At work we pay about $220 for a 2' x 4' x 3/8" thick sheet of black Acetron
GP (copolymer acetal), which going by weight would imply about $440 for a 4'
x 8' x 3/16" sheet. Our favorite supplier for plastics is Sabic
Polymershapes but Total Plastics usually isn't bad either (here in Maryland,
anyway). Definitely pay them to cut any material to your final size, the
smaller pieces make shipping much cheaper and they have the right blades and
setup for good quality cuts. A typical cut spec is -0 + 0.02". I know some
materials aren't available in larger sheets above some maximum thickness, I
guess it's possible you are running into that limit. Just call a few
distributors and they will tell you.

-----
Regards,
Carl Ijames
"Dennis" wrote in message
news

"DougC" wrote in message
...
At some point in the future I will need a sheet of delrin/acetal, 4 x 8
feet and 3/16" thick. The color doesn't matter. I can't use smaller sizes
since I'll need unbroken strips around 72" long.

Assuming I can pick up, what would be a reasonable price for this? There's
not too many places listing prices for whole 4x8 sheets, just smaller
pieces. Judging by those prices, the full-sheet cost could be anywhere
from $600 to $1000.



Also does Cope Plastics sell single sheets to individuals? There is a
warehouse location near me I'm hoping that will. I won't need it for a
while so I haven't bothered them yet.

No ideas on a supplier where you are, but consider getting them to cut it to
size for you. We do this with some plastic we buy & the cost is reasonable
considering it comes in ready for final machining.

On 9/20/2011 11:23 PM, Carl Ijames wrote:
At work we pay about $220 for a 2' x 4' x 3/8" thick sheet of black Acetron
GP (copolymer acetal), which going by weight would imply about $440 for a 4'
x 8' x 3/16" sheet. Our favorite supplier for plastics is Sabic
Polymershapes but Total Plastics usually isn't bad either (here in Maryland,
anyway). Definitely pay them to cut any material to your final size, the
smaller pieces make shipping much cheaper and they have the right blades and
setup for good quality cuts. A typical cut spec is -0 + 0.02". I know some
materials aren't available in larger sheets above some maximum thickness, I
guess it's possible you are running into that limit. Just call a few
distributors and they will tell you.



I never could find anywhere that would sell me a 4' x 8' sheet without
having a corporate account. I wanted to form an LLC eventually but it
will cost ~$700 I don't want to spend right now. PLus I think they want
a bank account to debit, not sure if they'd accept a company credit
card. :|

Its kinda stupid though. Cope Plastics main warehouse is ~30 minutes
away. They had it, and I didn't even need it cut. I can understand that
they don't want to get nickeled-and-dimed with everybody who wants half
a square foot of this-and-that, but this would have been a $450 sale
with not much real time or effort on their part.

Using two 4-foot strips joined turns out to be a lot easier anyway.

--------

I see that there are various fillings you can get in acetal, but what is
"acetal copolymer"? For a .25" x 2' x 4' sheet of real-actual-Delrin I
see prices around $220, for a 2' x 4' sheet of acetal I see prices
around $120, but for acetal copolymer they want $160?

Some places sell plain acetal sheet and also sell the 'acetal copolymer'
sheet, so it's not the same thing.

At work we have a "corporate account", whatever that is :-). We buy about
$15-20,000 worth of plastic stock a year from Sabic Polymershapes, and the
sales guy I always deal with has told me a few times over the years that
Acetron GP isn't available in anything bigger than 2x4' (at least in 3/8"
thickness, never asked about anything else). Wikipedia is a good place to
look for the differences between nylon, delrin, acetal, and acetal copolymer
(www.wikipedia.org).

-----
Regards,
Carl Ijames
"DougC" wrote in message ...

On 9/20/2011 11:23 PM, Carl Ijames wrote:
At work we pay about $220 for a 2' x 4' x 3/8" thick sheet of black
Acetron
GP (copolymer acetal), which going by weight would imply about $440 for a
4'
x 8' x 3/16" sheet. Our favorite supplier for plastics is Sabic
Polymershapes but Total Plastics usually isn't bad either (here in
Maryland,
anyway). Definitely pay them to cut any material to your final size, the
smaller pieces make shipping much cheaper and they have the right blades
and
setup for good quality cuts. A typical cut spec is -0 + 0.02". I know
some
materials aren't available in larger sheets above some maximum thickness,
I
guess it's possible you are running into that limit. Just call a few
distributors and they will tell you.



I never could find anywhere that would sell me a 4' x 8' sheet without
having a corporate account. I wanted to form an LLC eventually but it
will cost ~$700 I don't want to spend right now. PLus I think they want
a bank account to debit, not sure if they'd accept a company credit
card. :|

Its kinda stupid though. Cope Plastics main warehouse is ~30 minutes
away. They had it, and I didn't even need it cut. I can understand that
they don't want to get nickeled-and-dimed with everybody who wants half
a square foot of this-and-that, but this would have been a $450 sale
with not much real time or effort on their part.

Using two 4-foot strips joined turns out to be a lot easier anyway.

--------

I see that there are various fillings you can get in acetal, but what is
"acetal copolymer"? For a .25" x 2' x 4' sheet of real-actual-Delrin I
see prices around $220, for a 2' x 4' sheet of acetal I see prices
around $120, but for acetal copolymer they want $160?

Some places sell plain acetal sheet and also sell the 'acetal copolymer'
sheet, so it's not the same thing.