Delrin/acetal sheet - cost?

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.

Reply to
DougC
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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.

Reply to
Dennis

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.

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.

Reply to
Carl Ijames

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.

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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.

Reply to
DougC

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

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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.

Reply to
Carl Ijames

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