plastic tubing

Check

They might have one that does something similar and would describe it as such.

Have you explored nylon tubing? Hose supply houses sell it for air handling (under pressure, like air lines). . It's quite rigid, but has a coiled memory. May not be what you're looking for.

Harold

I have never seen a plastic tubing like this, unless of course you would apply some heat. Why not try some 1/2 inch PVC and try filling it with a fine sand or some salt. Heat it slowly wile rotating the pipe.

Would glass tubing work? That bends real easy with a bunsen burner or a propane torch.

I am trying to prototype a product that in its application would need the capability of being bent in various shapes during its short life. I have contemplated inserting a 14 gauge copper wire into an extrusion but that would complicate things needlessly if there is a plastic of some sort that has copper like properties ( bend and stay bent )

How about the tubing that coily 'plastic' air hoses are made of ?? J

Hey Terry,

Aluminum and copper as tubing don't exactly "bend" either. They need to be formed to do what I think you are after. Some of the corrugated products stay flexible until pressure is applied, as in Natural gas piping used as appliance connections, and I see some of them are not metals anymore.There is a pipe for use as either electrical conduit or water supplies (two different products actually) called "Sceptre", which can be formed with a heat-gun, same as you can do with the plastic fill-tubes for toilets/lav sets. You might also look up the properties of "Pexto" on Google (I didn't).

Take care.

Brian Laws>Does anyone know of a plastic tube that reacts like copper or aluminum.

Crosslinked polyethlene w/ Aluminum. It's used for in floor radiant heating. I have a sample piece at home. I think Kitec is the company. It won't kink unless you bend it into a REALLY tight radius. I messes around with my sample for a long time before I finally kinked it, and then I think it was more due to repetitive stressing and not really because I bent it too tightly.

JW

Hey guys,

Somebody was asking a few days back about removing the "tit" left when turning off a part. There is a company that makes a line of machines to do just that. They call it a "TIPSHEAR". Company is Beere Precision Products in Racine, WI. I saw them demo a small one at IMTS2004. Simple, easy, fast, and it worked very well.

Take care.

Brian Lawson, Bothwell, Ontario

I have one of those tools. It's called a file. In any case, if you have the tool set on centre height properly you get no tit in the first place. Also my main facing tool has negative rake so once the tip has passed centre the cutting edge of the tool rises and removes any tit left by the point. After

15 years of parting off stuff it certainly isn't something I think I need to go out and buy.

-- Dave Baker - Puma Race Engines

After

Newbie, huh?

Harold

Yeah, but fortunately, few people have been so permanently scarred by years of machining missile parts to consider such. :^)

Tim

-- "I've got more trophies than Wayne Gretsky and the Pope combined!" - Homer Simpson Website @