Source for nylon rod

[John Torchick]

Need to make some nylon bushings for turning reel inserts. I plan on putting the predrilled insert on the bushing and turning to OD. The ID of the insert will be about 0.625 inch; insert length will be about 4 inches. My mandrel sizes are 1/4 and 5/16. Your suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Dwight R Rutherford]

MSC has nylon rod.

 

[Larry Komroff]

McMaster Carr also has nylon rod

 

[Larry Copas]

Small pieces like that I get off eBay. I look for free shipping.

Why nylon? I would probably use Delrin.

 

[Bill Boehme]

My local Ace Hardware has a good selection in open stock, but the lengths are generally about an inch or less.

 

[John Torchick]

Thanks. Not available in any of the box stores or hardware stores. Larry, good idea; thanks.

 

[john lucas]

I bought the last plastic rod, wasn't nylon but something similar from Enco which is now MSC.

 

[Barry Crowder]

Another source to consider is onlinemetals.com

I buy small quantities of metals from them but they sell plastics, too.

 

[Mark Hepburn]

Amazon also has nylon rod. Also UMHW if that will work for you. It's nearly impossible to glue and is super slippery.

 

[Michael Mills]

This place has acetal/derlin rod also.
http://www.eplastics.com/Acetal_Delrin_Rod
If you click on the buy now, the second page gives prices for cutting it to length for you which may be worthwhile. They may have the OD you will need to keep from turning the outside.
They also list pipe/tube but nothing with an ID of 5/8 as you stated.

 

[Raul McCai]

If it's a bearing:
Nylon can be a great choice. It's tough got a low coefficient of friction and tolerates moderate heat. I think the reason we see so many bearings from nylon is it's cheap and flexible. There are better choices though.

Delrin is nice for low load low speed because it's cheap easy to machine and pretty tough.

If it's a high pressure bearing or expected to last a long time, I'd consider Rulon LR. Rulon uses PTFE as a precursor. If it is really heavy loads look for Rulon 142. If it's food safe you want, try Rulon 641. If the bearing is going to impinge on a gummy material like Aluminum then Rulon J is good. I've made a lot of bearings from Rulon when I was in the aerospace R&D business.

UHMWPE is a great light duty bearing material too; Machines like Buttah'

Nylon is often most often used as a bearing material when molded. Nylon 6 has graphite in it.

 

[John Torchick]

Refer to my first post for the purpose of the plastic material. I just might use masking tape to make the spacer. Rodbuilding uses a ton of masking tape. Almost as useful as duct/duck tape.