anyone work with delrin?

[upTheHill]

I'm making small parts for an airgun, and want weight to be kept to a minimum and was thinking of using delrin, but not sure how well it machines,and how much weight I'dsave over 6061 Al

 

[GaryK]

Delrin (acetal) is great to work with.

Easy to hold dimensions with it. It can also take a beating.

It all really depends on the parts you want to make. Where it might work for a trigger, maybe not not for an air cylinder.

You can usually get scraps from a plastic supply place to see how you like it.

I like it in black.

 

[upTheHill]

I was thinking of a shroud and baffles

 

[Richard King]

Check out http://www.tstar.com/vlc.asp

They have a "Learning Center" with video's and an Engineering staff you can ask.
I have worked with these guys for years and they are very helpful.

 

[David Kirtley]

I was making some bearings with it this week. It machines nicely. Make sure you have sharp tools. I don't know if the weight would make that much difference if it is just a few small parts.

Only thing to watch out for that I know of is that the holes you drill or ream tend to come out undersized. I had to go back and ream a few extra times to get to the right diameter. It will grab a drill bit real quickly. Drill fast and don't let the drill run in the hole very long. I did my reaming over a couple days to make sure things cooled off to get to the right size for reamed holes. I wasn't in a hurry.

 

[Tom Griffin]

Delrin or acetal is about half the weight of aluminum and machines very well. One thing you need to be aware of is that flat stock in particular contains a lot of stresses and will warp if machined unevenly. If you have asymmetric parts and need to hold tight tolerances, it may be worthwhile to rough machine, then finish machine them. Round stock is not near as bad.

Tom

 

[darkzero]

I love machining Delrin/acetal. Machines & threads nicely, I've even knulred it with good results (form knurling). As mentioned, use sharp tools, I use sharp high positive inserts used for Al. I've only worked with round stock though. As with any swarf, be careful of it when taking very deep cuts & drilling fast as the swarf builds up fast & can catch things and yourself in a blink of an eye.

 

[JBrentMac]

A company I worked for til about a year and a half ago specialized in pneumatic (air pressure) tools. I don't really have anything to add to what everybody else has said so far except that we used delrin quite a bit as it is well suited for the application.