Types of Plastics for Chucking Jigs

[Glenn Barber]

Looking for some info on the various plastics that can be used for making chucking jigs.
Example of what I mean:http://www.woodturnerscatalog.com/p/5/-/23/103/-/5434/Turners-Select-Nylon-Chucking-Blank
The list of is pretty long......nylon 6, nylon 6/6, PVC I, PVC II, Delrin/Acetal, HDPE, UHMW......I plan to tap and thread some jigs directly onto the spindle and use others in a scroll chuck. Any advice and experience is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Glenn

[Harry Robinette]

I've used allot of UHMW for jigs around the shop but not much of the others,PVC for Vac chuck that's about it for me.

[Prashun Patel]

I like PVC. It's cheap, comes in a lot of sizes @ HD and can be glued together easy. It's tricky to turn though. Very stringy, and easy to gouge and slip.

[Dennis Ford]

I have used PVC and delrin, I prefer the delrin.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I also use PVC and delrin.

[Eric Holmquist]

I tend to us PVC and Delrin as well. I find that I don't like how UHMW machines, Delrin machines like a dream. I've never tried Nylon.

[Glenn Barber]

Thanks for all the thoughts and input.

Glenn

[Dale Cruea]

We used nylon/plastic at work when I was die making.

The best way I found to drill plastic was to put a small negative or flat rake on the drill cutting edge.
The drill wants to pull into plastic and the negative rake stops that. Squares off the cutting edge some.

On a machinists lathe I would use the same negative rake or a flat tool.
I am not much of a wood lathe man but I don't think a chisel type tool would work well.
Something like a scraper may work well. Hone the burr off of the top, make the edge as square as possible.

I never tried cutting plastic at home on my wood lathe other than pens.

This also works well for non-ferrous metals like brass that grabs when drilling.
I would keep a common size set of drills just for brass and plastic.

Coolant helps some when drilling on a drill press.
Keep the drill cool as possible if the plastic is getting hot and melting.

As I remember we kept the speeds down to the low side to keep the heat down.
We also had coolant on our lathes and drill presses.