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David Ragan
06-03-2015, 3:52 PM
Does this stuff wear very well when sliding on wood, concrete?

Am thinking about making a jig for a track saw using some strips, and also using some to facilitate my DC barrel sliding on the floor when emptying....

Kent A Bathurst
06-03-2015, 3:58 PM
oh, yeah - very slidy stuff - lasts a long time in industrial-strength applications.

just one thing - when you drive screw into / thru it, it will expand/mushroom without proper pilot holes/countersinks/ care
saw/route/drill/machine - all very easy

I gots a chunk of 3/4" around somewhere - maybe 24" x 36" - - - maybe 18" x 30" - - - in that range

We could work out a deal somehow if you want it......

Lee Schierer
06-03-2015, 7:39 PM
I use it to protect the runners on my snow blower from the concrete driveway. It is often used as a liner for dump trucks so the gravel/dirt will slide out easier when tee bed is tipped.

David Ragan
06-04-2015, 11:09 AM
oh, yeah - very slidy stuff - lasts a long time in industrial-strength applications.

just one thing - when you drive screw into / thru it, it will expand/mushroom without proper pilot holes/countersinks/ care
saw/route/drill/machine - all very easy

I gots a chunk of 3/4" around somewhere - maybe 24" x 36" - - - maybe 18" x 30" - - - in that range

We could work out a deal somehow if you want it......

that is a respectable chunk.

Maybe sometime when I have to come down to the sensory overload area (my impression of being below Exit 12), I can come by and give you some of my cash.....

Scott Shepherd
06-04-2015, 11:12 AM
UHMW is made to slide things across, that's it's job :) It's on tons of conveyor systems and places where things slide across them all day.

Phil Thien
06-04-2015, 11:17 AM
Yeah I agree w/ what everyone else says, it is great.

One of the woodworking magazines even made mobile bases that, instead of wheels, had UHMW pads. You didn't wheel the machines around, you slid them. It looked interesting.

Dan Hunkele
06-05-2015, 8:29 AM
Dirt and grit can get embedded in it effectively turning it into sand paper.

Wade Lippman
06-05-2015, 8:46 AM
I use it to protect the runners on my snow blower from the concrete driveway. It is often used as a liner for dump trucks so the gravel/dirt will slide out easier when tee bed is tipped.

How durable is it in that application? I have concrete pavers and the runners aren't always happy on it.
How do you attach them? Glue obviously isn't going to work.

Kent A Bathurst
06-05-2015, 9:05 AM
How durable is it in that application? I have concrete pavers and the runners aren't always happy on it.
How do you attach them? Glue obviously isn't going to work.

machine bolts, countersunk in the UHMW strips, would be my choice.

Kent A Bathurst
06-05-2015, 9:05 AM
Dirt and grit can get embedded in it effectively turning it into sand paper.

I haven't run into that problem..........

glenn bradley
06-05-2015, 9:57 AM
Nor I. How dirty is your shop ;-) I have sled runners that are going on a decade old and are still as tight and slick as ever and I don't treat them with kid gloves.

David Ragan
06-05-2015, 10:10 AM
Nor I. How dirty is your shop ;-) I have sled runners that are going on a decade old and are still as tight and slick as ever and I don't treat them with kid gloves.

It is a lot cleaner now that I got most of the junk out, I can actually see the edges of the floor, and sweep up to them

Several years ago, I put down an epoxy floor, like in an aircraft hanger--worked out great, but was going to be so slick, I was afraid that I would slip on it, so I embedded sand, then another layer, of course over that. It's a great floor, and just enough grip to matter.

The UHMW that I have is only, I think, 3/8", I would like a little thicker, but will likely just epoxy a layer together.

Does epoxy hold that stuff together, if I make in grippy with some scoring and maybe some holes, right?

Kent A Bathurst
06-05-2015, 10:35 AM
First - I went looking - not sure what happened to the 3/4" UHMW - got used? Got misplaced? However, I do see 2 sheets of 1/4" x 12" x 24", though.

I know of no way to use adhesive on UHMW - mechanical fasteners only, has been my personal experience.

Dave Anderson NH
06-05-2015, 1:28 PM
All of the members of the polyolefin family (polyethylene, polypropylene, and UHMW) are considered to be low surface energy plastics and as such are difficult to bond by other than mechanical means. Having said that, 3M has a series of pressure sensitive adhesives (psa) that is specifically designed to bond to low surface energy plastics. It is their 300LSE series and the rolls are 60 yards by whatever width you want them cut to. They are available in .002", .0035", and .005" thicknesses and can provide a full structural bond as long as both mating surfaces are completely whetted out.

Kent A Bathurst
06-05-2015, 1:34 PM
All of the members of the polyolefin family (polyethylene, polypropylene, and UHMW) are considered to be low surface energy plastics and as such are difficult to bond by other than mechanical means. Having said that, 3M has a series of pressure sensitive adhesives (psa) that is specifically designed to bond to low surface energy plastics. It is their 300LSE series and the rolls are 60 yards by whatever width you want them cut to. They are available in .002", .0035", and .005" thicknesses and can provide a full structural bond as long as both mating surfaces are completely whetted out.


Who was that masked man? :confused: :confused:

Dave - not your general in-passing knowledge. What is it that you do that put this one in your wheelhouse?

Chris Padilla
06-05-2015, 1:59 PM
Dave is even a mystery in the mysterious Moderator section here on da Creek. ;)

Chris Padilla
06-05-2015, 2:06 PM
Ultra High Molecular Weight - UHMW. I didn't see that anyone spelled the acronym out. :D

Lee Schierer
06-05-2015, 7:24 PM
Having said that, 3M has a series of pressure sensitive adhesives (psa) that is specifically designed to bond to low surface energy plastics. It is their 300LSE series and the rolls are 60 yards by whatever width you want them cut to. They are available in .002", .0035", and .005" thicknesses and can provide a full structural bond as long as both mating surfaces are completely whetted out.

The adhesive backed tape makes great shims for taking the slop out of a loose miter gauge bar and it lasts years longer than the dimples you might make with a center punch. The best part is that the shim is continuous along the entire length of the bar.

When I worked, I came across some UHMW sheet material that had a fabric type matting embedded on one side that allowed you to use epoxy type adhesives to bond the UHMW to other surfaces.

Dave Anderson NH
06-05-2015, 8:11 PM
Kent-

I have spent the last 40 years in the plastics, rubber, and foam fabrication business. You should see some of the weird materials we work with. Machining, die cutting, etc. I'm the guy who quotes jobs, knocks on doors, and tells the customers when they need to redesign something to make it manufacturable. In addition to college (BSCE), I have had the opportunity to take a wide variety of courses from material manufacturers, 3M was a full week and that was only one of their classes. One of the nice bennies of going into only partial retirement (3 day week) is that I have access to a full tool and die shop at work.

Chris Padilla
06-06-2015, 1:36 AM
Very cool stuff right there, Dave.

David Ragan
06-06-2015, 6:03 PM
I love engineers and chemists. All science is really cool.

Know why I love you all so much? Cause you understand that, unlike a lot of patients (I'm a family doc), who think lots of things are black and white, there really are very few things in this world that are black and white, especially with complex systems.

Kent A Bathurst
06-06-2015, 6:38 PM
I love engineers and chemists. All science is really cool.

Know why I love you all so much? Cause you understand that, unlike a lot of patients (I'm a family doc), who think lots of things are black and white, there really are very few things in this world that are black and white, especially with complex systems.


David -- don't get sucked in by the "Man Behind The Curtain" scam - they count on that, you know.......:p

David Ragan
06-06-2015, 9:55 PM
David -- don't get sucked in by the "Man Behind The Curtain" scam - they count on that, you know.......:p

Yeah, but in his little booth, there is another curtain, and then another, and another.....until you hit the realm of "what is the ultimate nature of Reality?"