Anybody Turn Delrin or Nylon

[Mike Goetzke]

I need to make couple of rollers out of subject material. Wondering if anyone has experience turning this. Speed? Tools? Can it be polished?

Thanks

[John K Jordan]

I need to make couple of rollers out of subject material. Wondering if anyone has experience turning this. Speed? Tools? Can it be polished?

Thanks

Mike,

I've turned delrin, nylon, teflon, acrylic, HDPE, and a few other non-wood things. Delrin and nylon are easy and clean to turn. I haven't tried polishing them but I got a clean surface from the tools - I think I used some fine sandpaper on some. (I turned a number of small nylon tips for throwing tops.) When I turn acrylic it polishes easily to a reflective glass-like surface but acrylic (cast, not extruded) is not soft as the others.

I have no idea of the speeds I used. I remember mostly using sharp spindle gouges, skews, and a Hunter Hercules tool.

With some materials the biggest problem is the long, continuous strings of "shavings" that come off the tool and wrap around the work. I had to repeatedly stop the lathe to cut and pull away the bird's nests. I found a solution with acrylic, at least: if I ran the dust collector with a pickup nozzle just behind the work it would pick up the end of a strand and pull the entire length into the nozzle, keeping it from wrapping around the work.

JKJ

[Marvin Hasenak]

I have turned Delrin, Nylon and HDPE, treat it about the same as wood and you will be okay. Polishing is not easy, none seem to polish like the resins or acrylics, I sand through the grits using ATF as a lubricant, then buff. Do not buff aggressively, or you can buff flat spots. I have used a torch to polish Delrin, that will get you a nice matte looking surface. I won't try to explain that, search videos for polishing acrylic with a torch.

[Pete Staehling]

I have worked with HDPE on a metal turning lathe and on woodworking tools other than a lathe. It works pretty easily. It takes some care to avoid raising a sort of ragged edge where some material kind of hangs on and rolls over when sanding, but a light touch and fresh abrasives avoid that. I have sawed and turned it at pretty high speeds with no issues.

[Mike Goetzke]

Thanks for the suggestions. I have a fancy Italian tile cutter that needs the sliding arm tension rollers (bearing) replaced. This morning I found McMaster has a tube that may work for less than $5. I still may need to cut some chamfers and part it off on the lathe.

Mike

[Mike Goetzke]

Just a followup - I have a new project of making several Delrin bench dogs I need to make for my MFT slab tops. I made a couple using conventional tools but surface shows chatter which is not a big issue here but looking for better way to do this. I was at Rockler and a young clerk/turner told me to try a negative rake carbide cutter. Bought one (square-radius-ed cutter) and tried it out and the surface was smooth are could be - not polished but no real tool marks or chatter.

Mike

[Terry Vaughan]

Those stringy shavings can block up a dust extractor, or at least reduce the air flow, if it has a grid/screen fitted. I took the grid off mine for that reason.

[Robert Willing]

I had the same problem!:eek:

[Reed Gray]

I bought some 5/8 inch round delrin for spin top points. Big tops...... Turned fine, but the long strings are a bother....

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

I bought some 5/8 inch round delrin for spin top points. Big tops...... Turned fine, but the long strings are a bother....

robo hippy

Don't know if you caught what I wrote before, but when turning plastics the long strings that otherwise wrapped around the spindles were tamed with a dust collector nozzle just behind the lathe - it would catch the end of a strand and pull it into the duct as fast as it could come off the lathe - solved the problem.

[Reed Gray]

Can't remember if I caught that or not. I do separate that from my shavings as it doesn't compost very well....

robo hippy

[John K Jordan]

Can't remember if I caught that or not. I do separate that from my shavings as it doesn't compost very well....

robo hippy

Good point! Fortunately, the plastic separates nicely by hand after I dump the bin in the woods and spread it out thin with a rake.