Cheap UMHW Poly?

[Mike Buelow]

Anyone know of any online sites or stores that sell UMHW cheaper than Rockler? For some reason it seems expensive and I was thinking that it could be cheaper when targeted towards other applications.

TIA!

[Al Killian]

Do a search on plastic suppleirs. That might be your best bet.

[Rob Will]

Try Big River Rubber & Gasket in Owensboro KY. They sell a ton of this stuff and have a pile of cut-offs that they will sell. All thicknesses of sheet plus extrusions, round, square etc.

http://www.bigriverrubber.com/

You might ask the guys at the sales counter to look for a piece that fits your needs.

Rob

[Russ Filtz]

try US Plastics online. Or CS Hyde

[Robert Waddell]

Try Ohio-Pierce Company. www.freckleface.com Yeah, that web address is right. I've bought polymer sheets from them several times with no problems and prices are good.

[JayStPeter]

While I've never found UHMW that I have truly considered "cheap", I have bought some lots off ebay and directly from an ebay seller at machinist-materials.com. Mostly about 1/2 the price of industrial supply and plastics joints, but in odd sizes. If you need a specific size though, you may be out of luck using this route. I bought a couple lots that I still use for jigs and stuff where I can adjust the project to fit the materials at hand ;) . When I needed some to make a fence face, I believe the best price I found was at mscdirect.com. But, it's been a while.

[Matt Calder]

Jay,
I am a happy customer of onlinemetals.com (no other affiliation). They have a large variety of plastics to choose from.

Matt

[jonathan snyder]

Check your yellow pages under plastics, but the stuff is not cheap. My local plastics store keeps even the smallest peices of the stuff from larger projects, so I can usaully get a piece almost the exact size I need for a decent price.

Jonathan

[James Carmichael]

http://www.mcmaster.com/

[Mike Buelow]

Thanks for all your inputs. I am most certainly an odd lots type. I'm always willing to compromise design dimensions in favor of second hand material!

[Ralph Okonieski]

I've never tried this suggestion but read it on another thread here at SMC. Anyway, the suggestion was to buy an inexpensive "plastic" cutting board from W'mart. Actually the thread suggested cutting one of these up for runners when making jigs for TS or router table. Again, never tried it so can't confirm its usefulness.

[Jim Becker]

Ralph, I've seen folks post about using the slipery plastic cutting boards to make zero clearance inserts...I haven't done that myself, but the two we have in the kitchen are pretty much the ideal 1/2" thick! ;)

[Rob Will]

Ralph, I've seen folks post about using the slipery plastic cutting boards to make zero clearance inserts...I haven't done that myself, but the two we have in the kitchen are pretty much the ideal 1/2" thick! ;)

Jim,

I have seen UHMW experience some instability with temperature changes and just not wanting to stay flat. Are the cutting boards the same as UHMW from the plastics store? I have done my zero clearance inserts out of 1/2" phenolic sheets. The UHMW sounds like a good idea but will it stay flat?

Rob

[Bill Neely]

I believe cutting boards are made from HDPE which is less expensive than UMHW.