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Nylon – Polyamide

plastic-shapes-IPS-4

Nylon (Polyamide)

PA6, PA6/6, PA6/10, PA6/12


Type 6, Type 6/6, Type 6/10, and Type 6/12 

Commonly known as PA6 (Cast) and PA66 (Extruded)
Available As Sheet, Rod, Tubular Bar, Tube and Cast Blocks and Shapes

Nylon material is used frequently in a self lubricating bearing surface or slide type applications. Resistant to most common chemicals.

One of the most popular work horse materials of the mechanical plastics family. The number designations that follow each type of nylon refers to the number of carbon atoms contained in the material’s prior polymerization process.

Used in Food Processing, Automotive, Fluid Handling, Electronics and Mining applications.

Other brand or trade names for Type 6/6 and Type 6: Vekton®, Unipa®, Tecast®, Nyoil®, Tecamid®, Sustamid®, Capron®, Nylatron®, Ensilon®, and Zytel®.  This wear resistant plastic is one of the best known superior mechanical plastic materials.

Various colors are available depending on the type of nylon need for your application.

Nylon is a High Tech Performance Plastic.

Large Natural Cast Nylon Tube Parts
A wide range of thicknesses are available in Natural and Black Nylon 66 sheet
Huge Cast Nylon type 6 looks like massive hockey puck
Nylon material is a durable material generally used for wear applications. Large cross sections and custom shapes can be made with the Type 6 Cast Nylon, as well as additives to increase desired properties. In the Cast Nylon Type 6, colors, lubricants, Food Grade Oil filled, stiffeners (glass), Molybdenum Disulfide or MD Filled, and other custom blends.

Why you should use Nylon/Polyamide:

  • Very Stiff Material – Great Wear Properties
  • Good Mechanical and Impact Properties
  • Self Lubricating & Abrasion Resistant
  • Many Varieties and formulations Available
  • Extremely Durable – High End Home Carpet and Tough Household Rope are Great Examples
  • Huge range of rod and sheet sizes – available as standard, also massive capacity on special order.
  • Nylon is ITAR compliant, and Nylon is RoHS compliant

Cast Nylon molded onto metal core as Gear

Common Specifications for Nylon 66 include: L-P-410 (LP410) with some exceptions, ASTM-D-4066 and ASTM-D-6779. Contact us for additional information on specifications.

This materials is…excellent wearing and very abrasion resistant. Introduced in 1938, and now one of the world’s most recognized plastic materials. Inherently dimensionally stable makes for consistent finished parts. An extremely tough material used in numerous demanding applications (like Carpet fiber and common Rope).

  • Door latches
  • Windshield wiper parts
  • Wire connectors
  • Fishing lines
  • Oil pans
  • Speedometer gears
  • Cooling fans
  • Bearings
  • Wear pads
  • Rollers
  • Sprockets

Large shapes can be produced in Cast Nylon Type 6

Materials Available As:

Nylon Sheet and Sheets:

.062″ (1/16″) – 6.0″ in Natural (Tan – Beige), Black and MD in 24″ X 48″ and up to 48″ X 96″
Nylon sheet thickness normally in stock: .125″, .187″, .250″, .375″, .500″, .625″, .750″, .875″, 1.0″, 1.250″, 1.500″, 1.750″, 2.0″, 2.250″, 2.500″, 2.750″, 3.0″, 3.50″, 3.750″, 4.0″ and thicker

Film:

.005″ – .062″ in 12″ wide in Natural (Tan – Beige), Black and MD (minimums may apply)
Nylon Rod and Rods:

.125″ – 10″ diameter in Natural (Tan – Beige), Black and MD Filled – up to 120″ lengths

Nylon rod diameters normally in stock:
.125″, .187″, .250″, .312″, .375″, .437″, .500″, .562″, .625″, .750″, .875″, 1.0″, 1.125″, 1.250″, 1.375″, 1.500″, 1.625″, 1.750″, 2.0″, 2.250″, 2.500″, 2.750″, 3.0″, 3.250″, 3.50″, 3.750″, 4.0″, 4.50″, 5.0″ and much larger depending on length

Cast Nylon Type 6 Rod and Rods:

2.0″ – 26″ diameter in Natural (Tan – Beige), Blue, Oil Filled, MD Filled, FDA grade, Black and other specialty formulations. Various lengths and sizes including 120″ lengths in some sizes.

Cast Nylon Type 6 Blocks and Near Net Shapes:

This is hard to quantify, as we can produce from small to massive blocks and ‘near net shapes’ in a limitless range of sizes. Simply let us know the size and shape you are looking for, and we will do our best to produce a Cast Nylon Part that size. Cast Nylon is available in Natural (Tan – Beige), Blue, Oil Filled, MD Filled, FDA grade, Black and other specialty formulations.

Large Cast Blocks and Discs:

Use your imagination! Discs – 2.0″ x 72″ diameter in Natural (Tan – Beige), Blue, Oil Filled, MD Filled, FDA grade, Black and other specialty formulations. Many shapes are available in thicknesses up to 14″. Please give us a call, we have supplied huge blocks and large chunks.
Cast Tube (Tubular Bar):

You read that right – tube. 2.0″ – 36″ OD with a huge variety of wall thicknesses. The lengths depend on the wall thickness, but generally up to 48″ long. These Cast Nylon Tubes are available in Natural (Tan – Beige), Blue, Oil Filled, MD Filled, FDA grade, Black and other specialty formulations.

Special Formulations:

Nylon Massive Blocks, Huge Sheave, Near Net Shapes – Nylon – Polyamide Glass Reinforced in various percentages of glass, Oil Filled, FDA approved Oil Filled, MD Filled, Blue, Type 6, Type 6/12. Custom sizes, formulations and colors. Massive and Near-Net Shapes on special request. Rod and Rods are available up to 120″ long in huge diameters. Sheet sizes up to 48″ X 96″ in most varieties. Give us a try, we can probably do what you need.
These Properties are for evaluation purposes only. This information is not to be construed as a warranty, guarantee or assurance that you may achieve the same results. Materials made from different resin types, manufacturing techniques and manufacturers will react differently. The information should be used to compare against other materials only, and each user should make his own tests to determine suitability. No warranty as to this materials suitability are either expressed or implied.

Typical Resin Properties for Nylon 6/6 and Nylon Type 6

These properties are for evaluation purposes only. This information is not to be construed as a warranty, guarantee or assurance that you may achieve the same results. Materials made from different resin types, manufacturing techniques and manufacturers will react differently. The information should be used to compare against other materials only, and each user should make his own tests to determine suitability. No warranty as to this materials suitability are either expressed nor implied.

Nylon 6, Nylon 6/6 and Nylon 6/12 – What is the best Nylon rod or sheet to use

Nylon 6, Nylon 6/6 and Nylon 6/12 – What is the best Nylon rod or sheet to use

Nylon® Rod and Sheet (Polyamide) Grades available

The Nylon® Family of plastics are all very tough, strong, machine well, and have excellent wear properties. Nylon is a very popular plastic material, and is found in numerous applications. One of the largest usages is the production of household carpeting because of the excellent wear resistance. Nylon frequently replaces materials such as UHMW, PET, Acetal Copolymer – Acetal Homopolymer, and ABS. It will outwear most plastics and is self lubricating.

The wide variety of types and colors is one of the largest in the plastic industry.Common uses for Nylon Plastic materials

Nylon® Type 6/6 Rod, Sheet and Plate

The extruded Nylon 6/6 (Nylon Rod, Nylon Sheets and NylonTubes) material (aka: Polyhexamethylene Adiptimide) is available as Natural (tan – straw), Black, Glass filled (medium tan) and a molybdenum disulphide filled which is very dark gray. The most common size range for the extruded Nylon 6/6 is .125″ – 4.0″ diameter rod, and .125″ – 4.0″ thick sheet. The thicker materials should be cast due to cost and stress issues. For addition details on the Nylon Rod and Sheet 6/6 – see the data sheet.

Nylon Type 6 Cast Polycaprolactam

The cast Nylon type 6 has almost limitless possibilities. Many colors are available in Cast Nylon, the natural color, black, blue, dark gray (normally molybdenum disulphide filled again), green and many more. Sometimes the color is determined by the additive (oil filled) or by industry. Because of its relative ease of manufacture, many companies prefer to get their Nylon in a special color to help ‘brand’ their parts.

Cast Type 6 Polyamide can be made in Nylon rod from about 1.25″ diameter to almost any size. Nylon sheet normally starts at about .75″ thickness, and

Large Cast Nylon Type 6 Rod

Cast Nylon Type 6 Rod – 26″ OD X 8.0″ Thick

once again, can be made to almost any thickness. In addition to standard rod and plate, other sizes and shapes can be cast from Nylon Type 6 – ie. discs, tubes, near net shapes, large profiles, etc. The only limitations are how much money you have, and the size of the truck to get it to you! We have had cast very large blocks (11″ X 11″ X 48″ solid), sheaves up to 66″ OD, large tubes 36″OD X 12″ ID X 14″ long, and many more massive Nylon Cast parts.

Nylon 6/12 -Low Moisture Absorption

The claim to fame for the Nylon Type 6/12 is the low moisture absorption of the material. This grade of Nylon Sheet and Nylon rod is more stable that the type 6 or 6/6, and with the lower water absorption, this resin can handle a wider range of environments. Our manufacturer partners can run this as an Extruded Nylon Rod or Nylon sheet item or as a Cast Nylon Rod item. This opens the door to a wide range of sizes and shapes. This material exhibits most of the same properties of the Nylon 6/6 and Cast Type 6, with some slight improvements in key properties.

Filled Grades of Nylon

Because of the processing of Cast Nylon, many additives can be mixed into the material. The most common are: glass filled, oil filled, Kevlar fiber filled (Hydlar Z) and the molybdenum disulphide (M0S2). In addition, other fills and colorants (pigments) can be added to assist in manufacture or processing.

Common specifications for Nylon are: L-P-410, ASTM D-4066, L-P-395C, Mil-M-20693B Comp A, Ty I, IA, II and III, Mil-M-20693B Comp B, Ty 4, Mil-P-17091B Type 1, and Mil-P-46060, PA0613, ASTM D-5989 S-PA0511, and more.

Before buying your next big chunk of Nylon, contact us for information on the benefits of a filled  or near net-shape Cast Nylon part.

Contact us with your specifications, we look forward to assisting you.

Email us with questions or comments, or call us at 866-832-9315

Topic: Nylon Rod and Sheet

Innovative Plastic Materials from an Innovative Manufacturer

Innovative Plastic Materials from an Innovative Manufacturer

Innovative Plastics Manufacturer

Produces Innovative Sheet and Rod Materials

Gehr Plastics has been a major global manufacturer in the plastic sheet and rod industry since 1932. During this period, Gehr has become a leader in a variety of product lines, and also become known for very large sizes in both sheet and rod. Currently Gehr can produce Acetal rod up to 20″ in diameter and sheets up to 8″ thick.   Some of the many plastic materials the Gehr produces:ECO GEHR plastic rod

Winner of the 2008 Bioplastics Award

Radel R5500 Performance Plastics

Radel Rod is produced in many medical grade colors

Being innovative also means looking forward. Gehr was selected as the Bioplastics manufacturer of the year in 2008, partly for the new line of plastic materials which have a bio base. These materials have a variety of bio based forms, including: a PLA base, Cellulose based, Polyamide and Wood – Plastic Composite (WPC). One such material is ECOGEHR PLA-L which is a blend of polylactic (polylactic acid), some lignine, fatty acid and wax. This biopolymer is new to our industry and can be used in temperatures ranging from -22 °F to +140 °F. This complete line of materials is one of the only available in the plastic industry to be comprised of many renewable raw materials. Gehr leads the way in this exceptional and innovative product line.

ClearGehr Polyamide Rod

This brand new product is a Clear Polyamide rod. The outside surface is as extruded, and can be polished. This enables the production of a relatively clear sight glass quality material with most of the high end properties of Polyamide – Nylon material. We have supplied this material for small machined parts where neither Polycarbonate nor Acrylic would work well. Because of the natural inherit chemical resistance of Polyamide, this high end ClearGehr rod can out perform all normal transparent plastics. Give us a call to see if this new innovative product will work in your difficult application.

FDA Approved Wear Grade Acetal

Have you been looking for an extended wear Acetal material (like the PTFE filled Acetals – Delrin AF), but need it to be FDA approved? Then perhaps you should consider WearGehr. This proprietary filled Acetal material has excellent wear resistance, and retains the FDA approval of the base Acetal, unlike the PTFE filled Acetal materials which are not FDA approved. It is made in a blue color for easy identification, also it remains very machinable. Contact us for more information on this excellent high tech material. Call us at 866-832-9315 or send us a note here.

Acetal Copolymer Compared With Homopolymer Acetal

Acetal Copolymer Compared With Homopolymer Acetal

Are Acetal Copolymer and Homopolymer Acetal the same?

This is one of our most common questions, and it is a bit involved of an answer.

There are two main versions of Acetal Resin

Homopolymer Acetal and Copolymer Acetal

The most popular name for a Homopolymer Acetal is the Dupont Delrin, which is a premium Homopolymer Acetal.

The second Acetal is a Copolymer acetal, and there are many suppliers of this resin. 

Acetal is the generic, and not all Acetal is Delrin® Hompolymer, nor is it Acetal Copolymer. A distinction is required to determine which is best for your application. There are several manufacturers that produce Acetal Copolymer resin, including: Celanese®, BASF®, Ticona®, SABIC® and many more.

Acetal Copolymer compared to Delrin® Homopolymer Acetal

Delrin® is a premium homopolymer Acetal produced by Dupont. Many of the physical properties of the homopolymer exceed that of the copolymer Acetal. Dupont™ Delrin® is a popular acetal homopolymer brand name and the most commonly used acetal homopolymer.Comparing structure of Homopolymer and Copolymer Acetal

The generic term ‘Acetal’ covers both the homopolymer from Dupont and the copolymer grades of resin. Both materials meet the ASTM-D-4181, ASTM-D-6100 or ASTM-D-6778 specification (an old call out is L-P-392). Homopolymer Acetal is POM111, and Copolymer Acetal is POM211.

Both are very tough and machinable, and have some similar properties.

An additional difference is the inherit problem of center-line porosity in some of the homopolymer grades. This is caused by out gassing during manufacturing, and can be found at the center or on the surface of all homo-polymer extrusions. This porosity can cause some problems with machining or moisture permeation through the material. The copolymer resin has little to no porosity issue.

Some of the other differences are in the physical properties of the resin. Review the chart for some of the most popular properties people ask for when looking at Acetal Copolymer or Homopolymer Acetal.

See Homopolymer and Copolymer Acetal properties chart below.

PropertiesHomopolymer Acetal Copolymer Acetal
Tensile Modulus of Elasticity450,000400,000
Flexural Modulus of Elasticity470,000366,000
Heat Deflection Temp @ 264 psi – degrees F257220
Melting Point – degrees F347335
Coef. of Linear Thermal Expansion6.8 x 10-55.4 x 10-5
Water Absorption @ Saturation0.900.80

Material is available as both Acetal Copolymer or Acetal Homopolymer in Rod, Block, Sheet and Slabs.

Acetal is one of the most widely available plastics, especially on the West Coast (for some reason the East Coast seems to like the Nylon – Polyamide material more). Most commonly available in Natural (White) or Black, but can be produced in a wide range of colors with minimum orders. This enables material matching your product color or for easy identification of parts.

While these properties are similar, depending on your application, one material may be better suited than the other. Review our Delrin® Homopolymer and Acetal Copolymer page for additional information on the product availability and data sheets. We get calls for the premium Delrin® Homopolymer product, but some people may call it Delron, Delran, Delrun, Derlin and many other names, but it is still premium Delrin® Homopolymer Acetal to us.

Looking for other colors of Acetal Copolymer or Acetal Homopolymer Rod?

Contact us today for more information on Acetal Copolymer or premium Delrin® Homopolymer Acetal or any other plastic material.

Call us at 866-832-9315 or Email Us for more additional details

**Note:  Delrin® is a registered Trademark of Dupont