Source for shim stock

[MyLilMule]

especially pulling strange numbers and tolerances out of the air.

I didn't. I googled it first and found .030" to .040". A friend of mine is a polymer engineer, and although I didn't ask him specifically about milk jugs, when I was first given the idea of using plastic sheets instead, I had texted him about general tolerances on that stuff, outside of material made specifically for shim stock and .030" is what he told me. Maybe he was guessing and pulled it out of the air.

 

[MyLilMule]

8" x 24" Sheets, Laminated - Precision Brand

Laminated Brass Shim is made of cold rolled, half hard CDA 260 alloy . Composition 2, Type 1, Class 1. Fully laminated. Peel off layers to needed thickness. Allows more on-site accuracy. Precision Brand® Laminated Shim is made by using pressure and resin/adhesive to bond metal shim together...

www.precisionbrand.com

Definitely. They don't make it in exactly .013" thickness, but I think the .012" stuff will do just fine. Or even the .015" - but I think that might be too thick. Trying to find a source for it that won't charge as much to ship it as it costs.

These are steel rather than brass:

%root_term_title% 6” x 25" Flat Sheets - Precision Brand

Steel Shim is made from a full hard, cold rolled, low carbon 1008-1010 steel. Precision Brand® is the only manufacturer to offer Branded® shim. It has everything the user needs to know clearly marked right on the shim: material type, material thickness, and lot # for full traceability. Used in...

www.precisionbrand.com

 

[francist]

Sprung bronze weatherstripping may work for you as well. Again, my stock here is showing 0.011” thickness and just off your target but there may be different weights out there. This stuff I have is old — like 50 years old! It’s still around, look for places that sell or cater to historic homes and vintage wood windows.

 

[WobblyHand]

I didn't. I googled it first and found .030" to .040". A friend of mine is a polymer engineer, and although I didn't ask him specifically about milk jugs, when I was first given the idea of using plastic sheets instead, I had texted him about general tolerances on that stuff, outside of material made specifically for shim stock and .030" is what he told me. Maybe he was guessing and pulled it out of the air.

Interesting. I'd think in high volume manufacturing, for these jugs, they want to keep control on the thickness pretty well. Too thin, the jugs break or don't hold up. Their customers would execute a stop order if that happened. Too thick, and well that's giving away profit.

Maybe your friend was busy, or didn't think too hard about it, or just plain guessed. 0.030 is probably a good number for oil jug containers, they are thicker. Milk jugs, they are a commodity thing, and milk is almost a loss leader at supermarkets, everyone in that chain might want to keep the costs down.

Anyways, back to shims...

 

[woodchucker]

you can always get the long feeler gauges by the piece. I have approx 18 inch ones . These are 10ft and avail in steel, brass and ss.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

 

[WobblyHand]

you can always get the long feeler gauges by the piece. I have approx 18 inch ones . These are 10ft and avail in steel, brass and ss.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

I had no idea something like that existed. Good to know about.

 

[jpackard56]

6" Wd. × 25" Lg.
8" Wd. × 12" Lg.
Thick.	Thick. Tolerance	Min. Hardness	Temper Rating	Certification	Specifications Met		Each
0.012"	-0.0012" to 0.0012"	Rockwell 30T56	1/2 Hard	Material Certificate with Traceable Lot Number and Test Report	ASTM B36	9014K211	$26.23
0.015"	-0.0015" to 0.0015"	Rockwell 30T56	1/2 Hard	Material Certificate with Traceable Lot Number and Test Report	ASTM B36	9014K213	29.05

Mc Master Carr

 

[ChazzC]

Milk jugs: they are blow-molded, which produces relatively uniform thickness, but not on the order of 0.001”. Yes, they need to meet minimum thickness requirements for strength while minimizing total weight of the plastic, but the process is not precision (yes, the molds are precise, but there’s a limit).

 

[MyLilMule]

you can always get the long feeler gauges by the piece. I have approx 18 inch ones . These are 10ft and avail in steel, brass and ss.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

That's interesting. Didn't know they sold those like this.

 

[sdelivery]

This is INDISPENSABLE in the shop.
I have used it many times to rescue a machine until the job is done.
I use it to lift and align a slide, so I know how

much material to glue to the slide.