Knurling Delrin

[NCjeeper]

Anybody here done it with any success? If so what was your secret? Reading posts some have mentioned "ok" success using the scissors type knurler. Others have mentioned either warming up the Delrin or your knurler to help displace the material.

 

[WhyW8]

Made a knob for my 20 + year old french press out of Delrin and knurled it with moderate success -- did not warm either

 

[savarin]

I have never knurled delrin but thinking about it I would use a cut knurler not a squeeze type.

 

[darkzero]

Years ago on here when we were talking about knurling titanium I got curious about trying to knurl delrin so I gave it a shot. For partially formed knurls it knurled fine. Interesting about you saying whoever said to warm it up first. I had better results keeping it cool when fully form knurling. Second pic below in the middle section is what happened for me when I tried running it dry & without any cooling (vortex cold air gun).

These were just quick attempts, haven't tried it again since.

 

[NCjeeper]

Thanks guys. I am going to give it a try on some knobs I need to make.

 

[SLK001]

Be sure to support the work on both ends, then trim once knurling is done.

 

[gunsmither]

This older video shows tap used sideways to cut grooves in a tool body. I knurled two cut off pieces of the grooved portion about 2" long, and tapped the other end 10/24 tpi for a threaded rod. This made two long "thumb nuts" (?) that allow quick
assembly of a fixture to a vertical set up plate for loading/unloading of of parts. I used a straddle knurl tool.

 

[gunsmither]

I have never tried it, but I believe one could thread the Delrin with a fairly fine thread, and then knurl it. Could also cut grooves one at a time for
longer lengths, especially on a CNC lathe.

 

[Huub Buis]

I knurl on the CNC lathe (+ stepper controlled spindle) using a sharp grounded HSS pin or a Dremel and a V-bit. The knurls are made line by line. I can change the angle, pitch and knurl depth to make different patterns but I always use the same setup: 45°, 1.4 mm pitch, 0.15 mm cd. It is slower than using a knurling tool but the result is predictable and always OK on any diameter. Knurling steel, brass, aluminium, delrin, nylon, teflon, UHMPE, etc is no problem.

You could also do a left and right hand (multi start) thread on a manual lathe if you don't care about how it looks.

 

[NCjeeper]

I figured I would update this thread. So I had pretty good success using a scissor knurler.