Plastic is expensive!

[DavidR8]

I've used leftover 12+ inch PVC sewer/water pipe the city buries in the ground. You can mill some decent size pieces depending on wall thickness. I have even laminated pieces together with PVC glue.

Hardwood is a good option depending on the application

I need to make a pair of the blocks that are the bases that clamp on desks for articulating lamps.
I have some oak I might use.


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[francist]

Hmmm, my experience with many of the plastics like ABS is a fair amount of cold creep. They tend to squish gradually so what starts out as a snug clamp may slowly go slack on you. I get it you’re probably going for the black colour, but something to think about.

-frank

 

[DavidR8]

I’ll see what I can fab up using some oak I have on hand.


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[martik777]

I’ll see what I can fab up using some oak I have on hand.

If possible the stress point should be across the grain

 

[ThinWoodsman]

About the only protobox still worth buying (after yet another shipping fee increase) from Online Metals is the Plastic one. And yes, by the pound it is pricier than the steel one, but it ends up being half the price once shipping is factored in. Usually get some good-sized blocks in the 5-lb box.

HMK sells acetal rod for five bucks a foot, 1" dia. No blocks though.

Pretty sure both of these places will ship to the Great White North.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I've used leftover 12+ inch PVC sewer/water pipe the city buries in the ground. You can mill some decent size pieces depending on wall thickness. I have even laminated pieces together with PVC glue.

I've done the same with 4 in. ABS drain pipe. Cut a couple of chunks, heated and flattened with heat gun, glued them together to get thickness and made my part. I like ABS.

 

[ericc]

Not only is plastic more expensive by weight, it is also more by volume. A 1" rod is $8 in steel and $10 in delrin on online metals. I was told by an eviction liquidator that they often get large quantities for free from evicting machine shops, and they will sell it to individuals. They prefer to hoard delrin due to its price for the weight.

 

[DavidR8]

I've done the same with 4 in. ABS drain pipe. Cut a couple of chunks, heated and flattened with heat gun, glued them together to get thickness and made my part. I like ABS.

ABS as in black plumbing pipe?

 

[MrWhoopee]

ABS as in black plumbing pipe?

Yes, that's the stuff.

 

[homebrewed]

I've gotten some nice chunks of plastic this & that at a relatively good price from the local Tap Plastics cutoff bin. They may not have any stores near you but there may be an equivalent business in your vicinity.