Hi Gents,
Started making some more floor tile grips using cast acrylic black for highlights instead of eva. Just made a small one so far to see how it would go and I think it's turned out fairly well. Any body else used this stuff in grips? and what are your thoughts. I ran out of the black eva and it's not easy to buy just black sheets and I've got a lot of the coloured stuff. Found this stuff and decided to try it. Turned down fairly easily despite the difference in hardness.
One of the problems with the eva craft foam sheets is the amount of clamping pressure you apply and how well it is distributed. You don't always get an even highlight when using it. Sometimes it works out really well and others it is a PITA as it is soft and compresses easily on one side leaving an uneven amount around the grip. The next one I throw out won't be the first and there is a lot of wasted effort and materials.
The acrylic sheets are a lot harder and you can put a lot of clamping presure on them without any noticeable deformation, the cork is going to deform before this stuff. The sheets can be cut, drilled, shaped or formed and are availble in various colours and thicknesses. From a quick look I found them down to 0.5mm thickness. The ones I used for this are 2mm thick. I think 1mm or 0.5mm would be really good.
Some links to pictures of the small grip without and with cork sealer:-
[www.rodbuilding.org]
[www.rodbuilding.org]
Mr Balmforth, this stuff is available in white!!

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/01/2013 04:15AM by Col Chaseling.

Looks very cool col

Col, this stuff works great, and as you mention, it is available in many colors and thicknesses. I've been using it for years and really prefer it to softer products.

Very nice there Col if you can get that stuff in .5mm i would be very interested.And white would be nice.

Looks like you have put that saw to use or am i mistaken.

cheers

Make sure that what you get is cast and not extruded - the extruded will shatter after being turned due to internal stresses. The cast is rock solid.

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hay Col how ya been

This sounds interesting
Got any info as to the company or a link Can i get it at Home Depot ??

Did a search and came up with a bunch of things not knowing if they are the same as what you are using

Did eva from mudhole and plastic from containers worked well

Bill - willierods.com

Hi Col:

Looks great ... I like the shiny ones the most ... I assume that was with the sealer applied.

Thanks Chris.

Phil, good to see someone has used it previously and got good results. I agree it's a lot better than the softer materials like eva.

Ray, I need to find where the thin stuff is available from and the postage cost. The 2mm stuff I got from Oz and postage was free. I'll let you know what I find. I've run out of cork rings that I use for highlights so decided to make some and put the saw to use, thanks for getting it. I've got a heap of different burl, rubber and exotic 1/4" rings in transit.

Tom, thanks for that info, lucky I got the cast stuff and will stay away from the extruded variety.

Bill, I'm good. I found this stuff while looking for black eva sheets on the unmentionable @#$%& site. This came up at the bottom of the page and looked good so decided to try it. From that site I found the thinner and different colours also at the bottom of the page. Just do a search on that @#$%& site and you should find a bit or email Phil and find out where he gets it from in the States, might have to get mine from there also if the postage isn't excessive.

John, good to hear from you. This stuff is super glossy and has paper protecting each side ala perpex, which is a similar thing. Need to give it a good rough up before glueing and I cut out holes for the blank diameter before glueing. You can get it even more glossy if you go to a fine size finish paper. Hope your putting that Renzetti lathe to good use and teach your grandson as well!!

ESFNEM Col
Port Kembla, NSW
Australia

Here in the US, I get mine from Tap Plastics. They have 21 retail stores here in the West.