Plastic Balls

[Ian B]

Anyone know the type of material used for black plastic machine tool ball handles? Is it available as round bar?

tia,

Ian

[winchman]

I believe they are phenolic. The material is available in a wide variety of shapes (including balls) from places like McMaster-Carr. They have it under the name Garolite.

http://www.mcmaster.com/

Roger

[Techtchr]

I don't know the answer to your machine tool handle question but my local plastics supplier (commercial plastics Syr. NY) stocks black, and natural colors of plastic rod. I use black Delrin and occasionally ABS rod for the things I build and repair.
Matt

[ibewgypsie]

www.synair.com has a castable resin that has a rockwell hardness of 93. you can drill, tap it.

You can color it but it loses some strength. The popular thing to do is add brass shavings to make it look brass. It is easy to mix in plastic dixie cups. 50/50 mix

I poured lead around a browning XL belt gear, cast the mold in the resin, it works great as gears for that application.

David Cofer

[jfsmith]

But will your friend tease you because you don't have Brass or Steel balls. :-)

[Ian B]

Thanks guys,

As Winchman says, McMaster's have them - I only need a few, and the 1.25" ones are $2.25 each - I'll buy what I need.

Ian

[Tim#1]

All,

Often times, the ball handles seem to be made from Bakelite. Yes, it's a phenol-phenolic resin, but it's not the same as the McMaster-Carr stock, which is a laminated phenolic resin (uses wood flour, cotton cloth, linen, etc. to reinforce the resin).

If you want the black color and intend to make handles, ABS plastic would be much easier to machine and you wouldn't have to take precautions with the nasty phenolic dust.

Hope this helps.

TIM

[winchman]

Look at the phenolic ball knobs on page 2006 of the McMaster-Carr catalog. They're available with a variety of threaded brass inserts, have a shiny black or red finish, and are cheaper than the plain phenolic balls.

I thought you were looking for the material, not the finished balls.

Roger

[LES A W HARRIS]

For ready made try'http://www.reidtool.com

[CCWKen]

Yea, Reid Tool has them for less than $2 each. Reid is my favorite "hardware" site. And, there's no minimum order.

http://www.reidtool.com/store/store/listCategoriesAndProducts.asp?idCategory=6193