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Pinetar
  •  Pinetar
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Monday, November 15, 2004 2:01:01 PM
No rest for the wicked. The train goes out tomorrow and we need a few antiroll nylon wheel spares for the SBF train. Cut from extruded nylon.
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Skywheelrider
Monday, November 15, 2004 2:27:25 PM
Extruded nylon eh? Cool, that sure does bring back some memories for me. I worked in a plastic extrusion factory for eight years, we used all kinds of material, like high density polyethelene, polypropelene, rigid vinyl, urethane, butyrate, and other materials, including nylon.

I always hated working the nylon machine. It was extruded in tube form, and compressed air was forced into it to give it the round shape, the material was kept in a heated hopper, drained into the machine, which had up to five different heat zones, and was pushed along as it melted by a screw, thus called screw extrusion. It was then forced into the die, where at the same time the air was forced into it, ran through a cold water tray, into what we called a "take-off," which was two conveyor belts that pressed down together over the tube (one on top, one on the bottom), and "pulled" the tube from the machine into long metal trays, where the tubes would be cut to length. Problem was, in order to cut into the tube, no air could escape or the tube would collapse, and cold water would rush back into the die, and then it was a pain to get it restarted. The nylon material, when molten, freezes up almost instantly when it hits the cold water. So, you had to "seal" the tube at the front of the die, buy stopping the "take off" machine, letting a slug of material build up inside the die (the screw still pumped out material), then restart the "take off" and watch for the "slug" to come out, and clamp down on it, effectively "sealing" the tube so you could cut it on the other side of the "seal." And then off course there were all sorts of dimensions that had to be right (thickness of the walls, outside diameter of the tube, inside diameter of the tube, the finish had to be smooth, etc.). I know, sounds boring, but quite interesting the first time you see it.

We made all kinds of parts for various companies, many of whom were automotive suppliers. We even made urethane tubes that had kevlar strands running through the walls, those were for the US Navy, for use in ocean exploration and other projects we were not supposed to know about. We made urethane tubes for oil companies, who would put instruments in them to help them detect where to drill for oil out in the Gulf of Mexico and/or ocean (the tubes would be unrolled off the edge of a boat). We made handles for canoe paddles in all sorts of different colours. And if anyone sees a floor sweeper or street sweeper that is built by the Tennant Company in Minnesota, we made the tubes that the bristles were attached to, we had the exclusive contract. I say had, but the company is still in business and going strong, I just decided factory life did not suit me anymore. The worst job there? Cleaning the grinding machine, without a doubt. All in all, an interesting job most days.

Anyways, sorry Pinetar for high jacking your post, the mention of extruded nylon and the pics brought back some memories. From the looks of that tube and the thickness, no slug would have been needed to seal it (I assume that is a hole in the middle, if not, wow, solid extrustion, did not do much of that). lol (And I have used a machine just like that one in the photo, many times.) Looks cool, thanks for sharing.
"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first." -- Mark Twain
Pinetar
  •  Pinetar
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Monday, November 15, 2004 2:32:48 PM
Yep, solid and warped, 2' long. Had to cut short sections to machine it.
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Da Bair
  •  Da Bair
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Monday, November 15, 2004 3:52:01 PM
Quote:

quote:

Originally posted by Pinetar

The train goes out tomorrow and we need a few antiroll nylon wheel spares for the SBF train.

Looks cool, but why you want wheels that don't roll?

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Pinetar
  •  Pinetar
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Monday, November 15, 2004 3:59:43 PM
LOL
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