uhmw strips

[Patt]

I am using uhmw strips for the runners on a t/s sled. How would you join them to the wood base? I was thinking of using some kind of epoxy glue. Do I also use small nails or screws? Patt

[Leuf]

I just used screws. Drilling the stuff is interesting. It'll leave a raised area around the edge of the hole that I had to go back and knock down so it would sit tight to the bottom of the sled.

-Leuf

[George]

Me too on the screws. You just want them snug if you use flatheads, because the wedge will make the plastic tighten in the groove. I thought it might be an adjustment "feature" for later down the line, but it hasn't proven necessary. Best would probably be counterbored pan head, but no real depth in a miter groove.

Doublestick will give you a bit of help as you adjust position.

[B A R R Y]

Screws work for me with UMHW.

I usually use maple, birch, or white oak for runners, which I attach with standard wood glue while the whole shebang sits in the slots. After the glue dries, I add a few countersunk screws.

[Richard Faust]

Having worked for a company that made uhmw (*ultra wear) I would highly doubt that any type of glue or epoxy would stick to it for very long. As you might know, uhmw is as tough as nails and near impossible to break in half. An interesting side bar is that uhmw yields a LOT of STATIC electricity when machining it. Did you ever notice how the chips cling to the surface after cutting? I'm with the consensus on this one suggesting that you use screws to hold it in place. As far as deburring goes, I would use a sharp razor blade rather than sandpaper. BTW this stuff forms nicely when heated up in an oven for 30 minutes and then placed in a form. You know it is hot enough to form when the material starts to turn translucent.

Rick

[Anonymous]

Never having found a suitable adhesive, I've always drilled & tapped the UHMW when used in that application. UHMW taps very cleanly without any lubrication.

[Andy Dingley]

Swearing mostly 8-(

Double sided tape works about the best, epoxy really doesn't want to know. Some of the solvent polyurethanes (shoe repair) work tolerably well.

Personally I've taken to buying the more expensive thicker material that comes in strips, not on a roll. I can put this on with DS tape, where the roll stuff always peeled back on the first hot day.

[Leuf]

I counterbored the sled and screwed down into the runners, which keeps everything lined up.

-Leuf

[Andy Dingley]

Swearing mostly 8-(

Double sided tape works about the best, epoxy really doesn't want to know. Some of the solvent polyurethanes (shoe repair) work tolerably well.

Personally I've taken to buying the more expensive thicker material that comes in strips, not on a roll. I can put this on with DS tape, where the roll stuff always peeled back on the first hot day.

[Toller]

They make a superglue for polyethylene. I haven't tried it though.

[Morris Dovey]

| Patt wrote: || I am using uhmw strips for the runners on a t/s sled. How would || you join them to the wood base? I was thinking of using some kind || of epoxy glue. Do I also use small nails or screws? || Patt | | Having worked for a company that made uhmw (*ultra wear) I would | highly doubt that any type of glue or epoxy would stick to it for | very long. As you might know, uhmw is as tough as nails and near | impossible to break in half. An interesting side bar is that uhmw | yields a LOT of STATIC electricity when machining it. Did you ever | notice how the chips cling to the surface after cutting? I'm with | the consensus on this one suggesting that you use screws to hold it | in place. As far as deburring goes, I would use a sharp razor blade | rather than sandpaper. BTW this stuff forms nicely when heated up | in an oven for 30 minutes and then placed in a form. You know it is | hot enough to form when the material starts to turn translucent.

It also saws (with TS and BS), planes, drills, routs, and joints with ease. I've drilled (#7 drill bit) and tapped (1/4-20) to allow fastening strips with flat head cap screws.

-- Morris Dovey DeSoto Solar DeSoto, Iowa USA

[RicodJour]

Here's a link to a manufacturer's recommendations for UHMW adhesives.

personally use screws.

R

[Pounds on Wood]

Make that UHMW-PE, Ultra High Molecular Weight PolyEthylene. Yes, there is ULMW too.

[Richard Faust]

Here is a link that may be helpful:

[redbelly]

Bill,

My understanding was that there are three types of polyethylene commonly used: Low Density, High Density, and the UHMW that is the topic of this thread.

Of course, it wouldn't surprise me if there could be other less common types as well.

Mark