I have a soy candle at the office that I have dipped into repeatedly to “grease” some sliding parts…lol
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Maybe 10 years ago I bought a couple rolls of UHMW PE tape on sale. Haven’t needed to use more than about an inch at a time.
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I’m not familiar with that.
Or a small hole in the drawer bottom near the back. Drop a half inch long dowel into the hole (spread glue on the sides of the dowel before putting it in) keeping it flush with the inside surface of the drawer bottom. Then it will prevent the drawer from coming all the way out but not get in the way of the contents.
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Ultra High Molecular Weight polyethylene. Almost as slippery as teflon, but blocks of it are machinable and durable. Woodworkers use it for jigs and slides. I built my first couple of home-made 3D printer extruders using UHMW as a body. The tape gets used for drawer slides, especially for repair or bodging (it’s smooth on one side, some kind of adhesive on the other). Usually you just need a tiny piece at the front where the drawer weight is concentrated.
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But then what if you want to take the drawer out?
Yeah? Well that’s for whippersnappers. If it was good enough fer ma great Grandaddy soap is good enough fer me.
That stuff is amazing, almost feels oily. And tough!
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That is what my dirtbike chain-guard is made from. Incredibly durable.
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Out of curiosity, what color is it? I have only seen it in black and white.
Either reach in the drawer underneath and clip the dowel with sidecutters (destructive removal - will require drilling the rest out and repeating) or depending on the play in the drawer it might tip down and out. Mostly though I find once I put a drawer in something I don’t often remove them.
When one extrudes UHMW, there is a magical trick one can use to reduce the viscosity of the mix. Add a very small amount of polystyrene and the viscosity plummets. I use this to make viscous mineral filled composites that extrude very fast.
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It is black, made by BRP, although I think my old KTM had an orange one from TM Designworks.
Hmm, TM lists a proprietary plastic compound, thats not much help.
Colored UHMW PE is definitely a thing, although it seems that black and natural (milky white) are by far the most common.
WHAT OTHER COLORS OF UHMW-PE ARE AVAILABLE?
While natural (milky white) and black are standard stock colors, UHMW-PE can be produced in a variety of Pantone colors.
[…]
IS UHMW UV STABLE?
In its natural state, UHMW-PE is not UV stable, but formulations are available to provide UV stability in natural, black or any custom color.
Source - UHMW FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions about UHMW | Emco Industrial Plastics
also saw this company out of Florida in my google searchy:
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Great material for Dobsonian telescope bearings, too!
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not really, but I can’t pass a store that focuses on containers or custom shelving without searching for some reason why i should go inside.
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Mathias a Wandel is always going on about UHMW tape but I can’t find it locally in any of the five hardware stores in the area. The staff just looks at me blankly when ai mention it.
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I know. I know. I have a hard time ordering materials on line that I have never seen before. It’s like all the different CA glues. It’s good to see them all in one spot and read the labels. And get off my lawn!
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I’m right there with ya. I like to touch stuff before committing to it.
This is why I am on a first name basis with my FedEx and UPS drivers. We have three home improvement stores in Dothan but I can’t get a decent piece of wood, any really specialized hardware, printer filament…
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Very nice! And thank you so much for sharing where you found the plans!
I like the “personal infrastructure” concept, too. That’s one of the bigger/long term goals that I’d like to accomplish. Boxes, bins, and several lazy susan style tool holders. Right now my studio is (barely) controlled chaos. I’d love to see more order and style in that space 