All Replies on I'm looking for a material

Take a look at usplastic.com to get ideas.

-- Earl "I'm a pessamist - generally that increases the chance that things will turn out better than expected"

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/53429882 :<))

-- Tony---- Reinholds,Pa.------ REMEMBER TO ALWAYS HAVE FUN

Hmm….
Acrylic, Polypropylene, Polyethylene (UHMW+other types), and Polyurethane are all available ‘off-the-shelf’ as black plate materials. Polycarbonate and PVC can be ordered custom with black pigments added.
All of them can be machined with right tools.
‘Hard’ plastic is an oxymoron, as all plastics are malleable at elevated temperatures.
Would need details like durometer, service temperatures, and environmental exposure requirements to pick one of the above.
Making selection challenge harder, hard/tough plastics usually have fillers added to reduce flexibility and add strength. Can buy ‘black plastic plate’ made with fiberglass clothe and/or carbon fiber that is as hard as aluminum and stronger than steel.

When it comes to engineering plastic materials for an application, solution is hiding in the details.

+1 https://www.usplastic.com

Best Luck.

-- I'm an engineer not a woodworker, but I can randomly find useful tools and furniture inside a pile of lumber!

there is a guy near me who welds plastic he says there are so many types its amazing

-- Tony---- Reinholds,Pa.------ REMEMBER TO ALWAYS HAVE FUN

Ron, sign makers use that stuff all the time.
it is PVC sheet available in several colors and thicknesses.
common size is 4×8’ sheet. easily cut with hand tools as well as
all woodworking tools. can also easily be heat formed to simple shapes.
stop by your local sign shop to see what they have or can get for you.
if you don’t mind peeling vinyl lettering off the sheet, you probably
could pick up some used material for free.
I enclosed a chicken house out of old signs for free.

the ribbons on these two signs are 1/8” PVC that was heat formed.

.

-- I am a painter. That's what I do. I paint things --

https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/53429882 :<))

- GR8HUNTER

I did find some plastic, HDPE at $13.84 per sf at metals online with a durometer of D80. I’m looking for a plastic that is hard and stable that won’t distort (warp). I realize with all the many plastic formulations out there, I as a hobbyist consumer have limited access to the real hard, stable stuff, so I have to choose from readily available stock at a reasonable price.

You didn’t mention too many of the required mechanical properties but the first thing I thought of after reading the description of what you need is phenolic.

-- "Lack of effort will result in failure with amazing predictability" - Me

I have used cutting boards for plastic. You can’t d it with different hardness and relatively inexpensive.

I have a black cutting broad that meets your requirements and got it at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Try Paperstone or Richlite!
Both of these materials are recycled paper compressed with a binder under high pressure/temperature.
They are fantastic to machine, no mineral content, are stable over temperature, available in many color, and thicknesses.

Take a look at what these guys are making with Richlite and the Web site for Richlite.
If you search YouTube for Richlite you will see videos of guitar makers you use it for the fretboards and how many think it’s the better material.

This is the Paperstone Web site

I have used Paperstone and really like it and I want to try Richlite too.

And, because paper was once wood, it is appropriate for Lumberjocks!

-- "I never met a board I didn't like!"

Lexan?

-- A Planer? I'M the planer, this is what I use

I used to use ABS a lot when making custom enclosures for cars. Easy to work, cut, heat and bend etc.

I haven’t tried this material but the machine shop where my son works as a CNC machinist uses this stuff called OBO Modulan sold in the U.S. by McCausey and it looks promising for sign making and possibly other projects.

This is the manufacturer site for “OBO Modulan”: https://www.obo-werke.de/en/home.html

-- "I never met a board I didn't like!"

Redoak49 is right on… My current router table top (attached to the router) is a plastic cutting board.

-- earthartandfoods.com

I checked with McCausey and paperstone, but the thinnest they have is 3/4” and not sure if they would sell a small amount. That is the big problem with hobbyists. We can usually find the material we want, but it’s not available in small quantities or it is super expensive. Corian is a material I would like to use for this and other projects, but they only sell to professional fabricators. Richlite appears to have the thickness I need and I have sent them an E-mail requesting a quote on a small amount. I will see if they will sell a small amount or be like the rest of the suppliers of this material. I did have a sample of paperstone, but it was only 3”x3”.

I just found out that Corian now sells the material in small quantities from an online vendor, “SolidSurface.com.

If you want Corian (“Solid Surfaces”) google counter top shops in your area. They always have drops.

I have machined Paperstone, Corian, and other man made solid surface counter tops and I liked the paper material much better as it does not contain any minerals and does not have any apparent dust when cut with the table saw or router, just chips like ABS and other plastics.
However, I definitely reccomend wearing breating protection when cutting Corian!
I would assume that the lack of mineral content makes cutters last longer.
It should be noted a dust mask should be used that when sanding any of these man made materials due to the binder material content.

Here is a site for remnants of Richlite

This Facebook site has all kinds, ceramic tile to Formica, of remnants but doesn’t show any prices.

Here you can get samples of Paperstone material that are large enough for very small projects.

-- "I never met a board I didn't like!"

I believe the material you are looking for is called Delrin and it is used extensively by the government and govt. contractors. It comes in black and white that I positively know of…maybe other colors. When machined it cuts very very smooth and the chips are similar to metal in that they chip up and fall away as opposed to melting into a big nasty hanging on mess. it also requires slim to no de-burring when machined. Google it. When I worked as a contractor we made a lot of stuff with it. It is pretty much available any size and I believe we purchased it from Mcmaster-Carr.

I believe the material you are looking for is called Delrin and it is used extensively by the government and govt. contractors. It comes in black and white that I positively know of…maybe other colors. When machined it cuts very very smooth and the chips are similar to metal in that they chip up and fall away as opposed to melting into a big nasty hanging on mess. it also requires slim to no de-burring when machined. Google it. When I worked as a contractor we made a lot of stuff with it. It is pretty much available any size and I believe we purchased it from Mcmaster-Carr.

- msinc

I checked the price of Delrin and it costs over $60.00 a square foot; way too expensive for my needs. I found some HDPE on Ebay which I ordered. I think it will work and the cost was about $20 for a piece 3/8×12x24, with free shipping.

Way back when I was working at the “switch factory” I learned a lot about plastics from thermoset to thermoplastic because at that time the company was one of the largest molding companies in the world which is no longer he case. The molded plastics were used in the various industrial products which at that time were they were leaders in that market, again, that is no longer the case.

The main differences between HDPE, high density polyethylene, and delrin is that HDPE is more slippery than delrin and HDPE requires special solvents for bonding/gluing. CA glue will not bond HDPE.

My favorite “shop” plastic is ABS (also known as DWV Drain/Waste/Vent plumbing) because it cuts easily, an be heat formed, and can be glued. However, ABS sheet always has one textured side!

Micarta, a thermoset plastic, is extremely stable and is available glass filled for even more rigidity. Carbide cutters are required to cut the glass filled material as it will eat up high speed steel.

-- "I never met a board I didn't like!"

Yes. ^^ Corian and HDPE both come in black, depending on your definition of “hard”.

-- Andy - Seattle USA