raw bit material that's easy to get in the US?

jaredegg · Post by **jaredegg** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 11:34 pm

I am realizing that pre-formed stems aren't going to cut it for me. However, getting a hold of vulcanite/ebonite is proving to be more difficult and costly than I had originally anticipated. Are there any alternative options I would be able to try in a rod or bar form?

I realize the feel will probably never be as good as quality ebonite (for me), but is there anything else out there? Do I need to be concerned with toxicity or anything like that?

JaredEgg

jeff · Post by **jeff** » Sun Feb 27, 2005 3:29 pm

Try Pipemakers Emporium. I think that Tyler's materials pages link to them.

Jeff

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 11:30 am

Cast Acrylic is a good choice too. You can get it at nearly any plastics place for less than a buck a foot in many cases.

ArtGuy · Post by **ArtGuy** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 6:40 pm

Yah you might be right Random. I may just be priviledged to have Myers Plastics right in my back yard. When I approached them they made it seem that cast was easy to get.

You certainly are correct about extruded acrylic. That stuff is no good for stems and machining.

Here is a couple places online that you can get cast acrylic rod from:

http://www.modernplastics.com/

http://www.delviesplastics.com/

It seems I am way off on the price though :think: Delvies wants 17.56 for a 48" long stick of 3/4" cast acrylic rod. Still not a bad price though. I think I was either thinking about the extruded price or that Myers was going to give me a deal for buying a huge quantity.

Eventually I ended up going with the ebonite.