See-Through Plastics Plus

Clear Copolyester
TECADUR MT TR, from Ensinger, is a clear copolyester exhibits higher impact priorities than polycarbonate and very high gamma stability, with no color change post exposure. A preliminary screening is performed on specific lots of TECADUR MT TR natural in order to test compatibility with solvents specified in the BioPhorum Operations Group (BPOG) guideline for standardized extractable testing for single use systems in biomanufacturing. It can fit in applications requiring low extractables like diagnostic and chemical analysis equipment. TECADUR MT TR can also fit where chemical resistance and clarity are necessary, and where biocompatible exposure to human tissue, less than 24 hours, is crucial.

The material fits between TECANAT (polycarbonate) shapes and TECAPEI (Ultem®) on certain key properties, and has excellent chemical resistance. TECADUR MT TR is better in applications that do not require steam-sterilization, and is therefore more suited for single use applications typical in bio-pharma processing. While it does not have quite the temperature capability of PEI, it will nevertheless often be able to replace PC and PEI shapes in many cases.

TECADUR MT TR resin can be extruded into plates and rods, and has been tested for biocompatibility for blood and tissue contact per ISO 10993, as well as bio reactivity per USP Class VI requirements. Ensinger has stock shapes available for components to be used in single-use systems in biopharma processing such as manifold blocks for life science/analytical equipment, and various single-use medical devices components such as respirators or dental appliances like clear aligners.

For more information, contact Bruce Dickinson, Ensinger, 365 Meadowlands Blvd., Washington, PA 15301, 800-243-3221/856-227-0500, Fax: 724-746-9209, E-mail: bdickinson@ensingerusa.com, Web: www.ensingerplastics.com.

Optical Grade Polycarbonate Shapes
Trident Plastics offers heavy-gauge Polycarbonate plate from .250” up to 5.00” thick in a wide range of formulations. Trizod® OP is an optically clear, press-polish finish Polycarbonate specially engineered for superior optical performance. The standard grade of Trizod® OP is uv-stabilized and UL94 V0 recognized, Trizod® OP-FG (food grade) Complies with FDA food additive regulation 21 CFR 177.1580.

Trizod® OP-ESD has an Electrostatic-dissipative surface coating with sur¬face resistivity of 106 - 108 ohms per square. Trizod® OP UltraPure White is a uv-stabilized Bright White Opaque Polycarbonate with a press-polish finish and is available in sizes from .250” through 1.00” thick.

In addition to press-polished finish optical grade sheets, Trident also offers Machine Grade (un-polished) polycarbonate shapes in Clear, White, Black and Glass-reinforced.

For more information, contact Dean Cadic, Trident Plastics Inc., 1029 Pulinski Rd., Ivyland, PA 18974, 215-672-5225, E-mail: sales@tridentplastics.com, Web: www.tridentplastics.com.

Profiles & Tubing
Petro Extrusion Tech., Inc. (PET) offers both custom and stock clear extruded tubing and profiles, in a variety of thermoplastic materials.

With over 50 years’ experience in the extrusion business, Petro Extrusion Tech offers clear tubing in acrylic, polycarbonate, and other clear materials, in a range of sizes from 1/8” up to 8” OD.

PET offers a line of stock PC tubing, in various wall thicknesses and sizes, including several heavy wall tube sizes.

PET also offers stock items such as their polycarbonate angles and channels, all in clear, available from stock in various stock lengths. PET has a stock line of acrylic profile shapes for the P.O.P. industry, including Z-Bar shapes and U-Channel profiles, all in clear, and available from stock.

For more information, contact Mike Patterson, Petro Extrusion Technologies, Inc., P.O. Box 99, Garwood, NJ 07027, 800-229-3338/908-789-3338, Fax: 908-789-0434, E-mail: sales@petroextrusions.com, Web: www.petroextrusions.com.

Complete Clear Portfolio
Plaskolite, LLC. is a global leader in manufacturing of thermoplastic sheet products. Plaskolite’s customized products are used in a wide variety of applications including windows, doors, lighting, signs, point-of-purchase displays, and bath products. Plaskolite serves a diverse customer base including distributors, OEMs and retailers.

Plaskolite is a leading source for both polycarbonate and acrylic manufacturing and is the only manufacturer capable of offering a complete clear sheet product portfolio, including acrylic, polycarbonate, PETG and ABS. With these capabilities, they are a single source supplier for all of its customers’ thermoplastic sheet needs.

Customers turn to Plaskolite for its broad spectrum of quality thermoplastic solutions and unmatched customer service.

Plaskolite is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, and is a member of Pritzker Private Capital, which partners with middle-market companies based in North America with leading positions in the manufactured products, services, and healthcare sectors.

For more information, contact Greg Hallam, Plaskolite, LLC, 400 W Nationwide Blvd., Ste. 400, Columbus, OH 43215, 800-848-9124/662-893-5409, E-mail: gregory.hallam @plaskolite.com, Web: www.plaskolite.com.

High-Performance Films & Tapes
CS Hyde Company is a supplier and converter of high-performance polymer films and film tapes. They stock a variety of optically clear plastics custom to specific industry applications. They stock commonly used films like: optically clear polyester, clear polycarbonate, and specialty films like FEP & PFA, and Tefzel® ETFE.

As a converter, they utilize on site converting capabilities to convert plastic film products into custom roll widths, lengths, or sheet dimensions specific to your application. They are also a 3M® converter which allows them to produce specialty film tapes backed with clear adhesives for optical clarity and transparent bonding or high bond adhesives to bond difficult substrates like oily metals or low surface energy plastics.

They also custom laminate adhesive to substrates such as polyester, polycarbonate, PEEK, PTFE made with Teflon® fluoropolymers, and more. Aside from lamination, they also die cut parts and or sheets with little to no minimums. Types of applications that utilize clear plastics and film tapes include display panel bonding, graphic overlays, barrier protection, and transparent wire & cable wrapping.

For more information, contact CS Hyde Company, 39655 N. IL Route 83, Lake Villa, IL 60046, 800-461-4161, E-mail: sales@cshyde.com, Web: www.cshyde.com.

Rods, Tubes & Profiles
Futurplast Extrusions is a distributor committed leading manufacturer of fine extruded acrylic rods, tubes, and profiles, as well as polycarbonate tubes. Stock products include tubes up to 14" in diameter, round rods up to 3" in diameter, square rods, square tubes, and one the largest selections of colored acrylic products in North America. They also feature a stock line of frosted “P95” acrylic tubes and custom products are available on request.

Futurplast Extrusions has 6 distribution centers to better serve their customers. Located in Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Houston, Chalfont, PA, and Montreal. Futurplast’s extensive warehouse inventory permits them to supply their customers quickly and at less cost. Their goal is to have product available to all their customers where ever and whenever they need it. Whether it is one box or multiple pallets, Futurplast can fulfill your order without delays.

For more information, contact Joseph Sorella or Lisa Houle, Futurplast Extrusions, 3435 Pitfield Blvd, Saint Laurent, QC, H4S-1H7 Canada, 888-812-9075/514-328-9182, Fax: 866-388-2955, E-mail: info@futurplast.ca, Web: www.futurplast.ca.

Acrylic Hardware
Fabrication Tools and Materials, Inc. (FTM) is The Fabricators Source® for clear acrylic hardware, FTM's line of products include the Flex-Fold 2™ (pictured), the Acryl-Hinge small™, Acryl-Hinge 2™, the 6" Acryl-Hinge™, the 12" Acryl-Hinge™ and the newly redesigned 12" Acryl-Piano Hinge™ (1 3/4" x 12" hinge). All of FTM hinges are molded in high strength DR Acrylic and designed with Micro-Dots® for easy surface solvent cementing and for a strong bubble free bond.

Also included in FTM's product line is the Acryl-Pulls™ in three sizes; small, medium & large. The pulls are easy to clean and the highly polished finish is crystal clear. They also offer the Acryl-Hasp™, the Acryl-Knob™ and the first ever Acrylic Cam Lock that's sure to give your next display a fresh and clean look. The Acryl-Cam Lock™ is molded in high strength acrylic for easy solvent bonding and the internal mechanism is molded in polycarbonate for superior strength.

FTM also carries a selection of acrylic keyhole attachments, wall hangers, door catches, business and literature card holders along with acrylic shapes; balls, cabochons, ranging in sizes from 1/8" to 1".

For more information, contact Robert Ashcraft, Fabrication Tools and Materials, Inc. (FTM), 327 Industrial Dr., Unit 1, Placerville CA 95667, 530-626-1986, Fax: 530-642-2602, E-mail: info@123ftm.com, Web: www.123ftm.com.

CNC Edge Polishing
Eliminate the finishing of edges by hand with the latest in CNC polishing technology. The EURACRYL ABP 310 Edge Polisher can produce flat edges from a matte finish to high gloss polish on acrylics, polycarbonates, and visual plastics, and also chamfer edges.

Stiles Machinery’s EURACRYL ABP 310 machines are CNC-controlled edge polishers for manufacturing com¬ponents made of plastics, including acrylic. It’s designed to eliminate manual labor; the machine brings value as a standalone machine or a component of a work cell.

The EURACRYL ABP 310 frame is integrated with patented SorbTech mineral composite material. This “steel of tomorrow” is capable of withstanding the increased demand on machine dynamics while providing a low vibration, stable machine construction – resulting in higher quality finished parts, longer tool life, and less manual labor.

The machine features a 10' working field. The open-ended table design of the ABP 310 allows for machining of parts longer than 10' (in 2 cycles). Parts can be stacked up to the maximum processing height of the machine, further en¬hancing the efficiency and throughput of the machine.

For more information, contact James Swanson, Stiles Machinery, 3965 44th St. SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49512, 616.698.7500, E-mail: jswanson@stilesmachinery.com, Web: www.stilesmachinery.com.

Crystal Clear Edges
A challenge in the machining of PMMA, acrylic, Plexiglas ® or Makrolon® is that these plastics become too hot during processing and may even melt. The efficient machining of this materials is complex. Special tools such as Hufschmied's Plexiglas milling cutter 110FPRV "Raven-V" are needed here.

The innovative cutting-edge geometry allows the 110FPRV milling tool to process these sensitive transparent materials to be machined burr-free and with virtually crystal-clear cutting edges despite high feed rates. With the roughing and finishing tool, machining is possible in one step without tool change and without re-polishing. Additionally, superior tool life increases efficiency and profitability.

Other tools in the series are the radius cutter 110FPER for 3D machining and the V slot cutter 110V, the tool for lettering, chamfering or profile cuts. You can find more information about these tools in their product flyer.

For more information, contact Erin Marciniak, Hufschmied USA, 42 Ozick Dr., Unit 6, Durham CT 06422, 419-341-6337, E-mail: sales@hufschmiedusa.com, Web: www.hufschmied-tools.com/en.

Plastics Polishes
Three plastic polishes from NOVUS Inc., the St. Paul, Minnesota-based plastics care specialists, are helping millions win the war against fading, scratching, and dulling of plastics that all too often cause the best products to grow old before their time.

NOVUS Plastic Polishes, which have been used and recommended by man¬ufacturers for almost 50 years, have an enviable record of rejuvenating the plastic surfaces in many industrial settings, as well as, in the home. NOVUS Plastic Polish No. 1 is a cleaner, shiner, and protector for all plastics. In one easy application, this highly concentrated formula polishes quickly to an even finish. It leaves a glaze that resists finger marking and dust buildup. It is antistatic and antifogging. NOVUS Plastic Polish No. 2 removes fine scratches and haziness from most plastics. It is not just a surface cover-up, but a polishing compound that restores and protects damaged plastics. NOVUS Plastic Polish No. 3 was formulated to remove heavy scratches after years of research and development. After using No. 3 follow up with No. 2 to remove any fine scratches. Al¬ways remember, No. 2 polish must be used with NOVUS No. 3 for desired results.

For more information, contact Dean Trocke, NOVUS Inc., 650 Pelham Blvd., Ste. 100, St. Paul, MN 55114, 800-548-6872 x3, E-mail: sales@novuspolish.com, Web: www.novuspolish.com.