Alternative To Forbon

[Phil m]

I've got a pretty hard time sourcing Forbon and can't stand stewmac's prices for that tiny bit of it.

Which other material do you guys use for your flatwork?

Jason mentions ABS and Acrilyc on the laser cutter thread, I dn't know if he uses it for flatwork, but does anyone do?

I'm basically looking for something that looks alike, is readily available, easily machinable (router, saws, drills) and is black. If there's a plastic out there that comes in sheets and does the job, I'm happy. I would just rather not have it look too much like a "cheap" looking bit of plastic.

[Satamax]

Have you had a look at black tufnol? Or DELRIN

[Phil m]

Not yet, that's why I want to now what other people's opinion of these materials are.

[Phil m]

Nobody? No one's using anything else than forbon for flatwork?? I just need a couple of names of substitutes here and what you thought of working with it was...

[ken]

Well, I'm looking for possible substitutes too, since my vendor wants about $8.00USD a pound for .050 sheet. Delrin might work, but it's kind of a pain because it doesn't drill as nice or as cleanly as Forbon does. It may be easier to punch out if you use a punch and die to cut out parts.

IMO I will still use Forbon no matter how spendy because to me it sounds better, and I don't like to change things that work for me.

It's funny, you would think Forbon would be a really easy to find material because it's made of recycled paper products nowadays. It's still widely used in high voltage applications and holds it's shape better in high heat better than any nonmetals except Bakelite, and isn't brittle like Bakelite either.

Ken

[Joe Gwinn]

Well, I'm looking for possible substitutes too, since my vendor wants about $8.00USD a pound for .050 sheet. Delrin might work, but it's kind of a pain because it doesn't drill as nice or as cleanly as Forbon does. It may be easier to punch out if you use a punch and die to cut out parts.

IMO I will still use Forbon no matter how spendy because to me it sounds better, and I don't like to change things that work for me.

For those prices, might as well use the good stuff.

It's funny, you would think Forbon would be a really easy to find material because it's made of recycled paper products nowadays. It's still widely used in high voltage applications and holds it's shape better in high heat better than any nonmetals except Bakelite, and isn't brittle like Bakelite either.

Ken

Forbon is slowly being replaced with other electrical paper products, some of which ought to be usable for bobbins. For instance:

Ragtex: http://windsor-stevens.com/products.htm

Nomex: http://www.dupont.com/nomex/

There are many other vendors. Here is one in China, found by googling for "electrical fiberboard": http://www.youngmancn.com/index.htm

[jason lollar]

even if it was 100 bucks a sheet which it shouldnt be you would have a 4foot by 8 foot sheet- see how much a sheet of delring that size would cost

[ken]

The price of Forbon is no joke, the last I checked EIS wanted a 400 POUNDS BY WEIGHT total minimum order. Two hundred pounds of .050 and two hundred of .095 is a real sheetload of material. I can feel my wallet getting lighter by the minute.

Now, Delrin is disgustingly expensive in any form, but I can't fault Phil for looking for some alternatives to Forbon. Maybe he lives in a part of the world where Forbon is hard to find. Forbon is expensive enough that Fender is casting 80+% of their singlecoils now, Forbon is only used in the 'good' guitars. Satamax was only using Delrin as an example of what might work anyway.

Me, I would try sheet acrylic or Lexan - it comes in lots of colors and thicknesses and is available just about anywhere. You might have to krazy glue in your magnets, and soldering wouldn't be fun, but IMHO it's a possibility.

Ken

[Phil m]

Thanks very much for all the links guys. Now I'll be able to get a couple of decent quotes for good size sheets.

[TD_Madden]

How's this guy's price?

http://www.ampge.com/components.htm

[gregyancey]

I use the "vulcanized fiber" sheets from McMaster-Carr. Works great, same as Forbon, although it isn't black, but I don't care.

[Dave Kerr]

According to Steve's Excel sheet, he's out of each thickness of Forbon

[Phil m]

I use the "vulcanized fiber" sheets from McMaster-Carr. Works great, same as Forbon, although it isn't black, but I don't care.

Great! I found the whole price list, looks really good. They say it's gray on the site. How does it look? Does it still look allright?
Can you post of pic maybe?

[David King]

Check out http://nordstrandpickups.com to see what he's using. It's gray but I doubt he gets his from McMaster Carr.

[Stan H]

I use the "vulcanized fiber" sheets from McMaster-Carr. Works great, same as Forbon, although it isn't black, but I don't care.

Do you use the "Regular Grade" or the "Electrical Grade"?

-Stan