Nylon 6 (Cast, Polyamide)

Nylon 6 is the casting grade of the Nylon solid polymer shapes family. Unlike Nylon 6/6 (Extrusion grade), it provides the unique opportunity to be “poured” into an open mold allowing not only standard shapes such as rod, tubing, and sheet, but custom near net shaped blanks as well.  Casting shapes in this manner provides lower stress levels within the material, thereby making machining to close tolerances easier to achieve. It has been commercially available since 1948; developed by Dupont.  Nylon is well known for excellent toughness, low coefficient of friction and good abrasion resistance making it an ideal replacement for a wide variety of materials from metal to rubber. Using Nylon 6 reduces lubrication requirements, eliminates galling, and corrosion.  Low cost combined with improved wear resistance makes Nylon 6 an excellent choice for many bearing and wear components.

Nylon 6 is easily fabricated into precision parts using standard metalworking equipment. Tolerances of +/-.002 are easily achieved with experience.  It is available in a broad variety of shapes and sizes. Rod and sheet stock normally comes slightly oversized for machining purposes.  Both extruded and cast grades of nylon are available with different fillers and solid lubricants to accommodate specific application demands.

Several manufacturers offer varying grades and filled versions thereof by the names of Tecamid® and Nylatron®. Solid lubricants such as mineral oil, graphite, PTFE Teflon®, and MoS2 provide lower friction, while reinforcing agents such as carbon fiber, Kevlar®, and glass fibers provide higher levels of strength and dimensional stability.