Redco Forklift socks are an upgrade over traditional low-grade cold bonded rubber socks. A “forklift sock” is an elastomer solution that provides a covering to forklift forks, this makes them less likely to damage sensitive equipment being lifted. The problem is that the rubber sock covers easily delaminate from the forks and can also crack. This creates a situation where the loose sock causes an unsafe lift.
Unlike the cold bonded rubber, our solution uses a proprietary 90A polyurethane in a “hot bond” to the metal socks. This is a superior way of applying a sock solution and will vastly outwear rubber socks. In addition, our material is colored “safety yellow” for high visibility. The product reduces the risk of driver error and material damage while greatly improving grip when lifting. Redwood Plastics and Rubber can provide this service in two ways. Firstly, you can ship your existing steel forklift socks to our Langley, BC, Canada facility and we can re-coat the socks in-house. Alternatively, we can machine the complete new steel socks, coat them, and send them to your facility.
For a quotation on your forklift sock needs please contact us today.
Whether or not to grease a plastic bushing is a frequently asked question, or even just an assumption customers make (that they need to). While there are times where greasing is important, and times where it is absolutely critical, in most cases with many materials you will not need to. Avoiding the need to grease a bushing is a strong advantage plastics have over metal in application. Many plastics are self-lubricating and can come impregnated with solid or liquid lubricants. Certain bushings, such as the Rulons, will never require grease. In general, if you want to switch from a greases metal bushing and are flexible on material, an oil-filled option would be quoted. The cost difference between oil-filled and unfilled materials is about 30% so you need to judge how important it is not to grease.
In the case where an unfilled bearing grade material is required, grease grooves can be machined into the part. These would come with a “grease nipple” or small hole in the bushing to permit application of the grease. This is common for applications such as kiln wheel bushings or sprockets. That said, there is one case where you *must* grease and that is if the demands of your application exceed the P/V/PV ratio of the plastic. P/V/PV needs to be under all three maximum limits for the bearing material; however, that’s a discussion that requires it’s own article.
If you are looking for grease-less bearings or have questions on our Redco bearing materials please contact us.
The pictures below are of an application completed at our Langley, BC facility. This involved lining a steel pipe with an internal diameter of 24″ inches and is a job we’ve done several times before. It’s innovative work and we wanted to share some details and pictures in case the application might be of interest to other companies. The customer ships their pipe segments to our facility where the lining is done on site. We have fabricated 3/4″ thick Tivar 88 sheet that comes pre-scored to permit bending. This is important since Tivar 88 is not available in pipe format, so the solution must be made from sheet stock.
As you can see in the second picture there are not too many fixation points. There is a middle strip of plastic serves as a wedge, and the pressure alone holds the lining solution in place (though the strips on either side of the wedge also have fixation hardware, to help secure the wedge). Tivar 88 is a premium grade of UHMW polyethylene and its blue color is readily identifiable. It provides additional strength and slickness that virgin or reprocessed grades of UHMW do not. Tivar 88’s primary benefit is increased material flow and less material hangups. Secondarily, Tivar 88 provides a wear surface that protects the steel from wearing out.
Tivar 88’s lifespan will vary in applications but it is sacrificial, meaning that it will need to be replaced at some point. The performance benefits and increased life of the pipe do make up for the cost of the lining. While not important in this application, Tivar 88 does include UV stabilizer in its chemistry and is suitable for long-term outdoor use. The product also has a long history of success in hopper lining applications
For assistance with your application please contact us.
A common question we receive is “can I get this in a different color?”. That is tough to answer in the world of industrial plastics! The short answer is many plastics are available in a variety of colors but price, availability, and minimum order quantity (MOQ) are often strongly affected by this choice. In general, industrial plastics are fairly bland, coming in white, black, or a shade of brown. Certain plastics can be colorful, such as nylons and polyurethane, but for the most part they come in black and white.
When Are Colors Feasible?
First of all it never hurts to ask, and we’ll always be straightforward. For the most part; however, we do not stock any plastics in custom colors. This can strongly affect the price if orders need to be brought in on special and in small quantities. Remember that we have to ship product all over North America to “land” it at one of our Regional Sales Offices (RSO). Often, this means you are paying much more for the same plastic just to have a non-standard color. How long you have to wait for delivery is context dependent on your order, but 4-6 weeks would be typical.
Polyurethane, nylon, and some profiles of UHMW are the easiest to get in non-standard colors.
When Are Colors Not Feasible?
The primary barrier to getting a product in non-standard color is when you have to stick to a certain grade of plastic or have a certain additive. For example, we get asked if the anti-static UHMW is available in colors: it is not, because the additive itself makes the plastic black. Also regarding UHMW, “clean” reprocessed UHMW in non-standard colors are much easier to get ahold of in rod or extrusion rather than virgin grade material and a colorant.
Specs given for a product might also confuse requirements. We recently saw a spec for a project that called for black virgin UHMW that was certified to ASTM D4020 but this is impossible as ASTM D4020 specifically excludes UHMW with any and all additives, including color. Natural UHMW is white so a black colored resin, or any additive, automatically cannot meet D4020.
In summary, if you want a non-standard color for your project you need to realize that while it is technically possible you will pay significantly for it in increased cost, delivery, and minimum order quantity.
If you have questions or a request for a non-standard colored plastic – please contact us today.
We’ll be conducting on-site interviews for a variety of positions including:
***WE’LL HAVE THE BBQ FIRED UP AS WELL!
Come Visit and Stay for Lunch
SAME DAY: INVENTORY BLOW OUT!
On the same day as Hiring Day!
We’re blowing out our off-cut and excess inventory!
Select materials and products with drastically reduced prices.
WHEN: Sat. JULY 14 9:00am – 1:30pm
WHERE: 19695 92A Ave, Langley, BC V1M 3B3
We’re blowing out our off-cut and excess inventory!
Select materials and products with drastically reduced prices.
***WE’LL HAVE THE BBQ FIRED UP AS WELL!
Come Visit and Stay for Lunch
THE SAME DAY IS HIRING DAY!
On the same day; Saturday July 14 from 9:30am – 12:30pm we’ll be conducting on-site interviews for a variety of positions including:
Redwood Plastics and Rubber announced today the promotion of Nicholas Gavigan to Business Development Manger (BDM) for their flagship branch in Langley, BC.
Nicholas has worked with Redwood Plastics and Rubber for two years with an impressive track record as a Technical Sales Representative and will now be responsible for the growth and development of the Southern portion of British Columbia, Canada reporting to the VP of Sales and Marketing. Prior to joining Redwood, in addition to earning his Bachelor of Business Administration, Nicholas worked as a consultant, underwriter, accountant and production and operations manager.
One of the key questions we ask customers is “what is the application?” This question isn’t asked in order to steal your idea but to ensure that the plastic you’re looking for is optimal, or even workable in that application! Industrial plastics are excellent mechanical materials overall; however, like anything they do have both strengths and limitations. This article will review the core line of industrial plastics we carry, give the strengths, the limitations, and common applications/places where the plastic is wrongfully specified.
UHMW Polyethylene
Strengths: Well balanced properties, economical, and readily available.
Weaknesses: Poor dimensional stability
Specification errors: high load bushings, unrealistic tolerances, not compensating for thermal expansion.
Nylon
Strengths: High load bearing strength, diverse formulations, suits a wide variety of applications.
Weaknesses: Absorbs water, poor impact and cold-temperature properties.
Specification errors: Impact parts, marine applications (without accounting for swell), using nylon bushings in high RPM applications.
Acetal
Strengths: High load bearing strength, replaces nylon in “wet” applications, machines to excellent tolerances.
Weaknesses: Impact, temperature (especially steam) resistance.
Specification errors: Using black (copolymer) acetal in food processing applications. It is not food-safe, unlike the blue and white.
Tuffkast
Strengths: Excellent impact, cold weather, bearing, and moisture-resistance properties.
Weaknesses: High cost, elevated temperatures.
Specification errors: Typically in applications that generate high internal heat, such as a hammer cushion for pile drivers. Tuffkast is also softer than nylon, which can lead to increased wear in certain applications.
Polycarbonate
Strengths: Extremely high impact strength.
Weaknesses: Very prone to scratching.
Specification errors: As glass/sight part without upgrading to a anti-scratch version of the plastic.
Acrylic
Strengths: Scratch resistant, economical, stronger than glass, fairly resistant to weathering.
Weaknesses: Difficult to fabricate, prone to cracking.
Specification errors: Using in “Do-it-yourself” projects without proper knowledge of fabrication procedures.
Polyurethane
Strengths: Impact resistance, rebound, good bearing strength (bearing grades only).
Weaknesses: Water saturation degrades the plastic (especially softer grades), vibration degrades the plastic’s composition.
Specification errors: Vibration or moisture applications.
Rubber
Strengths: Lots of choice between properties, cost, wide application variety.
Weaknesses: Polyurethane is superior in many applications, grades must be selected carefully.
Specification errors: Choosing an ineffective grade of rubber for an application to save on cost, assuming the lower grade will still function.
For more information about which plastic is best for your application, please contact us.
Redwood Plastics and Rubber, a leading distributor and manufacturer of performance plastics and rubber announced Angela Rodenburgh as the new VP of Sales & Marketing. Angela has worked with Redwood Plastics and Rubber for fifteen years within the management team and became a board member and shareholder late last year.
“As the VP of Marketing, Angela has strengthened our brand in the marketplace, introduced new channels to market, and continues to support and inspire change within every department of our business. Her influence on sales and business retention is substantial and she has a clear understanding of what is required to be a customer focused organization.” said President Dale Delmage.
Since Angela joined their executive team, in addition to her VP Marketing responsibilities, she has worked in Project Manager roles with their Market Driven Taskforce, their CRM taskforce, and their BDC/KPMG Corporate Integration Taskforce. Outside of Redwood, she is a well-respected industry leader holding numerous Chairperson/Board roles with the International Association of Plastic Distribution, SPE, and others.
As the VP of Sales and Marketing, Angela’s duties now include directing the activities of marketing, and the development and delivery of a sales strategy for the company’s aggressive growth plans for their six branches across North America that serve an international customer base.
Redwood Plastics and Rubber today announced that following a distinguished career of over 38 years, Patrick Curley, the Vice President of Sales, will be retiring.
“Pat has provided a wealth of experience, leadership, and mentorship, to the entire Redwood team. Pat has directed the business through good times and bad, making both the easy, and the difficult, decisions that come with being a business leader. Redwood has been immensely successful under his leadership, and his passion for the business will be sorely missed.” said Graeme Fraser, Chairman of the Board.
Pat started with Redwood Plastics in April of 1980 and was a true pioneer for the company expanding their business into new geography throughout his career. In 1982, Pat moved to Prince George to open their first ever satellite branch operation. In 1985, Pat moved to Spokane to open their first US operation and built the Redwood Plastics name Internationally.
In 1988, Pat moved to Woodland as President to support and grow our first US manufacturing location and Head Office for their US operations. In 1994, Pat opened their facility in Atlanta, GA, spreading the Redwood Plastics brand to the Eastern United States. Pat has also been instrumental in the building of our current management team having hired Gerry Takahashi, Terry Miller, Bob Christensen, Angela Rodenburgh and Gordon Fender. These people and facilities are central to the success of our business today and have grown as a direct result of the vision and leadership Pat has provided.
Pat was also an active participant and mentor within industry associations throughout his career and currently sits on the board of the International Association of Plastics.
His retirement is effective June 30th, 2018.
CDN 800 667 0999
USA 866 733 2684
sales@redwoodplastics.com
