Material Suppliers

Material Sources:

• Wood

  • Bell Forest Products - Many wood species online order

  • Woodworkers Source - Online supplier of many wood species

  • Dubin Brothers - Deliver MDF and sheet material?

  • Manayunk Timber - Locally harvested fallen trees and antique reclaimed beams (20 minute drive)

  • Philadelphia Woodworks - membership woodshop in Manayunk that sells wood (20 minute drive)

  • Groff and Groff Lumber - Domestic Hardwood and many other species (90 minute drive)

  • Delaware County Supply - Hardwoods, Softwoods, Slabs, Beams, plywood (30 minute drive)

  • Interlam Corporation - Supplier of the colored MDF Forescoler (also known as Valchromat)

• Metals

  • Selection Tip

    • For hardness/strength choose Tool Steel, Stainless 303, Mild Steel 1018 or 1045

    • For easy to machine choose 12L14 Steel, Aluminum 6061, Brass 385, (or see Plastics)

  • McMaster-Carr - Giant hardware and material supply, quick delivery to Penn, reliable and good quality, but not the cheapest prices

  • Joseph Fazzio - Metal supplier about 30 min away in New Jersey

  • http://www.speedymetals.com/ - Online Metals order for shaped stock

  • Belmont Metals - Online order of metals for melting (high quality - reliable ingredients - metallurgical tech assistance)

  • Hillock anodizing in Philadelphia

  • Oshcut - upload DXF - they laser cut in Stainless, Steel, Brass/Bronze, Aluminum and many other metals. Instant Estimates

• Casting and Moldmaking, and CNC Foam and Wax

  • Reynolds Advanced Materials - Distributor of Smooth-On silicones, foams, aljanates, and moldmaking materials

  • The Compleat Sculptor - Clays, Resins, Casting and Moldmaking Materials, Foam, Adhesives, sculpting tools

  • MachinableWax.com - Supplier of prototyping wax - check specifications here

  • Carbide 3D - Machinable Fixturing Wax

  • Freeman Manufacturing and Supply Company - Supplier of machining wax,foam and dieboard

  • Wax Filament for casting

• Plastics

  • The Museum of Design in Plastics Resource Site

    • Lecture on the early history of plastics (2000 B.C. to the present) by Dr. Susan Mossman

  • Selection Tip

    • For hardness/strength and easy to machine choose Acetal/Delrin

    • For easy to machine choose ABS, Nylon, Polycarbonate, PTFE (Teflon), HDPE, PEEK

    • Thermoplastic Triangle

  • Harbor - Sheet material - Acrylic, Polystyrene, PVC, HDPE, ABS, Polycarbonate, and High Density Urethane (CNC Foam) (up to 15 cuts per sheet is $5), no delivery charge

  • McMaster Urethane Foam - 6 or 10lbs per cu ft is usally good

  • Boedeker Plastics, INC - Texas supplier of many types of plastics with lots of spec data and machining guidelines

  • BF Plastics - Multilayer colored acrylics and metals for CNC or Laser etched signs

  • Plastics International - Many types of plastics comparable by properties

  • UHMWPE - Thermoplastic

  • Nylon and Hydlar ZF - Fiber filled nylons

  • Bioplastics

    • Studio Basse Stittgen Egg Waste and Human Blood (infectious)

    • Bioplastic Cookbook Margaret Dunne

    • The Secrets of Bioplastic Clara Davis

    • Bioplastic Johan Viladrich

• Fabrics and Fibers

  • Brand Felt - Supplier of felt sheets up to 4" thick, also able to sew/cut with cnc waterjet

  • Dharma Trading Co. - Inkjet Fabrics (and many other fabrics and dyes)

  • Superior Threads - They sell thread! resource pages also for Thread Characteristics and Thread Weight

• Plasters and Gypsum Cements

  • Chart of types and recipes for various kinds of plaster

• Other Naturals

  • Mycellium Supplier - Evocative Design

• Special Adhesives

  • Ellsworth Adhesives - Vast variety of high tech adhesives - great resource material on website and tech advisors

  • Adhesive Database - Chemical Retrieval on the Web

• 3D Printing Material Options

  • Varioshore - a flexible foaming filament that makes lightweight, flexible soft touch parts