Ebonite rods

[pierredekat]

But otherwise, it's Absylux from here on out for me.

You're that warm and fuzzy with the material? I've been following along with your experiment and have been liking what I've been reading. Is it being well-accepted by the folks who have tried your samples so far? I'd be more than happy working with an alternative material so long as it doesn't send me into Random territory.

The more I have been working with it, the more I like it. I've done eight Absylux stems so far: one for me, two for sale-pipes, and five replacement stems for various folks. And I like it a lot.

if you're going to order from them; you better do it quick!! they are going out of business within a week or two!! they will also do a discount on the ABS and Delrin rod if you ask them for it now!!

Yes, hollywood is correct. The way I understand it, Industrial Safety and Supply is shutting down their plastics operation, and they are offering a nice discount on their remaining supply.

Of course, you can still get Absylux directly from the manufacturer:
http://www.westlakeplastics.com/viewres ... &busgrp=EN

And from various suppliers:
http://www.plasticdistributioninc.com/d ... bsylux.htm
http://www.portplastics.com/plastics/co ... uxWES.html
http://www.ridoutplastics.com/abssheetrod.html
http://www.sdplastics.com/absylux.html

And there's a very good possibility that if you order a generic ABS from some other suppliers, you are actually getting Absylux. But for some reason, they didn't spell it out as Absylux.

For instance, during my searches for Absylux, companies like Industrial Plastic Supply and Emco Plastics kept coming up. You'd go to their website, and they didn't say "Absylux", but rather "ABS".

However, when you read through their specs, their "ABS" sounds very similar to Absylux, right down to the "FDA-compliant for use in food-processing applications" jargon.

I'm guessing a call would prove my theory that a lot of the generic ABS is actually Absylux, just that the company selling it may not feel the need to promote the Absylux brand.

Does that make sense?

I still haven't found any easy way to click-and-buy Absylux, but ordering by phone was a breeze with Industrial Safety and Supply, so I imagine it would be the same, calling any of the other companies, as well.

[hollywood]

When I ordered from ISS today; I got the black 3/4" Absylux rod for 2.95 per foot and 5/16th Delrin rod for .45 per foot. I have tried calling back to add on more, but can't reach anyone this afternoon. Pretty darned cheap!

[Frank]

ANOTHER UPDATE:
Industrial Plastic Supply says that Absylux is the manufacturer's (Westlake) trade name for ABS. They purchase their ABS rod from Westlake too.

OK, so I guess we finally established that Robert & Kim's ABS all came from the same manufacturer, just different suppliers.
I just received a 4' length from IPS which I will be messing with this weekend.

I still haven't found any easy way to click-and-buy Absylux, but ordering by phone was a breeze with Industrial Safety and Supply, so I imagine it would be the same, calling any of the other companies, as well.

Robert, this click-and-buy couldn't be easier: http://www.indplastic.com/index.cfm?id= ... &pageid=40

When I ordered from ISS today; I got the black 3/4" Absylux rod for 2.95 per foot and 5/16th Delrin rod for .45 per foot. I have tried calling back to add on more, but can't reach anyone this afternoon. Pretty darned cheap!

As Kurt & Frank Berone would say,"Holy Crap!", that is cheap. I paid $26.72 for 4'. My cheapskate nature is in turmoil for missing a bargain.

[hollywood]

When I ordered from ISS today; I got the black 3/4" Absylux rod for 2.95 per foot and 5/16th Delrin rod for .45 per foot. I have tried calling back to add on more, but can't reach anyone this afternoon. Pretty darned cheap!

As Kurt & Frank Berone would say,"Holy Crap!", that is cheap. I paid $26.72 for 4'. My cheapskate nature is in turmoil for missing a bargain.

Haven't missed that bargain train yet, Frank. Try to give them a ring on Monday. You might be able to haggle with them on their remaining stock. I know I'm calling back!

[sethile]

Did somebody say group buy? I'm in.
SEMs ebonite is really nice, nicer than PME. Fortunately, I ordered some from PME before the price increase, but even then, it 'felt' too expensive. SEM said they would notify me when the cumberland was ready, but I doubt they are organized enough to do so. Does anyone have the latest gossip on SEM?

Joe Skoda was looking into a group buy from SEM as of a month or so ago. I don't think he's on the forum here, so I just E-mailed him to see where he is with it. I'd be interested in a group buy from SEM, especially if they have Cumberland ready! The problem is, organizing a group is a ton of work and hassle, and I have enough Ebonite for the time being, so it may boil down to the Cumberland for motivation on my end.....

I love Ebonite and Cumberland, and so do most collectors! At most we're talking $10 per pipe, not that I'd want to practice with it at that price! Unless your still destroying material it's really more of an emotional hurdle than a financial one

[sethile]

Joe Skoda was looking into a group buy from SEM as of a month or so ago. I don't think he's on the forum here, so I just E-mailed him to see where he is with it. I'd be interested in a group buy from SEM, especially if they have Cumberland ready! The problem is, organizing a group is a ton of work and hassle, and I have enough Ebonite for the time being, so it may boil down to the Cumberland for motivation on my end.....

Joe Skoda replied. He may buy from SEM, but he already has some pipe makers interested and did not sound keen on adding more. He may have some to sell at Chicago, but didn't sound sure he was going to do it at all.

I also received an E-mail back from SEM. Cumberland is not ready yet. They have made one experimental stave (that was some time back, I think) and they sent me a hi resolution picture of it. They are supposedly sending me a sample as well. You can click on the pics here (figured they were too big to load into this well:
http://sethilepipes.com/SEM_cumberland1.JPG
http://sethilepipes.com/SEM_cumberland2.JPG
From the picture it looks like the red may be a bit light or pinkish in hue, and the distribution of it looks more swirled than stranded, but I'm not sure if those are the issues they're working on or not. I'll let you know if I get the samples, but I wouldn't hold your breath on when Cumberland from SEM will be ready, or what it will look like exactly or what it will cost when it is....

In terms of a group buy either now or later. Looking things over I think there are enough variables to make that difficult and risky for whoever organizes it (exchange rate and shipping are almost impossible to predict). They don't have a minimum order per say, but anything under 100 rods has a 35 Euro handling charge (roughly $52 USD at today's google exchange rate).

[Frank]

In terms of a group buy either now or later. Looking things over I think there are enough variables to make that difficult and risky for whoever organizes it (exchange rate and shipping are almost impossible to predict). They don't have a minimum order per say, but anything under 100 rods has a 35 Euro handling charge (roughly $52 USD at today's google exchange rate).

Unfortunately for us in the USA, the Dollar is getting weaker against the Euro. Approx 1 Euro= 1.5 Dollar.

[sethile]

Unfortunately for us in the USA, the Dollar is getting weaker against the Euro. Approx 1 Euro= 1.5 Dollar.

Yes, it hurts when we're buying in Euros, but it works both ways... I sold a couple of pipes that headed to Italy shortly after the dollar took a big hit so I can't really complain if my ebonite and briar cost me a little more if it means I can sell more pipes across the pond