Cast Nylon

We manufacture and sell cast nylon into the Southern African sub-continent. We produce equivalents to branded nylons marketed in South Africa as well as custom grades.

Our grades of nylon are available in the following forms

Sheets:

2600 x 1300 in 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 60 and 70mm thicknesses.
2000 x 1300 in 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 and 65mm thicknesses.
2000 x 1000 in 10, 12, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 and 65mm thicknesses.
1250 x 1270 in 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100mm thicknesses.

Rods:

From 20 to 100 diameter in 5mm increments by 1000mm long.
20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65, 75, 80, 85, 90, 95 and 100mm x 1000mm long.

From 110 to 200 diameter in 10mm increments by 1000mm long.
110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190 and 200mm x 1000mm long.

From 220 to 300 in 10mm increments by 500mm long.
220, 240, 250, 260, 280 and 300mm x 500mm long.

• Larger rods are made as custom castings.

Tubes:

From 50 to 100 outside diameter in 5mm increments by 1000mm long.

From 110 to 200 outside diameter in 10mm increments by 1000mm long.

220, 240, 250, 260, 280, 300, 320mm outside diameter by 1000mm long.

• Wall thickness is from 10mm and upwards.
• Certain process limitations apply.

Custom castings:

We are capable of casting rings up to 3000mm outside diameter, near nett shapes, blanks for machining and rapid prototyping blanks. We are able to design moulds for near nett/ custom shapes, and have the resources to get it made on behalf of our customers. Our maximum custom castings that we can cast is restricted to 1000kg's.

 

Additives

Our additives will enable you to sell internationally recognised grades of nylon such as:

MOS2 filled, oil filled, solid lubricant filled, heat stabilised, anti-static, rubber modified, plasticised nylon meeting certain ATEX specifications and flame retardant to V0. This can also be done in an array of market recognised colours. Our additives truly are cutting edge and we are always working on finding better ones.

 

Colourants

Disperscol:

We have developed the Disperscol product range especially for the cast nylon manufacturing industry. Disperscol colours are soluble in Caprolactam, so it disperses evenly throughout the Caprolactam and does not sediment out through the effects of gravity. Disperscol does not spin out during centrifugal casting. When the Caprolactam polymerises it is ideally dispersed throughout the nylon crystalline matrix resulting in no leaching out of colorants in the end product.

More importantly, Disperscol colours are so miscible in Caprolactam that they disperse themselves in the reactor tanks with only the tank agitator (mixer), so you do not have to do any pre- mixing and blending yourself. Furthermore - Disperscol rinses out of the tanks very easily so you can cast different colours from a set of tanks in one shift with the least of rinsing. You will also find that these colorants do not interfere with the reactivity of the system at normal levels of addition.

Light Stability:

Disperscol colours have different levels of light stability depending on the colour.

Disperscol is ready to add straight into the Caprolactam tank without any pre-blending. This saves a lot of time, space and process equipment. Packaged in handy 1kg packs to ensure minimum spoilage due to oxygen/ moisture contamination from stagnant raw materials.

 

Colours available

Disperscol Red.

Disperscol Green.

Disperscol Black 3.

Disperscol Yellow.

Custom colours including day-glow yellow and green, as well as other colours that can be made to order.

 

Speciality Additives

Caproil S:

This is a special blend of oils, surfactants and enhancers to disperse the blend evenly in the Caprolactam before casting. Traditionally, commercially available oils would rise out of the Caprolactam and make processing difficult – Caproil S is a combination of proprietary materials to manufacture world class oil filled nylon. This blend is highly miscible in Caprolactam making it easy to process. We can also supply a grade that meets certain FDA approval criteria for accidental contact with foods for use in the food processing industry.

The primary purpose of Caproil S is to reduce the coefficient of friction and improve wear properties. Slip stick is also reduced when using Caproil S.

Caprolube New:

This additive is for the industry standard “premier grade” of nylon, producing the lowest coefficient of friction and lowest wear rate of all self-lubricating cast nylons.

Caprolube is a solid lubricant blend of polymers. These solid lubricants will not rise out of the Caprolactam during processing as much as the current industry products do. Static co-efficient of friction range from 0.12 to 0.22

Capromos:

Capromos is a processed and blended grade of MOS2 (molybdenum disulphide) to make the equivalent to the famous MOS2 filled nylon that is distributed very successfully world-wide by some of the major producers. The MOS2 will not sediment out as much if you add our custom dispersant (Capromos Dispersant) that allows a more homogenised distribution of MOS2 in the Caprolactam. Packaged in handy 1kg packs to ensure minimum spoilage due to moisture/oxygen contamination from batch to batch.

Most cast nylon producers recognise the benefits of using MOS2 but do not use it because it destroys the reactivity of the system and sediments out of the castings.

Capromos primarily acts as a dry lubricant that reduces the coefficient of friction and lowers wear. Capromos secondarily acts as a nucleating agent in Caprolactam and results in a nylon with higher crystallinity. The higher crystallinity imparts certain favourable mechanical properties in the end product. That is increased tensile and compressive strength as well as better modulus.

Capromos Dispersant:

Capromos Dispersant is a custom dispersant for MOS2. This proprietary compound affects the Newtonian fluid properties of the Caprolactam and MOS2 blend and allows for a better dispersion of the heavier MOS2 in the reactor tank. With the aid of this custom dispersant there is less sedimentation of MOS2 in the tank (provided the tank design is correct) and virtually no MOS2 sedimentation in the cast items produced with this additive (Microscopy samples visually alike at top and bottom of cast parts).

Capromos Dispersant works so well that you can spin cast tubes with Capromos (MOS2) and have a near even dispersion of MOS2 across the wall thickness of the tube.

Capromos dispersant is also indispensable in the manufacture of coloured nylons based on pigments and for dispersing inorganic additives in the Caprolactam matrix prior to polymerisation.

Caprostab N:

Caprostab N is a heat stabiliser that is non-discolouring, allowing you to make heat stabilised nylon in natural, or any colour you like. This heat stabiliser inhibits oxidation of the outer surface of the nylon at elevated temperatures, resulting in slower outer shell degradation of the cast nylon at elevated temperatures. This product is most often used in Blue Heat Stabilised cast nylon as seen more regularly in Asian markets.

Caprostab D:

Caprostab D is a heat stabiliser that is discolouring; allowing you to make heat stabilised nylon in black or dark colours (colorant to be added). This heat stabiliser inhibits oxidation of the outer surface of the nylon at elevated temperatures, resulting in a slower outer shell degradation of the cast nylon at elevated temperatures.

Caprolatex:

Caprolatex is an impact modifier to make nylon block copolymers that can withstand high impact forces even down to -50C. This modifier is widely used to make crane outrigger feet and mats as well as pile driving caps amongst many other applications – it alters the mechanical properties linearly, depending on the percentage used. This type of nylon can be used as an alternative to type 6/12 in most applications. Nylon made with Caprolatex is suitable for casting nylon onto steel hubs without the worry of cracking due to shrinkage. This additive can also be used as an equivalent to NYRIM pre-polymers.

Caproplas:

Caproplas is a plasticiser for cast nylon. The plasticiser results in less brittle nylon and better impact strength. Caproplas can be used in all commercial grades except impact modified cast nylon. This additive is especially suited for applications where nylon is used in extremely low relative humidity environments Caproplas increases the elasticity of nylon resulting in higher stress loads to produce strain.