You rarely see it, plastic fasteners. However, it can be extremely useful for specific applications and in some cases even save you a lot of money.
What exactly is plastic fasteners?
The official name for plastic fasteners is polymer composite fasteners (also known as polymer fasteners). Polymer composite is the type of plastic used for the fasteners. These polymer fasteners are 100% metal free and are made of high quality plastic.
What is plastic mounting material used for?
The plastic mounting material is mainly chosen for 2 main reasons:
- The plastic fasteners can be cut, shaped and sanded without damaging saw blades, drill bits or sanding belts.
- Plastic mounting material will never rust, leave stains or streaks on the material.
If metal fasteners damage your saw blades, your router bits, your thicknesser or your sanding belts, then plastic fasteners may be the solution for you!
By replacing the metal fasteners with polymer fasteners, you can save a lot of money on:
- Expenses incurred for repairing machines
- Costs incurred for replacing parts
- Costs incurred when production is at a standstill
The polymer fasteners are often used to permanently clamp material during cutting, milling or sanding.
Even in projects where no metal may be used at all, such as with radio frequency adhesives, plastic fasteners can also offer an excellent solution.
The plastic mounting hardware is light, can be painted or varnished and will not spark.
How well do plastic fasteners work?
Plastic fasteners hold very well! The pull-out value of RAPTOR® polymer fasteners is even 2x higher than metal fasteners.
This is because the plastic fasteners melt when shot into the wood. This binds it with the fibers of the wood. Therefore, the polymer fastener actually acts like a glue, making it more difficult to pull it out of the wood. The shaft of the mounting material therefore ensures the excellent pull-out value.
The pull-out value of a metal fastener depends on the abrasion resistance of the material. This means that longer metal fasteners provide more hold than shorter material. If the plastic fasteners are used for wood, you only need 10 mm penetration into the substrate to provide sufficient hold. At 10 mm penetration, the plastic fasteners can no longer be pulled out of the wood. To loosen the wood connection, the plastic fasteners must be broken.
If you shoot the plastic material deeper into the surface, for example 25 mm instead of 10 mm, this will not provide extra grip. However, the extra length makes it more difficult to shoot into the material. Shorter material shoots better in hard material. So choose the shortest mounting hardware that will still allow you to shoot 10mm into the ground for the best hold and ease of shooting.
Although the pullout value of plastic fasteners is higher than for metal tools, the shear strength is only half that of metal fasteners. For this reason, plastic fasteners are intended for non-structural applications, holding material while cutting or to use as a clamp while glue dries.
What should you pay attention to with plastic fasteners?
It is important to know that polymer fasteners require special tools. This is because plastic fasteners need firm lateral support. This means that the drive magazine must be tight to allow minimal movement for the fasteners. If there is too much slack in the drive magazine, the plastic fasteners may be skewed into the material, causing the fasteners to bend and break. This is more likely to occur when fixing hard materials (such as harder woods).
We offer the necessary tools on our website www.polymerfasteners.com.
Pneumatic and manual tools are available for polymer fasteners. For harder materials, better results will be achieved with the pneumatic tool than with the manual tool.
The use of the tool is also slightly different than for metal fasteners. Plastic fasteners shoot better if the device is fired precisely and stably. If the device moves while firing, it may cause the mounting hardware to break. It takes some getting used to, but you will see that you will get faster and faster in using the tool.
These are the most important things you need to know about plastic fasteners. Do you have a specific application and are you wondering whether polymer fasteners are suitable for this? Our product specialists are happy to advise you! Call 0570 768 737 or send an email to info@bestfix.nl
