Food Safe or Clinical Grade Bushing (Sleeve Bearing)

[Helepolis]

Hi all,

I'm looking for a bushing/sleeve-bearing as an alternative for this one

If anybody wonders why I'm looking for something that already exists, yes I can purchase Igus products but only through a local reseller (even if I order online), the problem is that this reseller probably has the worst customer service I have encountered in the industry (I've recently done a "pole" and out 0f 106 participants 63% of them think that the service is sub-par).
This thing with the reseller is way worse than what can be described with one line but it is what it is.

So if anybody has an international manufacturer with a similar product, please let me know.


Thanks,
SD

 

[Jboggs]

My experience with Igus is that they are generally very responsive to customer inquiries. Have you talked to customer service at Igus? I would bet lunch that there is an alternative way you could purchase the bushing you need. Maybe they could sell it to you direct. Maybe there is another distributor that could service your needs. Maybe you could buy it through a nationwide distributor like McMaster-Carr.

And speaking of McMaster, if you'll carefully research all the specs on that bushing and compare it to their offerings, I expect you'll find something that works. I have even found that sometimes they will tell you the manufacturer's name and model number for the parts in their catalog, if you directly ask customer service.

 

[Helepolis]

Well I'm kinda in a pickle..
McMaster isn't delivering at all to where I live, there is just no delivery option.
The only "official" supplier of McMaster charges 300-500% markup on the prices from the website, and the officiality of the supplier is in question as McMaster wont admit that they are (I've asked by email an phone to make sure).

Regarding Igus, no matter how I try to purchase at the end I get the message that a local reseller will contact me with the payment details (and there is only one in my country, they are the exclusive supplier of Igus).

So it's not like I haven't tried different approaches.

 

[TugboatEng]

Is there a reason to keep your country location secret? That can sometimes help us find suppliers.

 

[3DDave]

Country code "IL" in the user profile. Not so secret.

 

[TugboatEng]

I did not know that.

A little bit of sleuthing has led me to believe Igidur A350 is a PTFE impregnated Acetal material. There are other manufacturers of competitive materials. Delrin AF may be a suitable alternative, I have not had a chance to compare properties. If your volume requirement is large, the bulk material should be readily available. Machining your own bushings may be cost prohibitive if the volume is small.