A Guide to MC Nylon CNC Machining: The Premium Choice Over Nylon 6

Key Takeaways

1. MC Nylon is a high-performance engineering plastic offering excellent mechanical strength, wear resistance, heat resistance, and chemical resistance, making it well-suited for demanding machine components like gears, bearings, and sprockets.

2. MC Nylon complies with food safety standards if treated.

3. MC Nylon has a high water absorption rate, meaning dimensional changes can occur due to water or moisture absorption.

Overview

MC Nylon (Monomer Cast Nylon) is a blue-toned engineering-grade nylon, belonging to the nylon family (such as Nylon 6 and Nylon 66) and sharing many of their properties.

MC Nylon (Cast Nylon) is an engineering plastic known for its exceptional mechanical strength, wear resistance, and sliding properties. It offers outstanding chemical resistance to organic solvents. Much like POM, its physical properties rank well above average across the board, and because it is highly cost-effective, it serves as an incredibly versatile and user-friendly material.

The standard grade is distinctive for its blue color, and the top and bottom surfaces of the raw stock feature characteristic striations (stripes) left over from the manufacturing process. Overall, its high performance relative to its low cost makes it a staple material in plastic machining.

To comply with food sanitation standards, it must be immersed in boiling water for 1.5 hours.

Thanks to its performance characteristics, it is widely used in machine components such as wheels, gears, bearings, sprockets, liners, and guides.

MC Nylon is a registered trademark of Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials Co., Ltd. The general name is Monomer Cast Nylon, also referred to as Cast Nylon or MCN.

Considerations for Material Selection

MC Nylon has one of the highest water absorption rates among plastics, making its dimensional stability relatively poor. Water absorption is about 0.8% after 24 hours of immersion at 23°C. It is especially prone to warping or distortion when machining asymmetrical parts. Because of this, MC Nylon is not well-suited for outdoor applications or environments with high humidity. For those situations, a weather-resistant grade of MC Nylon is available.

Additionally, it reacts easily with acids, so careful attention must be paid to any chemicals present in the operating environment.

MC Nylon Grades

• Standard grades (MC901, MC900NC)

• Sliding grade (MC703HL)

• High-strength, heat-resistant grade (MC602ST)

• Anti-static grade (MC500AS R11)

• Weather-resistant, sliding grade (MC801)

How it Differs from POM

POM, like MC Nylon, is widely used for general machine parts. POM absorbs only 0.22 percent of water after 24 hours at 23°C, which is about one-third of MC Nylon’s absorption, giving it superior dimensional stability.

In terms of heat resistance and wear resistance, MC Nylon outperforms POM.

Additionally, MC Nylon can be bonded with adhesives, whereas POM is highly resistant to organic solvents, making it more difficult to bond.

Specifications and Stock Availability

To provide fast turnaround on orders, we keep a standard stock of MC Nylon, mainly in the MC901 grade.

Stock sizes:

• Rods: Ø20–Ø170

• Sheets: 5–100 mm thick
  Stock may vary depending on order volume.

MC901 Available Range:

• Rods: Ø20–Ø600

• Sheets: 5–150 mm thick

• Large-diameter rods (Ø500–Ø1000) are available from the manufacturer as made-to-order items

Standard Lengths:

• Rods: 300 mm, 500 mm, 1000 mm (depending on diameter)

• Sheets: 600×1200 mm, 1000×1000 mm, 1000×2000 mm, 600×600 mm (depending on thickness)

Dimensional Tolerances (MC901 Sheet)

Dimensional Tolerances (MC901 Rod)

MC Nylon CNC Machining at Yumoto Electric

Yumoto Electric delivers high-quality components fast, worldwide. We provide precision machining for a wide range of engineering plastics, including PEEK, PPS, MC Nylon, and POM.

If you’re unsure about material selection or machining methods, we offer complimentary consultations to help optimize your design and production. For any questions, please feel free to contact us.