Drake News

ECOMMERCE SITE NOW AVAILABLE
Drake Plastics has opened an ecommerce site for Torlon® products. We hope you will enjoy our site. PEEK and ball offerings are coming soon.
Drake Ecommerce Store


DRAKE OFFERS WIDEST RANGE OF VICTREX® HT™ SHAPES FROM INVENTORY
Drake Plastics stocks the widest range of Victrex® HT™ shapes. Drake produced Victrex® HT™ can be certified to Schlumberger Specification 100137282.

Pricing and Availability for Victrex® HT™





DRAKE DEVELOPS 6" DIAMETER ROD
Drake Plastics now extrudes 6" (152.4mm) diameter Torlon® 4203 rod, extending its wide range of Torlon® machinable shapes. This rod enables Torlon® to be used for additional critical applications including thermal isolators, electrical insulators, valve seats, wheels, baffles and gears. The larger diameter improves yield, reducing the cost to produce parts.

View the complete press release >>


DRAKE OFFERS 1.25" THICK TORLON® PLATE
Drake has developed and now offers 1.25” thick Torlon® Plate 12” wide in three popular Torlon® grades: 4203, 4301 and 5030. 4203 is pictured.


DRAKE EXTRUDES WORLD'S LARGEST TORLON SEAMLESS TUBE®
Drake Plastics has extended the capability of their proprietary process to deliver 6.187” OD X 4.5” ID (152.4 X 114.3) Seamless Tube®. The new size has been produced in Glass Reinforced Torlon® 5030 and enables two new applications in the petrochemical industry. It is in stock at our Cypress, TX factory.

DRAKE PLASTICS AWARDED SEAMLESS TUBE® TRADEMARK
Drake Plastic Products Inc. has recently been awarded Trademark Registration 3,188,378 for Seamless Tube® by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Drake Plastics is a specialty processor and technical marketer of advanced polymers.
The newly awarded Trademark is the ideal description of this unique capability in plastic processing. Seamless Tube® technology was developed and commercialized by Drake Plastics to expand the capability of Torlon® PAI beyond rod. This has enabled a multitude of new applications in aerospace and other industries.

View the complete press release >>


DRAKE EXPANSION COMPLETE
Drake Plastics has completed the construction and is occupying a new 12,000 SF (1,115 m2) manufacturing plant and 6,000 SF (557 m2) research and development facility. Both new buildings are located at Drake's headquarters in Cypress, Texas.

LARGE TORLON® ROD NOW AVAILABLE FROM DRAKE PLASTICS
Torlon® 4203 and 5030 Rod in sizes ranging from 2.5"/ 63 mm up to 5.0"/ 130 mm are now available from Drake Plastics. This expanded size offering has enabled dozens of new applications to benefit from Torlon®’s exceptional versatility.

Click here for rod pricing and availability

PRECISION TORLON® BALLS NOW AVAILABLE FROM STOCK
Torlon® Balls in sizes ranging from 1/8" up to 1/2" are now in stock at Drake Plastics. Torlon® Balls offer outstanding corrosion, wear and toughness. They can successfully serve low load applications, many unlubricated.

Applications in marine riggings and other harsh environments as well as in fluid handling check balls are common, thousands of others are possible.

Click here for ball pricing and availability


DRAKE PLASTICS EXPANDS TO NEW HEADQUARTERS
In order to keep up with rising customer demand, Drake Plastics designed and built a new facility 15 minutes from our old location in Cypress, Texas. Manufacturing at this location is focused on extruded Torlon® Products. Sales and service for extruded specialty PEEK products from our San Antonio plant (Drake Research) are also coordinated from here. We moved in May 2004, shutting down production for one day.

Key features include 11,600 sq ft of office, manufacturing and warehouse space; making our new plant the largest Torlon® dedicated facility in the world. The facility is located on 12 acres to accommodate future growth. The facility is laid out to facilitate the smooth flow of material through our lean manufacturing system.


SCREWS & FASTENERS
High strength plastic fasteners made from Torlon® and PEEK are emerging from best kept secret status. Key benefits are: light weight, chemical & corrosion resistance, and insulative grades don't interfere with sensitive electronics.

Drake now offers several standard, stock fasteners as well as a complete capability to make the size you require- injection molded or machined.


OILFIELD DRILLING APPLICATIONS
Today's wells are deeper, resulting in higher temperatures and pressures. This is driving the next generation of oil tools to be designed with high temperature, high strength materials like Torlon®. Drake is serving a variety of these applications with parts made from Torlon Seamless Tube®. Due to the confidential nature of these parts, photos are not available.


AIRCRAFT FUEL CONNECTS
Tough, lightweight and non-conductive, Torlon® 4203 is the material of first choice for drop tank and in-flight refueling connects for Allied air forces around the world. Drake's extensive Seamless Tube® capability enables parts to be made quickly and economically. Additionally, flow and weld lines found in injection molded blanks are eliminated.

TORLON® SLIDING VANES
From modern compressors to old-school superchargers, Torlon® 4435 sliding vanes are breathing new life into rotary vane machinery. In addition to a dramatic extension in life, Torlon® 4435 vanes reduce operating cost by requiring less lubrication. Torlon®'s high temperature capability also enables higher discharge pressures than traditional laminate vanes. Drake extrudes these parts to final size. Contact GE Oil & Gas (formerly A-C Compressor) for the best performing rotary vane compressors available (920-237-6160).


FERRARI 430GT SUSPENSION BUSHINGS
The Ferrari race team Risi Competizione has upgraded to Torlon® 4435 suspension bushings supplied by Drake Plastics. Each car has 8 upper and 8 lower bushings. Factory bushing material wears out and has to be changed between every race. The Risi Team engineers were seeking a solution before running the Daytona 24 Hours, where the car becomes very sloppy due to worn bushings during the race. Torlon® 4435 was proven at the very rough track at Sebring with excellent results. Richard Taylor of the Risi Team said "The Torlon® 4435 bushings have shown no wear throughout the season. It looks like the only time we will be replacing suspension bushings in the future is after crashes and during major overhauls.

NEXT GENERATION AIRCRAFT GENERATOR
Drake Plastics developments like this 130 mm Torlon® Seamless Tube® is enabling technology for future aircraft generators, where more output is required from smaller, lighter weight units.


TORLON® 4435
Torlon® 4435 offers unmatched wear performance at high PV's without external lubrication (see figure). In addition to its groundbreaking wear performance, Torlon® 4435 offers excellent mechanical properties, including high strength and heat resistance.

TORLON® WIRE
Drake Plastics has recently developed a process to extrude Torlon® to a .050" (1.27 mm) size. The initial applications include precision all and journal bearings.



TORLON® SEAMLESS TUBE®- ALL GRADES, MANY GEOMETRIES
Drake's unique ability to produce Seamless Torlon Tube® has enabled many new applications to be served with Torlon®. Further refinements in our process are underway to produce on final size as well as thin wall sections.


TORLON® CAN MANDRELS
Drake's Seamless Tube® capability has been used to solve dimensional stability and service life problems in the printing of two-piece aluminum cans. Drake is working in close cooperation with North America's leading fabricator of can mandrels, Blair Machine and Tool Co.


TORLON® HIGH PRESSURE HYDRAULIC COMPONENTS
Precision machined Torlon® poppets, seats and spools operate at 5000 psi (34 Mpa) and extend service life. Increased operating pressures enable significant system cost savings and weight reduction.




THICK TORLON® BAR-1.350" (34 mm)
An electrical component used on the F-22 fighter required a heavier cross-section than had previously been produced in Torlon® 5030. Drake designed and built tooling, developed the process, and delivered this new size within six weeks.