I had my order ready, 3 sheets of black, 12"x12" Garolite, for turret board use.
Then I get an e-mail from McMaster-Carr that due to complex export regulations, they can not ship to new customers overseas. I haven't been able to find any other supplier of the same type of Garolite elsewhere.
I need a wider board than the standard size, for the power supply, and 12"x12" would be perfect to cut the right size from.
Anyone know any other companies that sell Garolite in bigger sizes.. or are any of you interested in receiving my package, and sending it to me by mail?
Check with Ken at turretboards.com. I've not personally ordered from him, but have heard good reports from people who have. On his blank board page it says he will sell bulk boards and does ship overseas (from the USA).
Hope this helps...
"We put a little quality in everything we build..."
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there must be some place in europe that sells the same stuff. Those are just industrial laminates used around the world in electronics, boats, knife handles, and so on. RS components had some "Tufnol" (trade name) in different grades for example. I'm guessing the bigger vendors like Mcmaster carr, or mouser, etc. have to put in more paperwork, so it might be much easier to get it from someone small (as the vendor mentioned).
I went through the same situation with McMaster-Carr. I have looked around but the only suppliers I found sell it in 4'x8' sheets. That's a lot of Garolite.
In despair, I emailed McMaster sales from work to understand what was the problem since they still tell us on their web site that there is no minimum order and that they sell worldwide. I received a call from a sales rep. just a few minutes later. She asked me if it was a personal order and without really explaining me why, told me that it would work if I order through the company where I work. So I am going to give that a try.
I still do not understand why they stop selling to persons; probably to cut paperwork as mentionned before.
yes I think that's what the stuff basically is--plastic. If you google you should find more than one site that has a bunch of different types listed plus their properties (in regards to strength, moisture absorption, flammability, insulation properties, how easy it is to work, etc. etc.). Garolite is probably just a trade name for glass epoxy(?) like Tufnol is for phenolic. You should find terms like NEMA XX, XXX grade, G-10, and so on for things like paper phenolic, cloth phenolic, glass epoxy, fiberglass, Teflon, etc. This sort of material comes sold as boards in various thicknesses, or round sticks, and probably other shapes as well.
I'm sure there are other suppliers. Finding one in Norway would be the easiest solution, but the problem is that it's not called garolite here....I don't know what name to search for..
Norway is (of course) a rich technologically advanced country, so I'm sure you can find some place that sells board material if you look around. Good luck!