Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with nylon

Help me find some workout pants

tke248 — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 20:09:13 -0800

I am trying to find a pair of Mens reversible nylon workout pants my favorite pair or reversible nylon pants have an elastic waistband and no cuffs on pants legs they are Starter brand. I have been searching the stores and online for anything similar but have never been able to find another pair like them. All the ones I have ever tried since look similar but are lined and stick to my legs when i sweat. Any links to anything similar to my description will be greatly appreciated.

How old is too old to climb on?

dantodd — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:41:12 -0800

I've always thought that rock climbing soft gear had a life of 10 years. Others are now telling me that is doesn't age if looked after properly. Is there a definitive answer? I used to do a lot of sport climbing and have heaps of gear. I want to restart after 10+ years off. I have some rope that is around 12 years old, but used only one and some static line around the same age that was used a little bit more. Is it safe to use? What about my slings and dog bones? All my old gear has been stored in a dry dark place.

FWIW, I've bought a new harness and static line to do some solo top-roping.

Can Nylon/Plastic gears be recut in steel?

Tchad — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:46:03 -0800

Sewing Gear Filter: I have a number of sewing machines that have nylon or plastic composite gears that have broken. Some of them I can have replaced, some of them are no longer made. I am wondering about DIY bionic sewing machine parts. My machines have gears similar to these. Some of them are beveled drive gears as well.

I have some access to machine shop equipment and think I could probably make the gears myself with a little patience and a couple of books, but was wondering:

If the gears were originally nylon or plastic are there reasons that go beyond cost, noise, maintenance, and weight? As far as I know it is just a function of them being cheaper to manufacture, quieter in general, and requiring less lubrication.

If I grind or cast the same shape gear out of steel am I going to ruin the other components? It doesn't seem like I would, but I thought maybe they made the gears more flexible/fragile so that they break before bending other parts.

Are there any book or tips you know of for this kind of thing? They need not be specifically sewing related, but not having a degree or experience in engineering they need to be approachable.

I have tried to get answers from antique car repair shops, but none of them want to take on small work like this. I have tried google and dealerships, but most of the information seems to be proprietary - which is fine but a few of the pieces are so old that they are no longer manufactured.

Thoughts or ideas? These machines are so good I am willing to put work or money into them.

Please help me identify this guitar.

no1hatchling — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:30:56 -0800

I need help identifying a guitar. I'm embarrassed to ask, but I'm not even sure if it's a weird nylon string or a weird steel string acoustic. I took some pictures of it to help: one two three four. My sister picked up this guitar at a yard sale. The nut had fallen off and the saddle was obviously loose, but she knew that I've successfully fixed a few guitars in similar condition so she bought it for about $5. I play guitar but I'm no luthier and I'm stumped by some basic questions about this guitar, most notably if it's supposed to be nylon or steel stringed. I can make a case for either.

Nylon: The guitar doesn't seem to be braced very extensively under the soundboard. I don't see any evidence of a truss rod. There is no pick guard. There are only 19 frets. Slam dunk case, right? But...

Steel: The neck is narrow, much narrower than the nylon that I occasionally play and have compared it to. Also, the neck joins the body at the 14th fret, unlike the nylon, which joins at the 12th. This seems to be common according to google and this page.

Basically I feel pretty sure that it's a nylon, but I'm confused by the shape and size/orientation of the neck. Perhaps it's a nylon string that's meant to be played as a "folk" guitar instead of "classical"? Perhaps the truss rod is hidden/unecessary and it's a little steel string that's supposed to be strung with very light gauge strings?

Additional photos here. I am willing to take additional pics if that will help anyone.

Bonus question: There is not a single marking on the guitar to indicate a manufacturer or model. The bridge and nut seem to be real bone, which says "expensive/old" to me, while the body seems to be cheap softwood and the trim seems to be plastic, which screams "cheap/new". Can you give me any clues as to the age/manufacturer/origin of this guitar?

Cleaning cleaner

prefpara — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 11:52:16 -0800

How can I get CVS-brand liquid "high efficiency" detergent out of a nylon duffel bag? (asking for a friend)

Higher? To the place where blind men see?

tmcw — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 22:51:35 -0800

So I play guitar (fairly well) and ukulele (passably). I'm thinking about getting a baritone or tenor ukulele, but also strongly considering a guitalele. Where can I get one in America (in VA, DC, or NJ?) The specific guitalele that I've been looking at is the Yamaha GL1, and there have been reports of special-ordering it from CA, but I'm not sure? I'd like to figure out

Whether getting a guitalele is a terrible idea. I've taken lessons from Tom Barth and loved his A-tuned guitars, but I'm wondering if there's a catch (tuning problems?) with smaller-scale, higher-tuned guitars.

How much would this be? It seems like they're incredibly cheap (enough that I might make it an acoustic/electric with a Mi-Si pickup for less than a comparable classical guitar.
What to do!?

All right, thanks for any help. I'm going to stick with my current instrument count for now (is 4 unacceptable?), but my next 'thing' will almost certainly be a non-guitar.

Where to find nylon or polyacetal rods?

agent99 — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 13:19:44 -0800

MaterialsFilter: Where can one find nylon or polyacetal rods? I'm looking for nylon or polyacetal (aka acetal or POM) rods, and I'm having a hard time finding them. I can't figure out if there is some automotive/construction/boating application for these, which might give me a clue for where to look. Internet searches reveal manufacturers, but I only need about 6 feet of the stuff for this application. Anyone know at what kind of store I might find this material?

How do I fix a nylon backpack zipper?

catkins — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 07:50:00 -0800

How do I fix a nylon backpack zipper? The zipper parts seem fine -- the zipper "pull" has just popped out of one side. This isn't like a jacket, where there is a way to completely separate the two sides, with a metal tab to aid in joining them. Daughter #1 tends to overstuff her school backpack.

Aside from the upper body strength she seems to be amassing (I think she could bench the front end of a school bus), one compartment of the backpack literally burst open, with no visible way to re-join a (nylon) zippered compartment.

The two zippered sides seem undamaged.
The pull-tab seems fine too -- it's still joined on one side of the zipper.

Both sides are sewn in with no easily removable seams -- the ends of the zipper are well-protected (probably to keep out the elements).

Is there a way to re-join it, or is the backpack trashed? I can't believe this is the only time this has happened to a schoogirl's backpack...

What is this purple nylon sleeve-thingy with chains on it?

jumble — Sun, 03 Dec 2006 14:10:51 -0800

What is this purple nylon sleeve-thingy with chains on it? Here's a picture. It was dug out of someone's attic for a rummage sale and no one bought it because no one knew what it was. Lots of creative guesses, though.

Sounds great, but what is it?

wsg — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 11:16:02 -0800

What kind of guitar is she playing?

Is it safe to machine wash polyester or nylon/poly flags?

mrbill — Sun, 28 Dec 2003 15:25:10 -0800

I've got a pair of cheap polyester or nylon/poly flags (one Union Jack, one stars-n-bars) that are dirty from hanging in a smoker's office for too long. Are these safe to throw in the washing machine, if I don't heat-dry them? and yes, I know about the "flag handling" guidelines, but if I can't clean these, I'll have to burn them and/or throw them away, and I don't want to do that.