Polymers Made to Work Hard

Brown water workboats and blue water ships have a common need for durable, non-metallic bearings, bushes and wear plates. Vesconite manufactures low-friction, long-lived polymers that are ideal for a wide range of marine applications, from deck gear to stern and rudder tubes.

Vesconite and Vesconite Hilube, the company's flagship product, are self-lubricating, so there's no need for the maintenance burden of an oil circulation system, nor the potential for running afoul of U.S. EPA regulations. They don't swell in water or have any stick-slip, and deliver up to ten times the usable life of bronze, even in silty, grimy conditions.

Unlike some polymers, Vesconite and Hilube deliver high compression strength and dimensional stability. Adaptable, they can be milled to extremely small parts or up to 52' in diameter—the size of a recent renewable energy underwater turbine bearing—and machine easily to tight tolerances of +/-0.001".

Vesconite is accredited to ISO 9001. The polymers bear type approval certifications from major international agencies, including the American Bureau of Shipping.

The polymers are available in North America as custom precision-machined parts or raw stock. Hollow bar, solid rod and plate stock shapes are available in a broad range of dimensions and thicknesses.