Looking for a material stronger than plastic- able to be shaped?

[jonthedit]

I realize the thread title is a bit odd, and is not very clear.
If you think of a better title after reading my question, feel free to suggest.

Alright, so I have recently made breakthroughs in my BD design, but my biggest issue now is that the bicycle reflector - made of plastic - breaks easily and constantly. BDv4.3 is near perfect- the only flaw is the breaking of the reflector piece.

This is the exact piece I am referring to
(Click to enlarge)

What I have been doing is removing the lens/reflector piece, removing the screw, drilling the screw hole with a 1/4 drill bit, and then using 4" full thread hex screw, I replace the screw and lock the reflectorpiece onto my bicycle with a lock nut.

Here is a picture of v4.3 to help perspective- off the bicycle.
**note the plasic piece I need is not in this picture, it already broke off.

(Click to enlarge)

Now to get to the point,
I need this piece specifically and I need it to be made of a very strong material- I am looking for suggestions on what material I should make it out of. If necessary, I will produce it myself via Sand-casting, if other methods are needed that's fine too. Is steel out of the question?
Budget is not a concern.
To be clear again:
I do not need the red X'd piece, but I do need the screw-in area on the clamp

 

[FAST6191]

How did I miss this thread? I am not sure what your "BD project" is and going back a few months in your posts and your signature does not get me anywhere. Without that I am not entirely sure what is happening then and what the forces involved are -- I can give you the toughest material out there but if it is an engineering issue then there is little point in going to those lengths.

Anyway "plastic" is a rather large field, a bit like metal runs from mercury to tungsten, and only gets larger if you include the composite side of things (and things glass impregnated plastic). What I presume to be a cheaply moulded bit of polythene there (some short codes if you are not familiar with them http://www.bpf.co.uk/plastipedia/polymers/polymer-thermoplastics.aspx ) is not going to be in the same league as my nice bit of HIPS.

Anyway unless I missed something then that looks like a problem that can be solved with a hose clamp of the appropriate size. Epoxy the reflector to the clamp and screw the clamp on to the nut, if you fancy filing in a recess (or turning one if you want to get fancy) then even better. If that is not going to be suitable then an angle bracket like you put up shelves with will do.

 

[jonthedit]

How did I miss this thread? I am not sure what your "BD project" is and going back a few months in your posts and your signature does not get me anywhere. Without that I am not entirely sure what is happening then and what the forces involved are -- I can give you the toughest material out there but if it is an engineering issue then there is little point in going to those lengths.

Anyway "plastic" is a rather large field, a bit like metal runs from mercury to tungsten, and only gets larger if you include the composite side of things (and things glass impregnated plastic). What I presume to be a cheaply moulded bit of polythene there (some short codes if you are not familiar with them http://www.bpf.co.uk/plastipedia/polymers/polymer-thermoplastics.aspx ) is not going to be in the same league as my nice bit of HIPS.

Anyway unless I missed something then that looks like a problem that can be solved with a hose clamp of the appropriate size. Epoxy the reflector to the clamp and screw the clamp on to the nut, if you fancy filing in a recess (or turning one if you want to get fancy) then even better. If that is not going to be suitable then an angle bracket like you put up shelves with will do.

Thank you- and I completely missed using PVC Clamps as a solution- giving those a try first.

Also I do not know if (at all) I posted about BD project here, if not it will not really matter, the context above explains the issue. The problem I have is the material needs to be able to support (unmeasured, estimate) 10lb/ft.

I'll post back if this attempt fails.

33mins later:
I set it up and fixed some of the flaws in 4.3-
However I think calling this 4.4 would be a joke, as it seems with the PVC clamp I recreated an issue in 4.1. Currently using an industrial rubber band as a stabilizer for the issue, though I think I can fix it with a little bit of bending - unfortunately that means another hour of work. I'll just give it a test tonight for 30 miles and call it good. If the PVC holds up- this thread will be closed.