MATERIAL ATLAS

POMBodies, beads, baseplates and gears

POM’s role in EDC comes into focus where parts meet and move. It may form a body, a baseplate, a bead or an internal gear. The metal named on the exterior may tell you little about these components.

POM is polyoxymethylene, also known as acetal. Chinese product descriptions often call it saigang. It remains an engineering plastic, not a steel. Where the source does not specify a grade or whether it is a homopolymer or copolymer, those details cannot be inferred.

Start with PIONEER’s bead update, then look at Xinyuan’s baseplate, the Shangshangqian body and Moshan’s two layers. Each example connects the material’s location with its mating parts and the product’s setup.

Closed exteriors shown in the PIONEER update. POM beads are inside; the metal shells are not identified as POM.

01 · BEADS

PIONEER: small beads, specific supply and setup

An opened blue PIONEER showing metal track components and pale beads — The opened PIONEER in the update. White POM beads and the separately sold Teflon-bead accessory are recorded as different configurations.

White POM beads are separate from the Teflon accessory

In its June 2026 PIONEER update, BPMODS specifically addresses a change in POM beads. The maker reports that dimensional variation in its black beads was harder to control consistently, so subsequent PIONEER production switched to white POM beads. It also notes that the white beads gradually darken with use.

This is an adjustment tied to a particular supply and assembly context. It does not establish that all black POM is inferior to white POM, or that darkening during use means the material has changed. The open photograph shows metal components and pale beads; their material identity comes from the accompanying update.

The separately sold damping baseplate in the same article comes with 24 Teflon beads, each 3 mm in diameter. Those numbers and that material belong to a different accessory, not to the POM beads. Beads, tracks and damping accessories can all influence a mechanical slider’s movement.

02 · BASEPLATE

Xinyuan: a black POM baseplate beneath a metal exterior

TG Tiangong Zaowu’s February 2024 Xinyuan announcement presents three exterior versions: polished zirconium heat-coloured black, straight-pattern titanium Damascus and twisted-pattern zirconium Damascus. All three in this batch receive black POM baseplates and black-plated screws. This is a material role hidden behind the metal exterior.

The aluminium-alloy internal cartridges in the same batch are separately anodized gold. The black baseplate and gold cartridge contribute to the colour scheme, but they are different materials. The statement that all units use this setup is limited to this announced batch, not every historical Xinyuan version.

03 · BODY

Shangshangqian: 12 grams for the body, with a plate still needed

A black Shangshangqian body in the foreground on a wooden stand, with assembled examples out of focus behind it — GD’s POM Shangshangqian body. The listed 12 g refers to the body, not the complete assembly with a plate.

A POM body for an existing plate

GD EDC offers a POM Shangshangqian body for players who already have a single plate. The back incorporates an imitation armour-plate shape while retaining grooves as finger purchase points. The black body in the foreground and assembled examples behind it show why the body and plate need to be considered separately.

The announcement lists the body alone at 12 g and states compatibility with the full plate range. It reiterates that this release sells only the body, which needs a plate to form a playable assembly. The 12 g figure is not the weight of a complete Shangshangqian, and compatibility is GD’s claim for this release.

The titanium body in the same article has its own 32 g specification, pre-applied Teflon contact surfaces and track treatments. Sharing an article does not transfer those processes or numbers to the POM body.

12 gPOM body listed by GDBody only; a plate is required; not a TRB measurement

04 · LOWER LAYER

Moshan Mini Quiet Slider: PEI above, POM below

A small Moshan slider with an amber-coloured upper layer on a desk among a keyboard and phones — Moshan Mini Quiet Slider on a desk. The view mainly shows the PEI upper layer; the POM lower layer is identified in the source text.

Two materials, with springs and travel completing the setup

Moshan’s February 2026 release explicitly specifies a PEI upper layer and a POM lower layer. The desk photograph mainly shows the amber-coloured upper layer. That visible colour should not be presented as POM’s appearance; the lower layer is identified by the product description.

The maker describes a purely mechanical locking structure with no magnets, screws or glue. The factory spring specification is written as 0.2 × 2 × 4. Different spring combinations and short- or long-travel setups allow the feedback to be adjusted.

Quiet is part of the product’s descriptive name and the maker’s positioning of the configuration. The source provides no sound measurements. It does not mean that POM automatically silences every mechanism, and a still photograph cannot establish the actual sound.

05 · OTHER APPLICATIONS

Outer rings and gears: two more contact roles

GAO STUDIO EDC’s cheese-yellow CHIZ! ring uses POM for the outer ring and retains a 304 stainless-steel inner ring. Comparing it with the PEI version, the maker describes a finer sliding feel with POM, while saying the sound is almost unchanged because both use the same inner ring. This is a comparison within that ring design, not a general ranking of POM and PEI by sound.

TK’s Mini Wandoujia uses POM for its updated internal gears, which the maker says also fit the standard Wandoujia. The Xiaojiang Mini version’s body and relief pieces are separately specified as zirconium alloy, while the rear slider and bean rings are titanium alloy. The gear material should not be assigned to the shell.

The contact locations differ: one design has an outer ring moved by the fingers; the other transmits motion internally. A material name attached to the exterior does not describe all of these moving parts.

06 · WHAT TO CHECK

Read smoothness together with the mating parts

Makers often describe POM as smooth, but its mating parts differ across these examples. The ring meets a stainless-steel inner ring, PIONEER beads work within a track assembly, and Wandoujia uses a gear mechanism. The material name is a clue; geometry, tolerances and tuning define the product’s conditions.

Before changing beads, a baseplate or a body, check the version, accessory dimensions and maker’s instructions. Without disclosed grades or friction tests, this guide does not assign a common performance figure to these EDC pieces or present industrial material data as TRB measurements.

07 · MATERIAL BACKGROUND

Material background: POM, saigang and acetal

Ensinger describes POM, or acetal, as a semi-crystalline thermoplastic and distinguishes POM-H from POM-C. Its listed industrial applications include sliding components. This helps explain its presence in moving assemblies, but does not identify a specific grade in these products.

Saigang is the term used in these Chinese product descriptions. Without evidence of a manufacturer and grade, it should not be replaced with a resin brand such as Delrin or TECAFORM. The generic name POM also does not establish suitability for food contact or medical use.