[sdiy] Plastic Panels...

Tue Aug 6 21:17:11 CEST 2002

Hi Drew:

I'm amazed you didn't find anything in the archives.
With all due respect... imho you are 'crazy'  :^P

Plexiglass is brittle and requires special drilling
techniques, Lexan (polycarbonate) is better but still
needs special techniques. Both have to be thicker than
metal to achieve stiffness.

Sawing can be difficult, the threads you missed mentioned
someone who lost fingers when the saw blade bound in the work...
then started again unexpectedly when the heat from the blade
softened the plastic. Ouch.  I've worked with this stuff and
I'd rather not...

I'd really consider aluminum again. Maybe a local metal shop
could cut you some. It comes in different hardnesses... the very
soft aluminum is not good. I have some that is maybe .060 thick that
I use. Its even nicer if it is anodized finish, but that will get
messed up when you drill and cut anyway. I use step-drills and a
nibble tool (Adel or Jilway nibble tool).  The step drills cut a beautiful round hole with a hand drill. They cost $18-$30 but last
(in aluminum) for many many years. The nibble tools are about $20 -
$50 and have replacement cutters available. 

hope this helps...

H^) harry

Subject: [sdiy] Plastic Panels...

>I'm sure it's been discussed before, but I didn't really find 
>anything in depth in the archives, just it being put down for 
>durability...
>I've never actually used a modular in my life, but I am building 
>one. I decided that using aluminum panels is WAY too expensive for 
>me, and since unmolded plastic is probably pretty unexpensive and 
>easy to drill using tools I already have at my disposal I wanted 
>to look into using sheet plastic (i guess that's what it would be 
>called?) for panels. I really don't care about how strong it is, I 
>just want to use it. I just wanted to know if anyone has 
>experience in using this and could tell me a good place to get 
>this (preferably already cut into 6"x8"(+-2" either way) so that I 
>don't have to worry about unusual shipping) and how thick would be 
>best, although that probably depends on what kind of plastic it 
>is. Thanks for reading!
>-Drew 
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