MOTM

More thoughts on Plex Panels:  If you want a clear panel I would 
recommend Plex rather than polycarbonate or Lexan.  I believe Plex 
is more resistant to scratching.  If you want a tough durable 
plastic use ABS.  As someone else mentioned ABS is the plastic used 
in car interiors.  It drills and cuts far easier than Plex, but I 
doubt you can get it in transparent.  If you are going to glue 
anything to it a special glue is required as it is too slippery for 
most plastic glues.  Even epoxy will not adhere to it.  For a really 
unique panel drill your Plex, put clear labels with white letters on 
the back side (so you can read them through the Plex), then spray 
the backside black over the letters.  Be sure the paint you use 
doesn't dissolve the lettering.  You could also try printing a full 
size panel on your computer printer and putting that on the backside 
of the Plex.  If you try this probably inkjet is best as you need a 
really dark black.  As you can probably tell I've been experimenting 
with making panels for a long time.

Acrylic is also not so scratch resistant, but more so then Lexan as you 
suggest. There are cast acrylics that are manufactured specifically to 
be resistant to scratching, but are more expensive than the normal cast 
material.

Most glues simply will not work well. There are adhesives designed for 
acrylic, though, and there are different consistencies of the adhesives 
available. Check out Weld-on adhesives at the link below to view the 
ones right for cast acrylic materials (Weld-on #3, #4 or #16).

The only way to truly join acrylic pieces together is with acetone. This 
bond is similar to a weld as the acetone melts the acrylic. Needless to 
say, the edges must be very smooth for this process to work properly, as 
acetone is quite thin. Sanding might be good enough if you are careful. 
In a production environment, we would use a hydrogen/oxygen torch to 
smooth the edge. One also must be very careful to not get acetone on any 
portion of the material that is not to be bonded, as the material will 
"craze" over time.

Scott

Link for Weld-on:
http://www.ipscorp.com/ind_html/acrylics.html
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paulhaneberg wrote:

> More thoughts on Plex Panels:  If you want a clear panel I would 
> recommend Plex rather than polycarbonate or Lexan.  I believe Plex 
> is more resistant to scratching.  If you want a tough durable 
> plastic use ABS.  As someone else mentioned ABS is the plastic used 
> in car interiors.  It drills and cuts far easier than Plex, but I 
> doubt you can get it in transparent.  If you are going to glue 
> anything to it a special glue is required as it is too slippery for 
> most plastic glues.  Even epoxy will not adhere to it.  For a really 
> unique panel drill your Plex, put clear labels with white letters on 
> the back side (so you can read them through the Plex), then spray 
> the backside black over the letters.  Be sure the paint you use 
> doesn't dissolve the lettering.  You could also try printing a full 
> size panel on your computer printer and putting that on the backside 
> of the Plex.  If you try this probably inkjet is best as you need a 
> really dark black.  As you can probably tell I've been experimenting 
> with making panels for a long time.  
> 
> 
>  
> 
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