Where can I get some lexan for cheap?

iddqd

[H]ard|Gawd
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I'm sick of plexiglass. It breaks, it scratches, it just doesn't cut it anymore. So now I need a new material for a window. I've heard some good things about lexan plastic, so now I just need to get my hands on some. :)
 
Just go to Lowes. If you make decent conversation with the guys in the service box they'll even cut it for you. Otherwise you can get pretty good acrylic/lexan/pasti from Home Depot / Forest City / etc.
 
Hmm, I don't think we have a Lowes here up North, but there's definetly Home Depot. Although, I never knew they sold lexan. But thanks.
 
The Home Depot by me only sells Plastikote. It's not bad except that you'll have to rummage through the rack to find a piece that isn't scratched all to shit. It's usually hidden in the back of the store around the area that the bathroom fixtures are. Although the Home Depot by my house has recently moved it to the isle with exterior doors and window frames.
 
I went to a local Lexan distributor and politely asked if they had anything small they could sell, got a nice 2'x3' hunk of 1/8" for like $20 with the protective plastic still on it
 
you can still scratch lexan pretty easily though. there isn't much difference in the scratch resistence between acrylic and polycarbonate. the poly that is scratch resistent has a coating on it. the difference though is that you can polish scratches out of poly much easier. They even make polishes made just for poly. Just don't be suprised if you don't get the scratch proof results you are hoping for. It's still a large transparent sheet of clear plastic.
 
I think lexan is actually less scratch resistant as it is a more resilient and flexible material, people just think it is more scratch resistant because it is "stronger." You're looking for a higher quality plexiglass, IMO... you can start by looking for a local tap plastics site...

tapplastics.com

It looks like you might be in canada, but i'm not sure...
 
The Home Depot around here has acrylic, lexan, and some other stuff. The prices aren't great, but it's convenient if you have one nearby.
 
I found McMaster-Carr, www.mcmaster.com, to a very good raw materials distributor. We used them all the time back when I worked in a lab in college. I recently purchased some plexi and delrin from them. Might want to give them a shot.

Obh
 
hobbie stores,homedepot i like the homedepots the most you can go to the desk and get it in different colors if you dont mind waiting a while for them to order it for you but its cool stuff :)
 
sigh
From Linears Plastic FAQ

Q: What is the difference between Lexan/Acrylic/Plexiglass etc.

A:
Lexan is a trademark of GE plastics.
Plexiglas is a trademark of the Atoglas division of Atofina Chemicals. (Thanks to Larry Daniel of Atofina for the correction)
Lucite is a trademark of E.I.DuPont DeNemours & Co.
Acrylite is a trademark of American Cynamid Co.
Perspex is a trademark of ICI Group.

Lexan is polycarbonate.
Plexiglas, Lucite, Acrylite, Perspex and acrylic are polyacrylate.

Polycarbonate is harder than polyacrylate, and if someone wants to go dig up the physical properties listings, there’s probably a wealth of other differences. I don’t think it matters much in a case modding context.

Lexan is much more shatter resistant than Acrylic. Acrylic is more scratch resistant than Lexan.
 
I work for a sign supply company, and we sell lexan, lucite & acrylite.

We sell Lexan by the foot in both 1/8" and 3/16", and 4, 6, and 8 foot widths. One linear foot off an 8 foot reel of 1/8" isn't that bad. It comes in white, or clear. We can probably roll a linear foot or two up and ship it UPS if anyone is interested. It's not that expensive. I'll get some prices tomorrow and post them.
 
Mysticcal said:
I might try picking some up for my PC-65B :)
what do you plan on doing? Just wondering cos im aways looking for new mod ideas for my PC65b
 
I just bought some of that other stuff that home depot sells. I had a choice of that stuff(which of course I can't remember the name of aside from knowing that it starts with a C), Lexan, or plain glass. The problem I had with the lexan that was there though was that it was something like .095" thick or something like that. The stuff I got was just a hair under 1/4" thick. It just seemed like at the time that the thicker stuff would be a little sturdier due to it's thickness. At any rate I got a 36"x48" sheet of it (twice what I'll need hopefully:D) and it cost me between 13 and 15 bucks. Then I went out and just HAD to get stainless torx bolts which were almost a dollar for each package of two, and I needed 20 of them..........errr......bolts, not packages:)


While we're on the subject of lexan, does anyone know if you can sandblast lexan or similar materials? My mother does stained glass and has one in her studio and I want to give it a shot. If nothing else I'll just use a small piece as a guinea pig.
 
You can get lexan from sign suppliers (like the one I work for) for a reasonable price. It comes on giant spools in 4 & 6 foot widths. We sell it buy the foot off the spools. It has the protective plastic sheeting on both sides, so it's not going to be scratched or damaged.

Here are some current prices:

4ft x 1ft .118 (~1/8th") $14.86
4ft x 1ft .177 (~3/16th") $21.72

6ft x 1ft .118 $22.91
6ft x 1ft .177 $33.48

The prices fluxuate a bit over time, but not too much.

A 1 foot piece can probably be rolled and shipped via UPS in a box. Anything larger than a foot will be difficult to ship.

Usually there is a bit of overage as well. If you order a foot, you'll get about 18" (to compensate for the rough cuts off the reels).

You can get more info here. (look under "products" and then "substrates")
 
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