Plastic Sheeting

[ByronBlack]

This is probably either a one post response thread or a can of worms into various technical aspects...

Basically, i'm after some translucent plastic sheeting, approx 10mm thick for jig making, axminsters acrylic sheet is too small and too expensive, and I don't know enough about other materials to shop around.

So, what types of plastics can I use that will except gluing, can be cut with a circular saw and can be routed? I'm after a relatively big size sheet as I plan to use it for a fair amount of jigs, 4'x4' should do the trick.

 

[Scrit]

Byron, 10mm is a bit on the thick side and will cost a fortune, so I'd stick to 4mm or 6mm (if needs be screwed or bonded to aplywood backer) which are in any case more readily available. The alternatives are probably acrylic (Perspex, Lucite, Altuglas, etc), Tufnol and HPL (high pressure laminate, a thicker version of Formica and related materials). All the other readily available stuff I can think of like polycarbonate, high density polyethylene (UHMW plastic), nylon, Delrin, etc is either too expensive or too flexible. Instead of Axminster wouldn't the logical place to buy this be a sheet plastics supplier such as Amari Plastics (acrylic, Tufnol), a laminate supplier, such as International Decorative Surfaces (HPL), or failing that a signmaker (as they use 4mm thick acrylic)? BTW Tufnol Composites is a British firm and are based in Birmingham, ask them and they'll tell you who their local distributor is.

If the jig is just a single shot or four or five times use article it can be made much more cheaply from 8mm MF-MDF. I use this stuff for pin router jigs and it will do up to 20 or so passes before giving up the ghost.

Scrit

 

[ike]

Hi Byron,

Screwfix sell various sizes of 6mm acrylic.

Ike

 

[RoyS]

Byron - a couple of suggestions.

Look out for a local shop sign-maker; they use acrylic and will have offcuts. I found a place in the East End with a bin of scraps in the yard - help yourself and make a donation to their charity box.

Or, if you fancy a drive north, Ipswich Plastics (yes, in Ipswich - off the A14 Ipswich bypass) sell acrylic and sometimes have offcuts. They also sell Tufnol - I used some for a router table top. All much cheaper than Axminster or Trend.

good hunting - Roy

 

[mailee]

Another source of plastics is on E-bay. I found someone selling HDPE and although it was expensive was much cheaper than the plastics manufacturers. They also often have offcuts of plastics at reasonable prices. Just do a search on there. :wink:

 

[beech1948]

Byron,

Try having a chat with Aldel on the aldel.co.uk web site. He uses transparent plastic for jigs and SELLs same to others. He gets his from signwriters as offcuts I think..not sure.

regards

alan

 

[ByronBlack]

Thanks for all the idea's on how to source for this stuff, after mailee's suggestion, I took a stroll on the bay - don't know why I didn't think of trying there, and managed to get a piece exactly the size I want for £6.00 - bargain!