Plastic fabrication

[WormGod]

I am solely a fiberglass and metal nibber kinda fabber myself, but I have a project now that would work best with plastic. Basically, I have everything to start except for the plastic. The heatgun, the intensely sharp nibbers, the right saw tips and drill bits, but no damned plastic. The only plastics place around here closed some years ago. A search on the web for plastic sheet stocks landed me with "minimum 10ft Sq sheets of plastic"! Heck, I am lucky if I only need 1ft Sq!!

Anyways, I imagine that an acrylic or ABS plastic will be suitable for my needs, at about 1/8" thickness. Can anyone recommend a plastics dealer, or does anyone have a sheet they would like to unload for a few nickels?

[Moncha]

Ron (http://www.vehicross.info/forums/member.php?s=&action=getinfo&userid=37) is the best darn plastics guy out there.. He may have a lead for ya.

[johnnyapollo]

I've ordered from these guys for modeling supplies... they may have what you need:

http://www.plastruct.com/

-- John

[WormGod]

NICE! Some of their materials just might work out very well. Thanks for the good find! :D

I also sent ron an email asking for some suggestions. Dang, you gotta love this forum.

[ron]

hey GT...

Got your e-mail. But decided to respond through the board since it may serve as useful info for anyone else venturing in the world of plastics in the future.

I normally order my material from Tap Plastics (tapplastics.com). They may not be the BEST prices in town, but they are conveniently located for me which is a plus for people like me who don't have the time to spare these days. Don't know if there is an outlet in your area. Check it out.

They've got all kinds of different plastics material including fiberglassing and carbon fiber as well. And I'm sure they will cut to whatever size you need without a minimum.

I suggest using acrylic cement for acrylic and abs solvent for abs as they will fuse (melt) the joining surfaces together. Using crazy glue or something equivalent may work temporarily and not as strong for bonding.

Also, in terms of cutting, try to use a fine-tooth blade with whatever saw you're using. A bigger tooth blade may cause it to gum up and you'll end up with a lousy cut.

I'm not sure what exactly you're trying to build other than what you told me. Both abs and acrylic will suffice however, abs is more costly per sq. footage than acrylic. And acrylic can shatter upon accidental impact. Polystyrene is a good compromise between the two. Not as expensive as abs and more durable than acrylic. You can also use crazy glue to fuse surfaces and is paintable as well.

If you just need a small portion of plastic material, let me know as the outlet I go to has a leftover scrap bin that you can go through which has different scrap sizes of plastic.

Hope this helps. If you need more details or have more questions, don't hesitate to e-mail me. ;)

cheers,

[coachreed]

Just curious about what your project is... is it top secret? If not, share with me and I might be able to help out. I know at work we have lots scraps material from our manufactyuring of different displays and whatnot... some materials include ABS, acrylic, polycarbonate, and sintra (extended PVC). I know lots of that is in the 1/8" range and if you need just a square foot, I could probably get it for you. Ron sounds like he probably has a little more experience and so I would understand if you head his way... but if I can help, don't hesitate to ask. Good luck with your project.

Coach... aka Randy!

[WormGod]

Awesome! Thanks ron. All that info is well noted and I will take the advice soundly.

Coach, for now, all I am doing is fabricating a moulding to go around the camera I mounted in the crescent. I have done a "little" work with plastics before, but on a much larger scale. This will be both a learning experience and a challenge for me. But, I guess since I am artistic in the first place, I am pretty excited to get rolling and hopefully do a good job. If this goes well, I have more plans for some other fabbing, most notably, around the dash area. Big plans for a bigger imagination, heh.

[Zu4two]

You might try your neighborhood Home Depot. They have small sheets (8"X10") of both plexiglass and lexan. It's located in the area along with windows and glass doors. Prices start at a couple of bucks.

[WormGod]

Ordered some acrylic from tapplastics. It was cheap enough that I thought I would give tha a try. Picked up a few handy dandy tools from them too. I dont think I spent a total of $30 on the gear I picked up with them. Much thanks to Ron. Now the fun begins. I just need one open weekend to mend and bend and to crank up the old compressor and get the gravity feed ala'shooting. ;)