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Anybody use acrylic sheet to clad something? Or indeed use acrylic sheet more generally.
I have questions about best place to buy and optimal fixing and thickness
Used it a bit now and then. Not too sure about best place to buy now but there are plenty of online suppliers who will cut it to size.
Main thing when screwing it down is don't use countersink screws as they tend to force the material apart and lead to splits.
Use button head/flat headed screws, possibly with rubber washers and torque by hand.
Rubber grommets are best so they line the hole as well as support the button screw heads.
Acrylic is really easy to scratch ir stress and get little splits in so be really careful. It is a horrible feeling to screw in the last of a 22 piece 'art panel wall' just to see a little star crack appearing from under one of the screw heads and realise that there is just enough flex in all of the structure you mounted it to that they will all fail eventually. I think that if I was doing that again, I would over drill the acrylic and sleeve the holes with some kind of insert so that they were only held in place by the big screw heads squashing it down rather than have the screws touch the sides on the holes.
Good tip re screws. Although I was initially thinking of foam tape but may need to screw in some instances. I’m looking at big ish sheets - 135cm x 150cm but sounds like maybe it’s safer to have more joins and go 135 x 75cm
We use a lot of acrylic sheet but not for building purposes, we make laser cut jewellery with it.
Message me with details of what you are trying to achieve and I'll see if I can be of any help, could at least help with suppliers if you are after a certain colour/finish.
*edit - just seen your reply above - always best to have it delivered cut to size and ring round a few suppliers as they may have offcuts at the size you need.
What is the application? As mentioned it’s easily damaged, it’s also very combustible and relatively expensive. Plus difficult to work with. I avoid using it as much as possible 😀 If you’re talking about a decent quantity though the best place to get it would be direct from Perspex.
I used 5mm thick acrylic when I was making grave surrounds.
It can scratch so leave the protective sheet on as long as possible.
To cut it I used a table saw at work then a router to shape it.
Bought it from Perspex in Darwen. They were brilliant to deal with and they also offer a cutting service.
Polycarbonate is more robust than acrylic. Available with a scratch resistant coating too.
At that size mail-order cut to size is a bit cost prohibitive maybe - the mail-order places tend to up their price to reflect selling quite small portions of sheets in small amounts.
IIRC full sheets are 3m x 2m so have a think about how you requirements fit economically into that as you'll be paying for the offcuts (and for the rest of a sheet if you go over)
Look locally for plastic stockholders and places selling materials for sign makers (or maybe chat-up a local sign company). See if you are near enough to a branch of Amari or Europoint - they'll cut to size and deliver
I was thinking of using acrylic, doesn’t have to be though if it’s going to be too fragile.
The driver for choosing acrylic was it needs to be a material that can cope with a very humid environment. Ideally not transparent as want to put kingspan or something similar behind it and it look’ok’ and then clad the outside.
using pvc shiplap was another option that came to me last night but I thought the aesthetics and ease of cleaning of a smooth sheet would be better! Plus the ship lap will presumably be draughty so I’d need another means of making the walls air tight.
Need quite a lot - about 40sqm in total I think
ACM can be used for cladding. It's a lot cheaper, easier to work & more robust than acrylic. Available in a range of colours/finishes. Obviously get the fire-resistant version!
Thanks for the ACM tip. Where do you go to find it cheaper than acrylic?
Perspex (as in the company) also! They sell Alupanel which is manufactured in the UK. By far the cheapest if you're buying a decent quantity of full sheets (they will cut them for you though!)
Don't cut it with a hacksaw. The filings are statically charged and get everywhere and then stay there!
Normally what you get is clear, but depending on what you want to do with it, going over both sides with a sander gives you the diffused opaque look. I made a nice tall lamp er thing yonks ago with sanded acrylic on 3 sides in a wooden frame, in all honesty it came off not bad.
I assume the static point is for acrylic rather than acm? What do you cut and join acm with?