Cast Acrylic

CAST ACRYLIC SHEET

Clear, Neutral Tint, White, Black

Benefits

    • Light in weight, safe and easy to handle when compared with glass
    • Attractive in display situations
    • UV stable – will not discolour within the life of the sheet
    • Good clarity – Clear – 92% light transmission (Glass 80-90%)
    • Thermally more efficient than glass
    • Can be worked carefully with power tools
  • Hard surface – minor scratches can be polished out

Hygiene Display Guard

Lift-off Food Display

Catamaran

Acrylic sheet is naturally UV stable and with careful cleaning and handling it should easily stay clear for a minimum of 10 years. Acrylic is much lighter in weight than glass, safer to handle and especially good where children and the elderly are a concern. More about glass – acrylic is much warmer to the touch and is 4 times more thermally efficient. It has a higher light transmission and a lower sound transmission.

A material which is commonly mistaken for acrylic is polystyrene. It is often promoted by manufacturers as being suitable for outdoor use but is not UV stable and will discolour very rapidly. When new it can be very brittle and even when used indoors away from direct sunlight can cloud over or yellow within a few months. If you have had experience of glazing discolouring in the past it has almost certainly been polystyrene and not acrylic. We do not stock this material.

Most clear sheeting available through non-specialist suppliers is polystyrene because it is sold on price.

Possible applications

Clear cast acrylic: 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 10mm:

Boat windows, secondary glazing, display stands, vivariums, model display cases, covering for signs/notice boards and wall hangings, outbuilding glazing, coldframes, bath/shower screens, hotel furniture top protection and guards against suitcase/wheelchair wall marking, catering sneeze guards, chiller-cabinet divisions, kitchen splash-backs, retail shelf-edging.

Neutral tint ( 5mm & 10mm):

Boat windows, hatches & washboards, control-panel boards.

Other Services

We have equipment to make sharp bends up to a maximum width of 39”/1 metre
Some uses: Rib console & boat “C” shaped screens, catering sneeze guards, many other stands and display applications. “One-offs” no problem, particularly useful if you can’t find the ideal product off the shelf anywhere.
Please note that we are not able to make swept (curved) bends.
We are also happy to quote for shaping (rounded corners), hole cutting, drilling and countersinking.

If you really need to bend the material around a radius and cannot get to the mainland you can try warming the sheet gently with a hot air gun. This is a long process and only works with thinner grades. Not recommended. 

Working tips

Treat it gently. Try to hold the material down to reduce vibration. Cut with a laminate blade in a Stanley knife, jigsaw with a plastic cutting blade or with a bandsaw.

Hole drilling

If using a hand held drill do not use a nice sharp drill bit because it catches the material.
Drill slowly with even pressure letting the bit do the work. Hold material down tight on to an old piece of wood and let the bit pass through.
Edges can be filed and rubbed down with wet & dry for a smoother finish.

Fixing

Holes for fixings should be drilled oversize to allow for expansion and contraction of the sheet. Do not over tighten the fixings and if possible use with a soft washer to spread the load. The nearer the fixing is to the edge the more likely it will crack through especially if the sheet is subjected to movement from the wind or weight. Outdoor fixing is more successful when the load is spread by the use of wood or metal battens (a long fixing strip rather than individual spot fixings).

Storage

All plastic sheets should either be stored flat or supported by a board leaning at an angle of 80 degrees to the ground. If sheets are leaned against a wall at too steep an angle the downward pressure may cause distortion.

Samples

Please contact us to request a small sample of any stocked material.

 

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