Plastics question

tres · 2 Mar 2009 at 13:54

Dear all,

I'm refurbishing a little boat project, and a few questions for some clever people...

The first of which - plastics.

I need to construct a new windscreen for a Fletcher speedboat. I can make a metal frame for it, but the range of plastic materials baffles me a little.

Will extruded perspex do? Should be hard waring, as it'll be outdoors all year around, and must be able to drill it.

Thanks

Bill101 · 2 Mar 2009 at 14:48

I think that perspex will go yellow and cloudy with the UV on it all day.

Dogbreath · 2 Mar 2009 at 14:57

Perspex (acrylic) is quite brittle, it will crack if hit by stones or if a drill bit snags etc. Polycarbonate (trade name Lexan) is almost indestructible, but is softer and much easier to scratch. This is the plastic often used for headlamp lenses, but has a coating applied to improve scratch resistance and UV stability.

You will want to check the UV resistance of any plastic you use as well, some will turn opaque quite quickly if exposed to sunlight for extended periods.

tres · 2 Mar 2009 at 16:04

Thanks guys, confirmed what I thought!

Now just trying to find a supplier that can deliver to this island without breaking..

Dublove · 2 Mar 2009 at 20:14

hey trescodrucey

Give these guys a call www.amariplastics.com. We use them at work for all manor of plastic supplies.

I had a quick google and most marine suppliers seem to manufacture their windshields from cell cast acrylic. Now this stuff is OK but a bugger to work with (I've made a few display cases from it). You won't be able to bend it much or it will snap terribly. I would say 6 - 8mm thickness and you'll have to make a tooling for vac-forming if your boats screen is all curvy!

tres · 2 Mar 2009 at 22:35

Thanks chief, much appreciated.

Very small curve on it, and i was thinking much smaller than that - i wanted something that was 2-5mm thick!