Search for Lexan in Topics

So, I was thinking about an Halloween mask, a steampunk diving dress. The most complex thing is, of course, the head piece. More specifically, I'm in a bit of a quandary with the visor: I need to make a convex, ellyptical dome of clear plastic. Since I need to fit that into a frame I need to make it from flat panels; this way I'll get the shape I want. I think I'll use Lexan: it seems to be quite sturdy and easy to work on. In theory, all I have to do is heat the thing up to 200°C (400°F) and it will bend like a charm, but I'm a bit worried about exalations and whatnots; can someone help me here please?

Hello I recently bought some lexan sheets and was thinking about making a visor out of it, given it sturdiness. For a nice finish i would like to make it like a space visor, a golden-chrome one way mirror. I have already tought about the molding process but the one way mirror finish is more difficult than I expected: can you give me some hints? Also, I thought of three ways to get the results I want an would appreciate your opinion on them: - Car adhesive mirror finish (but I don't know if it will take on the lexan) - Spray paint, golden chrome (a thin coat should let through enough like to make it usable) - Golden plating via electrolysis and conductive paint (last hope, this requires expensive and poisonous chemicals) With my most sincere thanks

I'm looking to make a helmet here soon, but, I need to make a visor for it. I know I can use a heatgun to shape Lexan/PETG, however, I have heard that using an oven is a better choice. My question being, if a fiberglass mold/template save to put in an oven? It would be a pepakura process mold. After reviewing some steps, I need to amend another question onto this: would it be better to use another material for a model? Again, I would be using a home oven, and using PETG/Lexan. The new material would have to be castable, as I would make a positive mold of the inside of the visor, to composite for the thickness of the PETG/Lexan.

I need to find a way to make lexan/plexiglass clear green. Should I use window tints? Does that come in the color I want? More importantly, does it come in a spray paint? Should I heat up my pieces and submerge them into hot water with the color in the water and let it soak? Should I just paint it? I want to be able to clearly see through it, but I also want a very deep (not dark, deep) green tint to the plexiglass. Can anyone help me?

I am building a solar panel, and I need to cut a sheet of Lexan. I have scoured the internet and have come up with a bunch of ways ranging from scoring it to using a jigsaw. None of these seem to yield a good result and a clean edge (even after sanding). I was wondering what your experience was and how you guys cut it or if there are any good resources. Thanks in advance, msweston

I bought a small square of Lexan (sheet polycarbonate) to experiment with and noticed on the clear, protective laminate the words: "extrusion direction" and an arrow. I will most likely use this sheet for thermo -forming, but would like to hear any thoughts on how the extrusion direction might affect drilling, cutting, etc. Thanks, Marshall

It is all plastics. I want to harvest the two inner 1/2 inch layers of Lexan for projects. The two outer layers appear to be 3/16ths UV resistant plexi. The center membrane is killing me. I have tried mild heat and brute strength.

I'm making a helmet, and I hit a wall: I need to make the visor. I have the helmet made, and I need to make a negative mold of the visor, which I would put in the oven, with the PETG/lexan to "melt" the plastic to form over the negative mold in the home oven. But, again, issue is what mold materiel can I use which will be safe up to 300 degree Fahrenheit and not stick to a semi-melted plastic?

I'm not talking about minor scratches. I would like to polish 1/2" thick cube that I cut out with table saw, it's not transparent at all on the edges (due to rough cut), but I'd like it to be :)  Can I do it with some kind of Dremel attachment?

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I'm currently in the process of building a peppers ghost inspired computer monitor. I will be going through this DIY step by step and updating each time I progress. During this build I will be taking peoples suggestions from each previous step and applying it to the build. So this will be built by my and inspired by the community. First issue: I am using Lexan as the display and as you can see in the picture, I have already stumbled upon my first issue. Everything is backwards! So, first round of suggestions will be how to fix this. Note: Windows OS has built in capabilities to do screen ROTATIONS but not FLIP/MIRROR. I cannot stress enough how many people assume rotating, flipping, and mirroring are the same thing. In Microsoft's built in display panel they list: Landscape, Portrait, Landscape(Flipped), Portrait(Flipped). However the two flipped settings are merely rotations.

I'm making a costume that looks like this- This is actually my profile image. I have lots of corrugated carboard (but no large pieces yet-just medium sized boxes), thin cardboard, foamboard, and a sheet or two of lexan/plexiglass (for the green spikes), and I think I can get some fiberglass, resin, and some bondo. Does anybody have any advice on bending, cutting, dying(lexan-all I've got is clear) the cardboard, foamboard, or lexan? I've also never worked with fiberglass before-all I've heard is that it's a mess. Any tips? If anyone can help me with the head, antenna, armor, or especially the chest, I'd greatly apreciate it.

Im thinking a wooden frame with Lexan keys ...When stepped on Lexan flexs and depresses a switch underneath. Ive researched RasberryPI and other things of this nature ...but couldnt I just wire the switches into a keyboard... replacing what happens when you press a key? Its for an exhibit for kids.....this thing is going to get serious punishment! I need simple and reliable.

But without using a laser etching machine? I've seen chemical etching into brass using chemicals that produces a detailed effect, but I want that on a see-through surface. I'm not good at free-hand painting, so using Armour Etch without a stencil/mask is essentially out of the question. Also, would Armour Etch work on plexiglass, even though it is a different material than regular glass (SiO2)? Thanks alot!

The slikscreen will be on the top of the robot, it is just the carapace. When I talk about acrylic I mean like lexan, plexiglass, etc. I just want to silkscreen for esthetic purpose. It will be on a robot that is indoor. No rubbing, no physical contact. Thanks

Any idea what these are? I think they’re from a surveyor possibly around the 1950-60’s but not certain what they are. They’re appear to be made of plastic or lexan and don’t appear to have any optical qualities. The three pieces are concentric in size and have a goove on one side. They came in the leather pouch shown in the photo. Thanks in advance!

Is it better to minimize airspace inside a home made solar panel, and should the panel be air-tight, or have ventilation holes? I'm trying 1/4" depth from the cells to the Lexan cover. It will be used in a climate that ranges from +35C in summer to -35C in winter.

I'm looking for help getting some new smaller drafting tools cut. The cut area is no bigger then 9"x6", I was hoping to get the part cut out of .04" clear Lexan, I can supply if needed. I'd also like to have the parts etched as well if that is possible as well. I have the rough drawing done in AutoCAD so far.

Glassphemy is a large clear box made by Macro Sea where people can smash their bottles for recycling. Thanks to some bullet-proof Lexan panels, others can watch the action from right behind the smash zone. It's a great way to get rid of some stress and break up bottles for reuse. GLASSPHEMY! via core77

I am building a bullpup stock for my little brothers Tippmann A-5. I have a rough model coming together using pink insulation foam board and some lexan for the trigger group. I obviously need this thing to be strong enough to take some punishment since it will be used in paintball games, but I have never fiberglassed anything before, and I'm clueless as to what kind of sheet/cloth to use and if the resin I use will melt the foam core. Any help is definitely welcomed.

Hi, I was wondering what people use for prepping materials to fit on small workspace spaces. I am interested in using machinable materials like acrylic, lexan, delrin, hdpe, machinable foam, polystyrene, brass and aluminum. These materials are usually easy to get in the right thickness and width, but the length could be 4'. I need to slice them down to sizes no more than 5.25" long to be used on a small cnc machine (5.5"x4.5"x1.25" build area) What do you think, or have experience with, that solves most of your needs? Thanks, Andy

Hello everyone! I'm a long time instructables.com fan but I just recently signed up again with a new email address. I need some advice on building an acrylic box to hold some kewl things in my home. It needs to be durable and hard to break into. Here is an example: http://www.akrylix.com/photos/682-lexan-hinge-boxes-.jpg or see attached photos. I found a supplier for 1/2" acrylic sheets and laser cutting but my question is how do I connect all the panels? Should I go the route people choose when building an aquarium? Thanks so much for any advice or help you can offer! Cheers, Kevin

Hi gang, I'm working on a show and I need to make a live audience believe that their 'telepathic psychic powers' have made a watermelon explode. I can build a booth with a lexan/plexiglass window so that watermelon doesn't spray the audience, this will also allow me to hide special fx rigs in it. I've done a somewhat similar rig before where I made the watermelon fall unnoticed through a trap door while a nozzle simultaneously sprayed watermelon guts against the plexi (so it looked like it exploded but didn't really). This time I'd really like to make it blow up.  I have a pyrotech license and have access to some basic explosives, but I think I would prefer to explore compressed air-based explosions. Anyway, any ideas would be appreciated. Please find a rough sketch attached. Many thanks! DAZU

I currently own and am using a High Tech Pet electronic pet door (http://www.hitecpet.com/px-1detail.html) and would like to modify it to: 1) Read/activate via a small RFID tag instead of the very large (for a cat) sonic transmitter. The cat is feral (we lock him at night in the garage), so he sometimes gets in fights and loses his entire collar. The transmitters are $40 each! He's lost three so far. 2) Switch mode to "in only" at a preset time very night and "in and out" mode every morning. I like the features of this door, and it's already installed. It's extremely weatherproof and resilient. Most Lexan/acrylic cat flaps I've seen or owned aren't even in the same league as this one, which is why I would prefer to keep this door as opposed to modding a different brand of door. I know how to solder and have a very basic understanding of electronics. I could probably muddle through a DIY, but I'm not even sure it can be done. Is it as simple as locating the receiver on the board and replacing it with an RFID reader? Or is that wishful thinking? Thanks in advance for any insight, advice, help. :)

So, I've been dating a wonderful girl for a while now and in the relatively near future I would like to pop the question. I have a clear idea of how I'd like to do it but need some expert crafter advice to pull it off. My idea is a fairly innocuous guerrilla art installation which was inspired by the Banksy paintings he surreptitiously installed in museums. I want to surprise my lady by taking her to a museum and having an accomplice quickly deploy my idea in gallery for us to "stumble upon". My idea is for a lightbox, suspended from a tripod. The illuminated box will have pictures of us on all six sides and the top will open and the ring will be inside. I've made simple decoupaged cardboard lightboxes before, but this time it needs to be something collapsible which will fit in a messenger bag or something similar. My current thinking is to have the six sides of the box be plexiglass squares attached to one another with hinges. The sides would all be hinged to the bottom center piece. The front and two sides would then fold up to make the front and sides of the box. The rear piece would be two lengths of plexiglass attached to fold up and over making the back and the lid of the box (see very rough sketch below for my idea of how the pieces would be hinged). What I'm looking for is suggestions on: What materials to use for the box itself and types of hinges (is plexiglass/lexan a good idea?) and how to attach the hinges to the box (glue?) A way to make the sides all stay up once they are folded into place (I was thinking perhaps loops on each side piece you could slide a small dowel through or something) And anything else you might want to suggest. Again the goal is to be able to bring this thing in without attracting attention, assemble it very rapidly, and be able to break it down quickly once everything is done. If I can pull all this off I'll document the process and post it here. Ideas?