lexan, perspex , polycarbonate for bartop.

sham69

Hi,
I need to get some perspex or lexan to put in front of the monitor in my bartop cab (going to mask it off and spray paint a border on it to cover the monitor bezel etc)
I only need 20" x 20" roughly.
What is the cheapest to buy and where?
I have looked online and its far from cheap.
I have seen some stuff in woodies but not sure if it will do.
Also, will woodies cut it to size for you?

Any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Brian.

Pm'ed

The Last Bandit

Less then a tenner for the size, if your in Dublin.

http://goldstarplastics.ie/Polycarbonate-Sheets-roofing-sheets.html

Never seen that site!
Polycarb is not quite the same as perspex.

Its an absolute bastard to cut with a jig saw and impossible to cut on a laser.
I use it in work for vacforming molds.It melts really easy and clogs up your cutting blade.

Should do nicely here tho.
I actually have a sheet of it you can have if you want?
Its only 2mm or something tho.I'd have to go out and take a look at it

The Last Bandit

Polycarb is a bit stronger and tougher perpex alright making it harder to work with. So get you measurements right and these lads cut it to size for you

For a 20" square sheet I'd say 2mm is it too thin for a bezel, it will flex under its own weight.

sham69

bit new to the plexi and stuff.
What thickness should I be using for the bezel?
Is this stuff ok to drill through, whats the best was of securing it etc.
Thanks.

Myrddin

Just to jump in here, if I wanted to replace the perspex panel on the cp of my Tekken 3 cab urban ledge, how would I go about it & how many dollars would it cost me?

sham69

I see they have perspex aswell.
Would that be a better option for the bezel than the poly, easier to drill etc.
4mm seems quite cheap aswell (if that would be thick enough for my needs)

EnterNow

EnterNow wrote: »

Just to jump in here, if I wanted to replace the perspex panel on the cp of my Tekken 3 cab urban ledge, how would I go about it & how many dollars would it cost me?

What sort of thickness is it?
I have a few sheets of 3mm stuff I got for my own personal projects,
They were 17.50e each (500mm x 700mm)
I have a laser cutter in work and dont mind cutting them if you can supply a scale drawing in .dxf format.

Draftsight is the free cad program I use.
The laser can cut up to 10mm but that stuff is mad money.

Myrddin

urbanledge wrote: »

What sort of thickness is it?
I have a few sheets of 3mm stuff I got for my own personal projects,
They were 17.50e each (500mm x 700mm)
I have a laser cutter in work and dont mind cutting them if you can supply a scale drawing in .dxf format.

Draftsight is the free cad program I use.
The laser can cut up to 10mm but that stuff is mad money.

Not sure will have a look later on, cheers.

Optimus Prime

Maybe im missing something, but i find it easy to cut, ive done it loads of times, buy a sheet in b&q or whatever, get a sharp blade and a metal ruler, run the blade along it where you want to cut a few times, then move the cut onto the edge of a table and snap it down, it cuts perfect for me every time.

Ive drilled through it as well, its not as neat, but the lip on buttons cover the mess when you put them in and if your joysticks have that plastic cover that fits over the handle you cant see the hole there either.

I know it will be better with a laser cutter, but i never had any issues with it doing it this way.

sham69

keithgeo wrote: »

Maybe im missing something, but i find it easy to cut, ive done it loads of times, buy a sheet in b&q or whatever, get a sharp blade and a metal ruler, run the blade along it where you want to cut a few times, then move the cut onto the edge of a table and snap it down, it cuts perfect for me every time.

Ive drilled through it as well, its not as neat, but the lip on buttons cover the mess when you put them in and if your joysticks have that plastic cover that fits over the handle you cant see the hole there either.

I know it will be better with a laser cutter, but i never had any issues with it doing it this way.

Was it perspex or poly that you bought?
Sorry I am getting confused now
What mm do you reckon for a monitor bezel?
cheers.

Optimus Prime

just the standard stuff they have in B&Q think it was 26 euro for a sheet of it, its perspex i think. if you are drilling holes in it, you need to clamp it down onto a piece of scrap wood.

For a monitor bezel, my recommendation would definitely be glass, i have perspex on my mame cab but it looks brutal. its on my list of things to change.

The Last Bandit

Whatever you decide on make sure to clean the screen well before fixing the bezel in place !!

3mm is fine for a poly bezel.

o1s1n

Anyone here have the skills to make a marquee holder? Need one for my Pony but unfortunately FrancoB isn't making them anymore.

If its just 2 sheets like this



then yeah I can do it

o1s1n

:eek: Excellent! Yeah that's literally all it is. Here's a template -

http://wiki.arcadeotaku.com/images/a/a1/Jaleco_pony_mark_iii_25_marquee.pdf

Sure let me know if you could make that up and we can work something out

2 sheets of 3mm?

the second says 5mm

o1s1n

Well that's strange! You think the perspex sheets would be the same thinkness?

Will ask over on AO to be sure.

Casey120

My Aero marquee front plate is also about twice as thick as the back one !

the E2 one prob 2/3mm on the back and the front one is like a sheet of cling film!

o1s1n

My candy 25 one is a big thick thing, both sides are th same. You'd beat someone to deal with it! :pac:

acrylicgift

Hi Brian,

As you just need one units ,and also need to be custom made ,it is vry normally the cost is high . Maybe you can look for such perspex cover in some retail store .
Good luck

sham69 wrote: »

Hi,
I need to get some perspex or lexan to put in front of the monitor in my bartop cab (going to mask it off and spray paint a border on it to cover the monitor bezel etc)
I only need 20" x 20" roughly.
What is the cheapest to buy and where?
I have looked online and its far from cheap.
I have seen some stuff in woodies but not sure if it will do.
Also, will woodies cut it to size for you?

Any advice greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Brian.

sham69

right , ended up getting some polycarbonate from goldstar plastics, worked out about 20 quid (had to order a tube of clear silicone to make it 25 euro as they needed 20 euro minimum order).

Need a bit of help, I masked off the poly for the monitor but a few bits got splashed (my masking obviously wasnt up to scratch)
I need to get the car paint (matte) that I sprayed off some parts of the poly?
I was googling it but its confusing what to use and I don't want to ruin it?
Anyone any ideas?
Thanks

nail polish remover maybe?

sham69

nail polish remover maybe?/QUOTE]

I was thinking that cheers.
I kind of rushed in when I collected the poly and made a bit of a mess.
I can save it if I can get some of the paint off the middle.
Should have kept it simple and used some cardboard...

CathalDublin

Nail varnish remover, and if it leaves the finish cloudy a bit of metal or plastic polish like Autosol or brasso

sham69

cheers cathal ill give that a go.

The Last Bandit

Nail polish remover is acetone so could damage the plastic , ie disolve it !!

sham69

Bit late reading this but it seems to have done the trick with no damage.
Thanks all for the replies.

The Last Bandit

Cool, perpex must be ammune to the effects. I remember destroying the case of my neogeo CD with the stuff.

sham69

In saying that I'm still not happy with the finish.
I'll probably end up just using poster board
Bit of a waste but lesson for future projects.
Maybe glass would have been better after all....