accuireing lexan (cheap or even free) ...

[fireflew]

What follows is the story of how I accuired some lexan for free today:

I decided i needed some lexan, so I thought I would look in the phone book and see if i could find someone that sold it locally (I hate paying shipping). So I look up plastics in the phone book at a my fathers reccomendation... damn him and being right... there are like 4 headings... so i call the place that is listed as a wholesale products distrobuter and a place that sells sheets and rods. I ask them if they sell lexan there... the guy say yes, then i ask if they have 1/8" sheets... he says that they are all out now but more is coming in tommorrow... then I ask if they machine (for lack of a better word) the plastics there for people... again he says yes. Now I ask him if they have any scraps layng around... the answer... "hell ya"... so then I ask if they have any like 6"x6"x1/8" pieces again "hell ya come on down" he says... so what do I do... well I leave work and make the 10 min drive to the plastics place... I get there and say that I had just talked to someone on the phone about some scrap plastic sheet... the guy says cool, you wanted 1/8" thick right, 6x6 square... I say yea or anything really odd shapes whatever. He goes out into the shop and comes back a few mins later with one roughly 12"x24" smoked piece, 2 8" ish placard shaped clear ones, a 18"x18" smoked piece, a 8"x24" smoked piece, and a few other small pieces... then asks if smoked pieces are ok too... I am like hell yea, beggars cant be chosers... he chuckles and i say thanks, he says have a nice day, and I leave. The moral of this story is that it is possible to get free lexan =). And if I can do it you ought to be able too...

Looks like I will be putting a window in more than my origionally intended bay door thingy ( I want to be able to see my digital docs display when the door is closed)

Nedless to say I am very pleased :beer:

[Captain Slug]

Metal and glass yards will do the same if you ask nicely. When someone buys a specific cut size, the first thing they're paying is the cost of the material itself. Then the smaller portion of the end cost is the labor involved to cut it to that size.
So if you only need 2 cents worth of plastic that was already payed to be cut by someone else, the shop will definitely sell/give it to you for next to nothing (or nothing, like in fireflews example).

[Cheesy Peas]

I can get the stuff for nothing 2... my uncle uses it 2 make cases for the checkweighers and metal detectors he builds:D

[wildbilly2k]

i just bought this 16x20 i think piece of lexan for about 10 dollars at home depot covered and pretty just got the lexan cut today and the cut on it looks great

[jadams]

Home Depot eh? I went to my Home Depot yesterday and they didn't have any acrylic or lexan. The guy told me they don't carry it. I think the guy was an idiot, but then I couldn't find any there either. I bought my previous acrylic at Revy and they are a lot smaller than HD. Weird eh?

[wildbilly2k]

yeah that is really wierd i found mine where they did glass stuff and they had a huge wall of big little thick skinny sheets of lexan and plexi glass

[jadams]

did you look by the plywood or by the windows or somewhere else?

[wildbilly2k]

yeah but then i asked a guy in the plywood dept.

[fireflew]

just so you know the 'scraps' that I was given were all still covered with either paper or plastic... just a little lifted on some of the corners... not a problem. I just finished cutting out my little window piece... when i get it all shaped exactally right to fight in (hopefully tommorrow or friday) i will try to borrow a camara and post a pic =)

[wildbilly2k]

here is what mine looked like after i cut it with a saber saw

[fireflew]

not too shabby... lol I cut my tiny window with my dremmel... not a good idea shattered 2 disks on a tiny ass window... gonna have to get that jig saw I found working i think... anyways... looks good post a pic when you get it installed in your PC =)

[Brant]

Originally posted by fireflew

Looks like I will be putting a window in more than my origionally intended bay door thingy ( I want to be able to see my digital docs display when the door is closed)

Nedless to say I am very pleased :beer:

I have a window in my door in my antec 1030 and it looks awsome.

What kind of case are you putting the window in?

Also I got my plexi for cheap by buying scraps too. $.50 for 20"x24" at the local hardware store.

[fireflew]

I have an Antec 1080... heh working on the bay door now... was gonna finish tonight... but I am dead tired... when I am done I will put up pics of my little window... and start thinking about what to do with the side of my case =D

[wildbilly2k]

well i have a 830 antec case and i noticed mine is curver but i dont have a door does yoour door curve you better use like 1/8th sheet of lexan to get that bend cause plexi would like tht too well

[Starfoxer]

man i hope i get as lucky as yall, looks like im going lexan hunting in a couple weeks to build my case :D

[fireflew]

well... I have some pics of what I am trying to do... it is not perfect... I may in fact go back and try recutting the lexan part for a better fit. Also because I managed to put a small scratch in the lexan with a slip of the dremel as i was shaping the edges :( . Anyway here are the pics... hopefully they come out ok


door with hole and roughly cut piece of lexan:

[fireflew]

window and door after I finished shaping them so they would be more or less flush:

[fireflew]

heh I know this is not super exciting but it does what I had wanted it to do... let me see my digital doc's display with the door closed.

window held in the door with some tape for the picture =P

[fireflew]

damn forgot the pic...

[wildbilly2k]

umm maybe you should try thiner lexan then that and maybe mak ethe cut a little bigger then you could use molding

[Brant]

here is the window i did

http://forums.overclockers.ws/vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=880657&t=4474#post880657

[fireflew]

the plastic on the door is 1/8" thick if I use thinner lexan then the lexan will be thinner than the rest of the door... I am not sure that is a good idea... I think i just need to be more careful when i grind the bevel into the window... oh well I will let you know what I decide to do.

[Chrisdafu]

How much does lexan regularly cost? I asked my dads friend and he said about 2 dollars a square foot. This a bad price?

[garwain]

yeah I've always found that trick works great. I can usually get scraps of plexi, fiberglass, pliwood, or just about anything else that comes in large sheets for next to nothing. I want to start offering a new product, so I stopped by the local Reno Depo and asked for any good sized scraps they had last night. Ended up walking out with a good 4"X24" piece of 1/8 plexi free. Not enough for anything I'm planning, but great for a prototype model.

[wildbilly2k]

Originally posted by Chrisdafu
How much does lexan regularly cost? I asked my dads friend and he said about 2 dollars a square foot. This a bad price?
im not sure but my 16x20 was only like 10$ at hoem depot

[Chrisdafu]

If ur measurements are inches which Im assuming then 2 bux a square foot sounds about right.

[fireflew]

$2 a ft^2 seems fair to me... you are talking 1/8" I assume... it it is thicker than I think you are getting a deal... tends to cost more per ft^2 when it is thicker... heh imagine that more plastice equals more cost =P

[wildbilly2k]

yes it is an 1/8th of and inche and it is 16x20 inches

it wasnt very much more for a quater of an inch only bout 50cents more a foot

[Chrisdafu]

I should see the guy tommorow so I'll ask him.

PS- I just started painting my case! WOOOOHOOO

[HaywirE]

Gets out yellowpages :cool: