Plexi for windows

C

clutchdust

Millionaire Playboy
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On a flat window surface, is there any reason the generic plastic from Lowes or Home Depot won't work? For the price, it seems worth trying. My only real concern is securing the plastic inside the window frame.
Thoughts?
 
Long ago I was told to not do that, because plexi will shatter like window glass, making razor sharp large shards of plastic, it's not good...too dangerous.....:gurney::evil:
 
The basic difference is that polycarbonate is much tougher. You can bend 1/2 inch PC cold without breaking just like metal. Plexiglass (acrylic) will shatter.

PC is what jet canopies are made of.
 
BBShark said:
The basic difference is that polycarbonate is much tougher. You can bend 1/2 inch PC cold without breaking just like metal. Plexiglass (acrylic) will shatter.

PC is what jet canopies are made of.
Click to expand...

:lol:

I just ASSumed they made of like 3-4 laminations of glass.....


:hissyfit:
 
Bullet proof glass is made that way. Glass/PC lamination. The glass is one of the most expensive components of an armored car.
 
BBShark said:
Bullet proof glass is made that way. Glass/PC lamination. The glass is one of the most expensive components of an armored car.
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BB, LONG time ago I heard a funny internet story of the Brits, about building the bullet train for the Chunnel project over to France, and so they inquired about a test cannon for the train windshields in front of the Locos.....I dunno why they had to have anything there anyway....a camera would do the job....

but so the story went as some aircraft maker shipped over a cannon to test again BIRD impacts at speed....against cockpit window impacts....

so the Brits fired these chickens/turkeys? at the Loco and it shattered the glass every time.....

they forget to thaw the birds first.....


THAT story is SO stupid, it's almost believable....:smash::)
 
Lexan/Polycarbonate is the best choice for flat or non compound surfaces. As said above, plexi is dangerous.

When you start forming Lexan it gets to be a much bigger ballgame. GE has (had?) a really detailed information sheet for this task, probably online somewhere. I got mine in the mail if that tells you anything;-))

Lexan is hygroscopic, absorbs moisture, so it has to be slowly baked for 24 hours or so before you elevate to forming temp. Then, I can't remember the numbers anymore, but the forming temp is remarkably low and has a narrow window.

I'm not saying it can't be done, it's just a lot more precise than forming plexi.

My compound rear window on my Triumph GT6 racer was formed between two factory glass windows over the summer here in Las Vegas. The summer sun day after day formed that lexan to the shape of those two rear glasses, crazy what the desert can do...

Do you know the big bubbles in the MASH helicopters were the first big use of Lexan?
 
mrvette said:
they forget to thaw the birds first.....
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I bet you know every urban myth ever created, as well as making up a crapload yourself. I think i heard that one when i was 10.

I bet wipers are not friendly to plastic. You'd be constantly polishing the scratches out.
 
turtlevette said:
mrvette said:
they forget to thaw the birds first.....
Click to expand...

I bet you know every urban myth ever created, as well as making up a crapload yourself. I think i heard that one when i was 10.

I bet wipers are not friendly to plastic. You'd be constantly polishing the scratches out.
Click to expand...

Yeh, no shit on both counts, but still worth a good laugh, improbable as it was.....:D
 
Actually, the window in question here is a back window. Nearly flat surface to begin with so no shaping involved, just cut to fit. And then it will never see wipers so that's not a concern. Being that it's back window, all I really need is to be able to see out of it and that it not fly out at track speeds. Thinking about cutting the piece and then just using the straps ala NASCAR to retain it. I have found a factory glass piece in the local bone yard I can get for $30 and I'm really toying with that. I really don't think the weight savings will be all that significant. The only reason I'm even thinking about plexi is because there's no glass in there at all right now.
 
30 bux and problem SOLVED, and U debating???

Dude, U need a pill or summfin.....


:crutches::D
 
turtlevette said:
mrvette said:
they forget to thaw the birds first.....
Click to expand...

I bet you know every urban myth ever created, as well as making up a crapload yourself. I think i heard that one when i was 10.

I bet wipers are not friendly to plastic. You'd be constantly polishing the scratches out.
Click to expand...

Surely I read it on the net some +- 14 years ago or so....

no, I been on the net since '95 so who knows???

but I never want to forget a good joke, even IF it could possibly be true....


:nuts::nuts::nuts::rolleyes:
 
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