Suggestions on thickness of Plexiglass for pull out shelve

[Craig D Peltier]

Im going to build an above fridge cabinet. It will be 25 deep and 38 wide. The shelve will slide the 38 inch length. I will buy a 500lb slide for it 36 inches. It will store can goods etc.
It will be of plexiglass so its see through.
Any suggestions on thickness? 3/8 or 1/2 inch? Should the sides be plexi to? Im asking about sides to see if you'll think that screwing a slide into it will hold the slide to shelve well enough.
It can just be cut with a rip blade on TS correct? How do I sand the edges afterwards so smooth?

[Jamie Buxton]

Acrylic isn't much stiffer than plywood. Do you think a plywood shelf 3/8" thick and 38" wide is not going to sag under a load of canned goods? I'd build the pullout with wood front, sides, and back. Those would be at least 5" tall, so they don't bend under the load. I'd put a front-to-back divider in the middle of the drawer, also 5+" tall. With the wood to provide the structural strength, the drawer bottom could be 1/4" thick.

[Bill Huber]

With Plexiglas ribs I would think you could use 3/8 with no problem. If you glue a 1" x 3/8" strip of Plexiglas on its side that would sure make it much stronger.

[Tom Walz]

Maybe I have got it wrong, but won't the Plexiglas scratch pretty badly?

[Craig D Peltier]

Tap Plastcis recommends using acrylic. Theres an AR rated one that resist scratching. A 24x36 piece 1/4 thick is $101.
I would build a frame that the acrylic sat in so it wouldnt sag.I would like to have acrylic sides so you could see into the sides as well. So all the support would be fromn the slides and the rectangualr frame I suppose. I could rabbet an edge for the acrylic to drop into.

[Jamie Buxton]

That acrylic is spendy, isn't it? You might consider glass. Google "glass table tops" or the like to see outfits that have premade glass rectangles intended for use as table tops. You can get 24x36 by 1/2" thick for less than that plexiglass. But you probably only need 1/4" glass, if you properly support it around the edges. So it would be less expensive than plastic, and, as Tom points out, it won't scratch like plastic.

[Matt Meiser]

I'm pretty sure Plexiglass is a brand name for acrylic sheet. And its pretty soft stuff so I agree it will scratch quickly. Polycarbonate (Bayer Makrolon or GE Lexan) is much more scratch resistant, and even more expensive. But I think it would still get scratched up in this use.

Lots of refrigerators have glass shelves. I assume they use tempered glass. And it should be pretty touch to scratch as long as they don't keep their diamonds up there.