Good source for cast acrylic?

[Chuck Stone]

I figure someone here would know..
I haven't had much luck sourcing cast acrylic locally, and trying to
find info online is tricky. After getting ready to place orders, I'll look
up the same product somewhere else only to find that they say it is
extruded, not cast. Is Acrylite GP a good choice? Some call the FF
cast, some call it extruded. Isn't 'continuous cast' really extruded?

anyone care to share a favorite supplier? I'm seeing prices around 15/ft2 but
most of the places i found want you to sign up to have a salesman call. :eek:

[Dee Gallo]

Chuck, I use Delvies all the time - they are fast and their cast is reliably nice every time. Paper backing is easy to peel off, they sell pieces in the sizes I want, and sometimes they have real cheap deals on ebay but then you have to wait for an auction. They ship almost overnight.

:) dee

[Anthony Scira]

Yes Delvies is OUTSTANDING. I do not know how they ship so fast.

[Chuck Stone]

I just checked their sheet price.. about 10% better than what I had already.
How is the consistency on thickness?
I also went to E Street Plastics, better price but they say the 1/4" sheet
can vary from .190" to .250" .. that's a lot of variation when you're trying
to make interlocking parts! I already had to re-do many parts because I
forgot to mic the sheet first. Who knew that the stuff marked 1/4" was
really supposed to be .220 .. and was actually .2"?

[Ross Moshinsky]

Look in the yellow pages for people who make acrylic items. Ask them if you can buy some material from them. It will most likely be cheaper than what you'd spend from a supplier. If you find someone nice, you might end up walking out with a lot of free acrylic.

[Larry Bratton]

I just checked their sheet price.. about 10% better than what I had already.
How is the consistency on thickness?
I also went to E Street Plastics, better price but they say the 1/4" sheet
can vary from .190" to .250" .. that's a lot of variation when you're trying
to make interlocking parts! I already had to re-do many parts because I
forgot to mic the sheet first. Who knew that the stuff marked 1/4" was
really supposed to be .220 .. and was actually .2"?

Cast is inherently inconsistent in thickness. It is a result of the way it is manufactured in a mold. Continuously extruded is pulled through a die, making it more consistent. If your looking for consistency in thickness and it is a critical issue, you need to use extruded. You are going to lose the ability to get a nice white frosted look on it when you raster it though. Cast is normally good enough for fabrication though and it will not craze as readily as extruded when glued with solvent cement. All plastics as manufactured to metric sizes as far as I know and like you say 1/4" nominal is .220.
Another source for small pieces in just about all the colors is Sloan's Woodshop in Tennessee. Their stock is like 12 x 24 pieces but all cast. Not the cheapest, but sometimes you just need a small piece, so that source is available and it is on the East coast.
Piedmont Plastics in Charlotte is a large distributor, they sell whole sheets, but the price is very good and they will cut it down for you for free and then ship UPS. If I need a whole sheet, and that is where you will get the best price, I use them.

[Jim Good]

Larry is right about the thickness variation. It is a victim of it's manufacturing process. One thing to be careful about is that places will sell 1/8" as 3mm (.118") and 1/4" as 6 mm (.236"). You need to know what you are buying.

Another source is McMaster Carr. Depending on where you live you can get it overnight at UPS Ground cost. Where I live I can order it today and I'll get it in the morning. They also have laser engraving plastic.

I hope that helps.

Jim

[Chuck Stone]

Thanks, everyone .. some good leads to follow up!

[Chuck Stone]

Ross.. unfortunately I'm in a fairly remote area
(at least it seems remote after Manhattan..)
Not many places with a front you can visit.
Businesses around here don't stock much.. they can all
order it for you. (we can all order at better prices and
have it delivered to US, not to them.. we're not locked
in to certain corporate approved suppliers..)