best place for 3mm acrylic in USA

[paul j campbell]

Hi everyone i bet this will have been asked a million times but here i am have been all over the net trying to find the best place to buy 3mm acrylic sheet
i have my first job for the new laser cutting some support stands and its going to take quite a few sheets as the parts are a good size
i live in lower delaware
and would like to buy locally if i can.. i dont mind driving to nearby states an hour or two if it saves on shipping
does anyone know where to source at the best possible price it seems like there are hundreds of suppliers and it would take forever trying to find the right one

so i am hoping you wiil all know

thanks

Paul

[Mike Null]

Paul


where are you?

Usually your best deal will be local because shipping can be a bear.

[David Rust]

Hi Paul, I buy from Delvies Plastics Inc. in Utah, I get my plastic supplies shipped...
I have had good luck with them, they were recommended by others here on Sawmill Creek

[Ross Moshinsky]

I know Laird plastic has a location in Baltimore. You can also call local acrylic fabricators. They are typically pretty happy to sell a couple sheets for a markup which would probably be similar to the price you'd pay at a warehouse, especially when you figure in shipping or gas+time.

[brian fithian]

I buy from TAP Plastics on the net. Always measures exactly what i order and packaged clean. I have ordered from a few other places and most of them you loose the width of the saw blade where they cut it. Some of those were even packaged with the shavings from the cuttings... Which will scratch the sheets during shipping

[Joe Pelonio]

With the weight of acrylic the shipping will add up. Best to go local if you can. Here we have at least 8-10 places that sell wholesale, and most of them also sell retail if you are without a resale license. I mostly use TAP with 3 local stores, Laird, Calsak, Acrylic Concepts, which is only 5 miles away, Professional Plastics, and Surbell. Loom for those names in your area.

[paul j campbell]

thank you all for your responses they are much appreciated
i went to lowes today and they have 3mm clear acrylic sheets 48 X 72 inches for $55
what i see online other than full sheets are mostly cut to say 24 X 48 from about $28 to $40

so from first glance it looks like lowes has it hands down price wise over pretty much anything i can find online
am i missing somthing here ? the lowes acrylic has a plastic film over it..is this stuff ok for Laser cutting or is it not rigid enough or somthing ? has anyone had experiance with the lowes 3mm sheets i am new to all this laser stuff and acrylic is acrylic right ?

[Joe Pelonio]

That's is the cheaper extruded, which is fine for some things, but for engraving I use cast which will normally have a paper covering. Also,they only had clear last time I was there. If you are cutting and painting lettering/logos it will work fine.

[Ross Moshinsky]

Extruded acrylic, especially thin stuff, I've always found a lot more brittle than cast acrylic. We tried using some HD acrylic for a police shield for a car and it didn't make it out of the store before it cracked. The thickness I remember being roughly 1/8".

[Mike Null]

Paul

The extruded has a place but cast acrylic is superior for most engraving. Extruded is far more sensitive to various chemicals as well and will craze before your eyes if you use the wrong paint or cleaner. Paint fills should be acrylic or latex.

[Ernie Martinez]

I use freckle face http://www.freckleface.com/

[Martin Boekers]

Mike, thjere was a post not too long ago about someone getting acrylic quite a bit cheaper. Do you recall that?

Paul, if you add your location and equipment to your Signature Block it helps us help you! If you contact any acrylic manufacturer,
such as Acrilex they can guide you to a local supplier.

[paul j campbell]

Thank you all so much for all your help
i think i have a handle on it . As this is just a cutting job and not an engraving one i will try the lowes extruded and also make one from the cast to see how they compare before cutting a whole bunch of them
they are stands for the cutting pad on CNC die cutting machines that people use to make models and do scrapbooking so hopefully the less expnsive option will work out ok

[Paul Phillips]

Paul, I'm not sure how much "quite a bit" is but if you need large quantities (10+ 4'x8' sheets) you can save a lot of $s, I buy from Sabic Polymershapes which is one of the largest manufacturers and they offer free shipping on orders over $1000, price per sheet can end up being nearly 1/2 of what I pay at my local distributor.
Paul