Any Acrylic fabrication forums? OT

[Pete Lamberty]

Hi, Does anyone know of any forums that deal with working with plastics? I have an idea on a chair that I would like to make but I have no idea where to buy the plastic or how to work with it. Also are there any good online sites to buy different sorts of plastic. I tried a search but have come up with very little that would help me. Thanks for any help that you can give. Pete

[Phil Phelps]

....I do some work with plastic, Pete. You'll have to buy from a supply house. There are several here in Dallas. You can do to plastic, pretty much what you do to wood. I don't think I'd plane it though :p Two types of plastic. MC and GP. The GP grade is a more tollerable to heat, and is more friendly to standard wood working equipment. It comes in various thicknesses and colors. If you can't find a site, try the library for a book on Plexiglas fabrication. Good luck.

[markus shaffer]

if you're in the northeast, there are a couple industrual plastic places near me here in New York.. they have pretty much anything one could want I think. i'm not sure if they do mail order though. seems a google search would help you out some.

-markus

[Keith Outten]

Pete,

I use a lot of plastic since I have a laser engraver. Normally everyone in the business uses the term acrylic instead of plastic. Do a search on acrylic and you should come up with lots of links, or try acrylic dealers/suppliers. I purchase Acrylite, it's a trade name like Plexiglass.

I think this is one of those materials that you would be better off to find a local source for, the weight of acrylic is like plywood, very expensive to ship and normally sold in sheets. My local supplier in Norfolk Virginia does sell drops to me when I visit his shop to pick up sheets for projects. Small drops and a good way to get different types of acrylic to test with. Just got some 1/8" acrylic mirror, very cool stuff.

I normally get small pieces of clear acrylic free, almost every frame shop has the stuff everywhere and seem happy if you are willing to haul it off.

There are heater bars you can purchase that will allow you to bend acrylic.

Hope this helps

[Pete Lamberty]

Thanks everyone for your tips. This will be interesting to see what comes of this. Like I said, I have a design in mind for a chair. I could make it out of wood, but I thought colored plastic/acrylic/whatever might be more modern. Thanks, Pete