Perspex sheet 6' x 6' where to buy?

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Mr Mike

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Hi all, the time has finally come to get my studio room sorted out after moving here in March :thumbs:

I am trying to find a perspex sheet 6' x 6' x 2mm to cover my lastolite hilite train so i can see the reflections but after turning the net inside out i cant find it anywhere for less than £70 delivered :eek:

Does anyone know where i can get this cheaper because i am stuggling to part with that much £££'s for a sheet of plastic?

Mike
 
do a search on this forum...I have posted numerous links for cheap 'perspex' and it's derivatives.

Try B&Q......as a starting point
 
Try Wickes. Think mine was £28 not 6x6 though.
 
Mr Mike said:
how odd is this, i keep readin B&Q yet their website doesnt have any listed:thinking:

oh by the way i just called them and confirmed..

£20 2' x 3' x 4mm
£42 6' x 2' x 2mm

Can someone put a link up showing me how stupid im being?
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It is not called perspex at B&Q in fact it is not called perspex hardly anywhere.

Sometimes things are not on the website that places like B&Q stock, so go to one of the big shed outlets and have a walk around.
 
yep, its some kind of flexible acrylic and for whats its worth, I not only use it on the floor, but another piece as a desk protector and a final piece as replacement glass in a door, so it isn't that poor quality either. Pop along to your nearest depot, ours is one of the small B&Q's and still sells it.
 
tiler65 said:
It is not called perspex at B&Q in fact it is not called perspex hardly anywhere.
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That's right. It's acrylic, perspex is a registered trade name of someone who makes acrylic.

So searching for perspex when you want acrylic is a bit like searching for Hoover when you want a Dyson, trade sellers won't break the law by mis-describing their goods.
 
my fiance and i recently bought a meter by a meter-ish sheet of it from trent plastics, i emailed a quote on, because i needed 1000x1009mm rather than 1x1m and they put the 9 on without changing the price - but they do completely custom sizes as well, and i think our piece cost us roughly £30, 3mm thick, by the way

i would definitely recommend emailing, at least;

http://www.trentplastics.co.uk/online/index.php?act=viewDoc&docId=2
 
i used clear acrylic sheet of all sizes pritty much everyday for the last 12 years doing my main job building switchgear, and we used alot of acrylic sheet for internal screening and i can asure you some stuff is rubbish and brittal like the homebase stuff , oits abit like waht you get free in some picture frames,( i will be supprised if you dont go in there and find alot of the stuff with cracks in already)my stuff you can bend(and i mean properly put folds in) and give alot of stick to and it takes it. I have made trays for the bottoms of my bird feeders and other things, would like to see that beiong made out of the cheap stuff,(it goes bang) we used to pay like about £90 a sheet for 2.5m x 2m x 4mm of clear and white was about £40 for the same size.
ive used it for alsorts,
heres one
DSC_1897.jpg

DSC_4326.jpg
 
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I take it you don't have one near you then ?

I just popped into my local and picked it up. £55 seems rather steep though.
 
Given those delivery prices could you get a big taxi to pick it up for you?
 
JohnN said:
Given those delivery prices could you get a big taxi to pick it up for you?
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Great idea and thanks for posting. Never thought of that.

John.
 
I used to work with plastic sheet as well as sheet metal.

Clear styrene sheet is the cheapest of the cheap. If you scratch along the edge with a knife it smells slightly sweet. Very brittle and little resistance to discolouring from UV light. Nasty stuff when it burns.

Clear acrylic (ICI's brand is Perspex) has no smell to identify it. It has better crack resistance than styrene so you can curve it a bit but not bend it and it doesn't yellow easily. Can't remember its fire properties but think its not great.

The stuff Scott described has to be Polycarbonate sheet (makrolon, Lexan etc.). Its what safety guards are made out of. Virtually unbreakable and can be bent to shape and cut with most saws without expecting it to shatter. UV stable and self extinguishing in a fire.

Unless it was for very occasional hobby use I'd say Polycarbonate was the best choice. Even 1mm thick would be better than 3 or 4mm styrene and 1mm is not that heavy.
 
Looks like eBay has a fair bit of it - here, but 6x6' is pretty big. 1500x1000x2mm (4.92 x 3.28 feet) is the cheapest I can see in your sort of size at a little under £42, there is the same size acrylic at £39.50 after postage.

All based on Robert's Polycarbonate suggestion.
 
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As Robert says, Styrene is pants and will only last one shoot before it's scratched to hell if you've not already cracked it under foot. Although not much use to the OP... I use DEP Fabrications for my Acrylic. I've not used PC but it should be a good choice for sure, in fact I might just give it a go next time I replace mine (which I do near as damn it every month). Oh, I use a 4ft x 4ft sheet by the way
 
If you find someone selling small pieces of 1mm clear polycarbonate I'd suggest you try it. 1mm doesn't sound much but in Polycarb it is tougher than you'd think and easy to handle. You can even roll it up (about a foot diameter) if you want it out of the way.

Buy a full 8 x 4 sheet if you like it. Postage might be less as they can roll it up to send it. Sheets over 8 x 4 ft are available but will always cost more as they are not used so much. 2m x 1m and 8ft x 4ft are common stock sizes.
 
RobertP said:
I used to work with plastic sheet as well as sheet metal.

Clear styrene sheet is the cheapest of the cheap. If you scratch along the edge with a knife it smells slightly sweet. Very brittle and little resistance to discolouring from UV light. Nasty stuff when it burns.

Clear acrylic (ICI's brand is Perspex) has no smell to identify it. It has better crack resistance than styrene so you can curve it a bit but not bend it and it doesn't yellow easily. Can't remember its fire properties but think its not great.

The stuff Scott described has to be Polycarbonate sheet (makrolon, Lexan etc.). Its what safety guards are made out of. Virtually unbreakable and can be bent to shape and cut with most saws without expecting it to shatter. UV stable and self extinguishing in a fire.

Unless it was for very occasional hobby use I'd say Polycarbonate was the best choice. Even 1mm thick would be better than 3 or 4mm styrene and 1mm is not that heavy.
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sounds right, cheers. its very good stuff and worth the money,
 
Thanks for all the info that keeps being adding to this thread.

I contacted a supplier today (the one from the ebay links in previous post) and was advised that the Polycarbonate sheet will scratch VERY easily, they have advised clear acrylic with scratch proof coating. Waiting a quote from them to see how much it will cost.

Every day this changes, wouldnt be so bad if it was just £10-£20 but wasting £70+ is worrying :suspect:
 
V8burble said:
As Robert says, Styrene is pants and will only last one shoot before it's scratched to hell if you've not already cracked it under foot. Although not much use to the OP... I use DEP Fabrications for my Acrylic. I've not used PC but it should be a good choice for sure, in fact I might just give it a go next time I replace mine (which I do near as damn it every month). Oh, I use a 4ft x 4ft sheet by the way
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You manage fine with 4ftx4ft? Can you describe what you manage to fit on that? How many people, standing or lying...etc

Also in my situation i will have a 7ftx6ft train then when i finally work out what to purchase that will sit on top, if i had as you do does this not make it a headache due to only part of the floor being covered where there is a change of surface reflectivity?
 
Also check out the guys that make sinage - i.e. the illuminated signs that are found over shops

They can often supply thicker harder plastics, in colour too!
 
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