Need some info about acrylic.

T

TGA

Gawd
Joined
Jun 26, 2004
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So I have a question for you guys who work with acrylic in your case mods.

What I would like to know is how accurate is the thickness of acrylic sheets?

I have been working on a case design for some time now and I am nearly done with the design work. However it just dawned on me that I did the design work assuming that 3/16” acrylic is actually 3/16” thick. Since I will be layering sheets together, if the acrylic is actually a little thicker or thiner it could mess with some rather critical dimensions.

Maybe one of you has some scraps and a micrometer you could measure for me? Or maybe stack some scraps with out the protective layer until they should be an inch thick and tell me what it actually measures?

Thanks
 
I think that is a question best answered by the vendor whom you intend to use to purchase the panels.
McMaster is a good source and they have people you can talk to about the variances in the product.

Generally, 3/16 = 3/16.
 
Thanks magoo I have dealt with McMaster before but didn't realize that they would be able to provide me with these details. But it makes sense since I am sure they do a lot of business to business transactions.

I get the impression that the machine shop I am dealing with hasn't worked with acrylic much but maybe I can pressure them in to getting details from there supplier. If not I will deal with McMaster for my source.

My design has some room for variance in material thickness but when your layering 19 3/16 sheets of acrylic spaced by 3/32 aluminum and expecting the width to be that of a 5.25” drive a few thousandths of an inch can start to add up.

The more I think about it is am beginning to think I should have the shop cut me up some 1”x2” strips of acrylic and aluminum so I can actually see how this will all come together rather then trying to depend on math alone. (and damn I suck at match) The finished project is not going to be cheap and I don't want to end up having everything cut and fit together only to find out it wont work.

Good to know material thickness of acrylic is generally accurate though.
 
I am far from perfect myself......
I would think that as long as your pieces are cut from the same sheet of stock, you'll be fine and can make adjustments based on any varience.
It't when you start to use multiple sheets than small variences can add up.
 
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