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Post by Jeffery on Sept 4, 2017 19:23:54 GMT
I make make whirlygigs such as birds. But the thin plywood I use for the wings breaks very easily. I wonder if plexiglass would work. Can plexiglass be cut and sanded and painted like wood?
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Post by here to stay on Sept 4, 2017 20:41:39 GMT
There may be tools that cut it more cleanly than the days 40 years ago when I had cause to cut a lot of plexiglass. It was a pain to cut cleanly especially curves, gets gummy when sanded and got brittle in sunlight. I never painted it. There is probably paint that doesn't crawl on it now a days but how durable is questionable.
What about metal? Or a laser cutter?
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Post by Jeffery on Sept 4, 2017 21:19:46 GMT
I wish the craft stores would have 1/8 inch sheets of plastic similar to the sheets of plywood they sell.
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Post by Skandi on Sept 4, 2017 21:31:12 GMT
Acrylic sheets would be perfect, they are easy to cut, can be painted, and bent (when heated) and come in many colours.
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Post by here to stay on Sept 4, 2017 22:40:53 GMT
forums.finehomebuilding.com/breaktime/general-discussion/cutting-curves-plexiglassFound this on plexiglass vs lexan. I would try the Lexan in preference to the plexiglass. Either way, there is a techique to cutting it. Slow, braced, small toothed, flexible saw like a bandsaw or scroll saw. Too fast and it melts and gums the saw. I saw there was a technique for finishing other than sandpaper that sounds better.
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Post by comfortablynumb on Sept 4, 2017 23:58:48 GMT
Try using duraply sign board. I'm not sure you can get it that thin but it is much tougher than regular plywood.
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Post by here to stay on Sept 5, 2017 12:54:43 GMT
I was wondering about your issues. As you can tell I hated plexiglass even though it was a must use. But at the time I was fabricating out of plexiglass, there was a man making resin soaked sculptures. He cut canvas fabric in resin that turned out very light and very strong. www.garden-art-projects.com/fabric-garden-sculptures.html
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Post by Jeffery on Sept 6, 2017 1:09:30 GMT
Acrylic sheets would be perfect, they are easy to cut, can be painted, and bent (when heated) and come in many colours. Where can I buy those?
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Post by Skandi on Sept 6, 2017 3:46:49 GMT
It is sold as plexiglass in the US. though I never had any of the issues here to stay, had with it, maybe because I've always used hand tools and that doesn't get it hot enough to cause any issues. It most certainly is UV stable though, they make greenhouses out of it round here so not something that gets brittle in sunlight. They may have changed the formular between our useages I guess, mine was only 20 years ago.
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