Acrylic/Plastic Supply
 

For anyone who needs acrylic and related materials, check out PlasticWorks in Surrey (I think their webpage is plasticworks.ca). I bought some material from their store yesterday and the service was great. I had researched this material and the quote from IPP was almost double for the exact same product. For other products I was considering in this project (but did not purchase), the quotes again were approximately double from IPP. While waiting for PlasticWorks to cut my material, I looked around and they had a decent amount of acrylic tubing in stock, all appearing to be much cheaper than IPP.

FWIW they used to be a IPP store

Pretty much the same stuff, just significantly less expensive...

I wish these acrylic supply places would sell buy the foot, especially the larger diameter tubing.

thanks for the tip! i've been going to IPP in richmond and one of the guy there was quoting/charging me prices for thicker acrylic than i picked out and prices for different type of plastic (more expensive) than i picked out.

Any of you guys know a place out in Quebec, specifically Montreal? =)

there should be a GE Polymer distrbutor out there...

Is it average price for a sheet a 4'x8' acrylic to cost $400+taxes?

Depends what thickness.

half inch.

also, was quoted $250 for 3/8's, $140 for 1/4.

Sounds about right?

seems a little pricey to me, it comes out to more then buying an acrylic tank at the pet store...

Wow, thats pricy. And is it CAST or Extruded?

Let me know what you want, and I am sure I can beat that.

I believe it was extruded. I told him I wanted the cheapest acrylic possible.

My cost on high grade Cell Cast 4'x8' sheet is:
1/4" $118.40
3/8" $177.92
1/2" $243.52
3/4" $388.16
1" $526.08

If you dont buy much acrylic you could pay a bit more than that, and if you buy alot of acrylic, you could pay less than that, whatever you do, dont go to Industrial Plastics unless you want to remortgage your house....

multiply those prices by 2 and thats about what IPP charges for low grade extruded acrylic sheet

Excuse my ignorance, but what is the diff betwen extruded and cast. Cast seems pretty obvious but extruded?

cast is superior in clarity. extruded has optical flaws in it due to it being extruded out of a mold.

as for strength, they are so close it doesn't really matter for the average person, and for glue-ability they are both good. tank builders use cast because of the clarity of it, and all the skimmer and reactor makers use it because the tank builders do. then they try tell you extruded will fail in 1 year or less and develop crazing. this is just them trying to justify there use of a product that is 4 times more expensive because of the processes used to make it. if you cut and glue extruded properly you will not get crazing.

Steve

Steve, you're making stuff up again. :rolleyes:

Joel, this will explain the differences.

http://www.plasticsmag.com/ta.asp?aid=3919

yup your link is exactly what I said, if you work extruded properly it is fine, and cast is optically better.

Steve

thanks Brad... :biggrin:

No problem Joel. For most purposes, extruded is fine to work with, although cast machines better (it's more dense = harder) and it absorbs less moisture than extruded. If you're making something yourself, use extruded. If you're paying big bucks for a device, make sure you're buying cell cast.
One is better than the other, just not sure if the cost warrants it for hobbyist DIY projects.

I have always read that any type of sump or tank of a respectable size should be made out of cast. Is there any reason that I couldn't make the following prop tray out of extruded?

Dimensions: 48"x36"x12"H -

Thanks

ML

for flat sheet I always use cast.. I don't think there is to much of a savings in sheet using extruded but I am not sure as I have never priced extruded sheet.

Steve