Another Price Increase for PVC, HDPE, Polypropylene, Starboard

Due to resin and chemical shortages, PVC, HDPE, Polypropylene, Cutting Boards, and PVC Foam board were hit with increase of 6-10% this week.

On July 15, all Plexiglas and acrylic sheet products will be hit with a 8% increase nationwide.

At least these materials are all made in the USA - keeping jobs here in the states.

Cutting Plexiglass Makes Art

This is a quick post - sometimes you catch the shop after they have cut different colors. The layers fall to the floor under the table saw - it's random and cool. Enjoy. Looks like a dessert!





Or the simplicity of cutting 1 color of plexiglass - in this case 2793 red. When you are cutting plexiglas, it leaves a pile of chips - not dust.

They drop to the floor from the table saw, and scatter like a snowdrift from the table router.

Clear Plexiglass Car up for Auction

Courtesy of http://www.boingboing.net/

This beautiful, skeletal Pontiac was built for the GM pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair. It's up for auction in Plymouth, Michigan, with an estimated sale price of $275,000 - $475,000.

As of yet, RM doesn't have any detailed information about the Pontiac, but from an article in Special Interest Autos #34, we see that GM built two - possibly three - transparent cars for the New York World's Fair of 1939-1940, one of which was a Deluxe seven-window touring sedan (B-body), the other of which was a Torpedo five-window touring sedan (C-body)...

Visitors to General Motors' "Highways and Horizons" pavilion at the 1939-40 New York World's Fair came away awed by a vision of the future. The work of renowned designer Norman Bel Geddes, GM's "Futurama" exhibit foretold the communities and transportation systems of 1960, many of which came to pass. Other peeks at the future included "Previews of Progress," inventions that seemed like magic: "Yarns made of Milk! Glass that bends! The Frig-O-Therm that cooks and freezes at the same time! The Talking Flashlight transmitting speech over a light beam!" exclaimed the exhibit's guidebook. Sharing top billing with the Futurama and Previews of Progress, however, was the "'Glass' Car - The first full-sized transparent car ever made in America."

Courtesy of http://www.boingboing.net/

Career in Plastics. Sure thing!

Gotta love historical pieces on the Plastics Industry.

Read and enjoy!

Installing Multiwall Polycabonate on my trellis

This is a post in process. Pictures forthcoming.

This week I have a project in my OWN backyard as I will attempt to install some 6mm clear multiwall polycarbonate on a trellis structure. My wife has been asking for this for at least 2 years. I have run out of excuses.

OK - we're in San Diego. I don't have wind, hail, tornados, lightning, hurricanes, or fireflies to worry about.
Basically, sun, 8 inches of rain, bees and what ever is growing up the trellis posts.

So I picked the clear multiwall sheet as the trellis already throws enough shade. I hope I can walk on it to clean the 2nd story windows? Maybe I will make special "snowshoes" to walk on it.

I had to locate and cut square holes to allow the decorative elements to pop through. I am sure the rain will probably pour through there too. Whatever.

I just gave the drawing to the cutting room at Ridout Plastics. It was crude, but I needed to test them.

Update 6/13/11:
Well, I learned that it's a 2 person job to try to install these panels. I installed most of the panels, but need another set of hands to help engage the sheets into to U-Channels

New Plexiglass Adhesive Glue - WeldOn 5

It's baaaaaack. A medium to slow setting solvent adhesive for Plexiglas. Better strength bonds, better looking bonds, better results.

This water thin adhesive is a medium setting solvent adhesive for acrylics (Plexiglass). Will bond other plastics - ABS, styrene, butyrate to themselves. Contains Acetic Acid. For production shops only. NOT recommended for DIY.

Not for use in LA, Orange and Riverside counties in California.

Infrared and Ultraviolet Transmission in Plexiglass Acrylic and Makrolon Polycarbonate Sheet

Well, this explains everything. I finally got my hands on the charts to show UV, Visible, and IR light transmissions in Plexiglass sheet. And, I learned something new today: IR or InfraRed light varies in transmission logarithmically depending on the thickness of the Plexiglas sheet. And, it's not a smooth curve. There are areas of filtered transmission. This explains why the IR remote on my entertainment center works like a champ on the TV and DVR but sucks on the audio amplifier (which has a different IR band). (I am using frost acrylic) (update 8/11 - replaced the panels with the IRT acrylic - it's opaque black but the IR bands are all working for all the equipment!!)

Before sharing the charts, let's think about UV and IR and visible "light".
1. You cannot SEE this type of "light".
2. You can feel the IR - it warms you up.
3. You can't see or feel UV, but your skin will fry if exposed too long, and paper, artwork, fabrics, and other materials will degenerate from exposure.
4. IR is heat, and we can capture heat images in a CCD or IR film - way cool to see.
5. IR can penetrate opaque material. UV cannot.
6. Visible light transmission through clear Plexiglas is 92%. You cannot detect the 8% loss - it looks clearer than water. You lose 4% reflected off the front surface and 4% off the INSIDE of the back surface. If I put a business card at the end of a 4" thick piece of Plexi 8 ft long, you could read it perfectly.

OK - the charts - check this out!

Your UV and Visible Light chart - you can see the natural drop of UV filtering from standard Plexiglas, and then the extra filtering of the UVF and UVT grades. Plexiglas MC is your standard general purpose extruded  sheet, and Plexiglas G is cell-cast acrylic sheet. Plexiglas UF5 is the standard extruded "MC" with a UV filtering additive. UF3 is the version from "G" cell-cast acrylic.

Now the IR light transmission for CLEAR Plexiglas:

According to the makers of Plexiglas®:

INFRARED TRANSMITTANCE
Colorless Plexiglas® sheet sheet transmits most of the invisible near-infrared energy in the 700 to 2,800 nanometer region, but it also absorbs certain bands as shown. The curves for 0.118 inch and 0.944 inch thick colorless Plexiglas® sheet show that near-infrared transmittance depends on thickness, decreasing logarithmically as thickness increases.

At infrared wavelengths longer than 2,800 nanometers and as long as 25,000 nanometers, and in thicknesses greater than 0.118 inch, colorless Plexiglas® sheet is entirely opaque. At thicknesses less than 0.118 inch, Plexiglas® sheet transmits small amounts of infrared energy at certain wavelengths within this region. All standard formulations of colorless Plexiglas® sheet have the same general infrared transmittance characteristics.

Sensitive instruments confirm that weathering produces no change in the infrared transmittance characteristics of Plexiglas® sheet.

But wait, there's more! Here's the special grade of Infra-Red Transmitting sheet. It is BLACK in color, but allows the IR to transmit through. Very cool for spy related video equipment. Available in 1/8" and limited amounts of 1/16" thick.

1146 is the IRT and 199-0 is opaque black. They look identical but obviously are not....

But wait.... there's more!

Here's the chart for POLYCARBONATE sheet - known as Lexan, Tuffak, Makrolon etc.  Note that polycarbonate goes opaque in the UV spectrum and has good IR transmission.

Price Increases for Plastics - Plexiglass, Lexan, HDPE, UHMW and more

You have seen it at the pump. We see it at the plant! The price increases for plastics just keep on coming with no relief in sight. After implementing 6% price increases for acrylics (Plexiglas, Optix, Acrylite, Perspex, Lucite etc.) this month, I received a note today to prepare for a salvo of 8% increases by end of March. And more on the near horizon.

This relates to PLEXIGLASS acrylic sheets - material with a chemical name of polymethyl methacrylate or PMMA.

What the heck is going on? Worldwide supply of the base chemicals needed in the plastics industry are in SHORT SUPPLY.

The economies of China and India are fueling this DEMAND for PLASTICS and associated chemicals. The largest auto markets in the world are there. And of course, manufacturing plants that use the chemicals that produce the sheet, rod, tube and film... that are consumed in those countries!

The world economies continue to change.

Our suppliers tell us to brace for more increases throughout 2011. "Substantial increases".

Probably a good time to purchase that plastic you were budgeting since next month it's more expensive.

Candy Colored Copenhagen Pavilion Made of Reclaimed Plexiglass

This is too cool. I generate enough recycled material to make 1 of these every week.


The design for the sculpture was created by architect J.D. Messick.

Tom Fruin, a New York-based installation artist, recently traveled to Copenhagen where he built this stunning outdoor pavilion in plaza outside of the Royal Danish Library. Constructed out of hand welded angle iron and about a thousand scraps of reclaimed plexiglass, Kolonihavehus is a portable structure commissioned by CoreAct, a Copenhagen-based performance company headed by Anika Barkan and Helene Kvint.

Thank you to Bridgette Meinhold, author of this information on inhabitat.com

How do I remove adhesive and labels from Plexiglass?

WD-40.
Kerosene.

These two products do a fine job of dissolving the adhesive from labels, price tags and even paper masking paper that has dried out. Masking paper is the toughest and you have to soak the masking paper with the kerosene - it may take 15-30 minutes to get through the paper to the adhesive and loosen it. If you're lucky, the paper will peel off. If it appears you have to scrape a little, you must use a tool that is softer than the acrylic/plexiglass. That would be a plastic kitchen tool/spatula that is usually HDPE material. Don't use metal. Please.

WD-40 is great for small stickers/price tags that you need to remove. Spray a little on the tag, and in minutes you can peel off.

CLEANUP - use dish soap and water to remove the WD40 and Kerosene. Wipe with soft cloth.

Note: WD-40 was invented right here in San Diego (Water Dispersing formula #40) - a must for every tool kit.

Plastic Sheet Price Increases for 2011

The only thing about PLASTICS being made from OIL and Natural Gas is that the price of making the plastic rises and falls along with the costs of these resources.

But wait - that's not all.

Demand from India, China and other markets have put pressure on the supply chain. That means whoever wants the resins will pay dearly for the privilege of that purchase.

As of Feb 2011, we're seeing price increase os 6-7% on acrylics, polycarbonates and PETG plastic materials. We're also seeing 10% increases on polyolefins such as HDPE, LDPE, Polypropylene. This is on top of price increases in Q3 of 2010 that hit these materials as well as ABS & Styrene.

What's made from all this?
Acrylic: Plexiglas, Lucite, Optix, Acrylite (sheet, tube, medical devices, drinkware)
Polycarbonate: Lexan, Makrolon (sheet, tube, glazing, cycle windshields, drinkware)
PETG: clear plastic beverage bottles (water, 2L soda)
ABS: Auto industry, toys
Styrene: toys
HDPE: milk jugs
Polypropylene: orthotics, braces

Saving grace? The fact that these products play a part in making our lives better. Theses materials are not a "want" - they are a "need".

Mylar, strong flexible, clear polyester used in place of window glass

I get some great questions from time to time - here's a cool one to share:

Greetings and or Howdy,

I've been researching Dick Proenneke's Alaskan cabin and in his writings he says this about his window..

"Mylar, strong flexible, clear polyester used in place of window glass in the Proenneke cabin..."

My question I'm thinking would be..

a. Does that sound to you that Dick's "window" was Mylar film stretched as a window because of it's ability to withstand the extreme temperatures?

b. Have you any knowledge of a product with better performance when dealing with a temperature ranging from approximately 80 degrees F to -80 degrees F?

If you folks have something suitable, my needs only require a small amount to cover a few small window openings so in the winter I don't become a popsicle in my sleep....might scare the locals.

---------

My answer:

Clear polyester is amazingly stable – you can buy sheets 24x48 or 48” wide roll – cut with a razor blade and staple to the frame.

I would put a panel over both sides of the window to insulate. It does not stretch or tear.

Best question of the day award!

There you go - easy as that! search for “007 clear polyester” on the site – I would go with that thickness .

Head back to our website www.ePlastics.com to order online