hi all,
Getting ‘Proteus’ tidy for the coming season and wanted this year to replace the weatherboards with some nice strong tinted polycarbonate ones but I’m struggling to find a supplier. Anyone found someone they could recommend? Cheers, Jamie
Sat, 10/02/2018 - 11:07am
#1
james.brine
Weather boards
Hi James,
Last time I needed 15% grey tinted polycarbonate sheet I found loads of suppliers who offered it, Minimum order 2 tonnes !!!!!
I did get a sheet from Engineering and Design Plastics in Cambridge. Very helpful bunch.
www.edplastics.co.uk
Be aware Polycarbonate aka 'Lexan' is much much tougher than Acrylic aka 'Perspex'
I changed the windows in my van for Polycarbonate and you could bounce a sledge hammer off them without it breaking.
It's what bullet proof glass is made from.
It does degrade slowly in sunlight, I had to change the Van windows after 8 years as they became fogged. It also scratches fairly easily but you can polish out minor scratches easily with toothpaste.
Dave.
Dave Newton Sailbadthesinner
Hi James
There are several companies on line that will cut polycarbonate to your exact size - just measure up and send them the dimensions and they will give you a quote. I'd suggest using their cutting service as cutting polycarbonate and getting a good edge is not particularly easy to do yourself.
You can also now get UV stabilised polycarbonate which might well be worth the extra cost. Not sure about teh colours available in th ethickness you want though.
Hope this helps.
Mike - 26M Tarka
I have had no trouble cutting Lexan with a standard jigsaw or bandsaw just don't go too quickly or it tends to melt into the saw teeth. Then just hand filed to give a reasonable smooth edge. You can polish it to a very fine finish if you take the time. Now I laser cut it and get a great edge finish (but my cutter is not big enough to do a Mac weather board). If you can find someone with a large bed laser cutter you could get a perfect result but the CAD may take longer than a jigsaw!
Even UV stable material does fog over time. Not a problem for roof sheeting but an issue for vehicle windows.
Clear sheet is readily available it was the tint that made it hard to obtain.
I did consider clear + a film tint but they are tricky to apply well with no bubbles, I've tried for vinyl signs but I just don't have the knack.
Dave Newton Sailbadthesinner
Thanks guys.
I’ve got a lovely bandsaw at work so working it shouldn’t be a problem. It’s just finding a supplier of tinted polycarbonate. It all seems to be clear where I’ve looked or that box section stuff for conservatory roofs.
Still struggling on this one however I have be told that the material I am after is available (8mm black/grey tint polycarbonate) in large sheets. Is anyone else in the market for some nice new shiny weatherboards? If so I could buy a large sheet and probably make half a dozen or so weatherboards?
Grey film may work on clear Lexan. I haven’t tried it on a Mac as I haven’t got a boat yet but it’s looking promising soon.
I had tint applied to clear Lexan at work and couldn’t believe how simple it was. The fitter poured a little fairy liquid into a bucket, sponged it onto the lexan sheet and put the film on. The film was able to be slid into position and then he just sponged the bubbles out using a window cleaners rubber blade and said leave it for 1/2 an hour and it was perfect. My thoughts were that the fairy liquid would destroy the adhesive properties in the glue but it didn’t. It must be the fairies in the washing up liquid working their magic!
worth a try ( maybe on a small trial first) it could be a cheap solution if you use Aldi washing up liquid.
That must be what I was doing wrong, no fairies to help!
bubbles_0
Dave Newton Sailbadthesinner