Thirty-three new guides on top of the original seven, grouped by the decision they inform. Every one answers a question that comes up in a real quotation. They are written with the numbers we actually work to, and they do not end with "contact us for more information" — the answer is in the page.
Five transparent materials on seven dimensions, cast versus extruded sheet, virgin versus regrind, and the eight application cases that settle the choice. Includes the seven-dimension comparison table and a section on the five mistakes buyers make most often.
Read the guideThree tolerance bands mapped to three situations, achievable values across five size ranges, and why acrylic behaves nothing like metal under heat. Includes the annealing conditions we use and the five dimensional callouts worth putting on a drawing.
Read the guideStiffness scales with the cube of thickness, which is why a small increase buys a large gain and why a rib often beats a millimetre. Tables by support condition, the creep problem, and the four thickness mistakes that show up in service.
Read the guideThe 150–170 °C forming window, pre-drying for thick sheet, four sources of trapped bubbles, and the minimum bend radius by thickness. Plus the three forming methods and the five acceptance checks.
Read the guideFeed rate, spindle speed, tool geometry and workholding on one side; part design and hole placement on the other. Both have to change. Includes parameter references by thickness and the three-step polish that recovers a chipped edge.
Read the guideFive critical dimensions and the tolerance each genuinely needs, four ways to interface with sheet metal at ±0.5 mm, and the two-pin datum method that makes repeat assembly work. Plus the printing and surface options.
Read the guideFour guard types, thickness by position, the fogging problem and its four fixes, and why you cannot tap threads directly into acrylic. Includes the static-dissipation three-layer approach and the three cleaning prohibitions.
Read the guideBoth are clear, both machine well, and the price difference is large. The choice comes down to what could hit the part, what will clean it, and whether it will be outdoors.
Read the guideThe two sheets are the same polymer made two ways. On the shelf they are indistinguishable; machined, bonded, polished and left in service, they behave differently enough to decide whether a part lasts.
Read the guideColour is judged by eye, in a light you did not choose, against something you remember. A process beats a promise.
Read the guideAcrylic keeps its clarity outdoors better than any other clear plastic. It also becomes more brittle every year, and the fixing detail decides whether that matters.
Read the guideStandard acrylic burns. Flame-retardant grades burn much less readily, and the difference is documented by a test report rather than by a supplier assurance.
Read the guideThe same outline can be cut two ways, and the difference shows up on the edge, in the tolerance, and on the invoice.
Read the guideA hole in acrylic is a stress riser. Get the bit, the feed and the edge distance right and it will last; get any of them wrong and it cracks weeks later.
Read the guideA thread cut straight into 5 mm acrylic will hold a light load and fail a heavier one. Knowing which is which decides whether the part survives its first service visit.
Read the guideThe radius is not a preference. Below about eight times the thickness, acrylic will craze, thin or whiten at the bend, and no amount of care in the oven will prevent it.
Read the guideStress locked into an acrylic part does not show up in inspection. It shows up in service, as a crack from a hole or a white haze along a bond.
Read the guideAcrylic is never perfectly flat, and a panel that was flat on delivery can be curved a month later. Both are normal, until the part is optical or a door, where they are not.
Read the guideTwo identical panels with different edge finishes look like different products at different prices. This is the specification most often left vague and most often visible.
Read the guidePolishing is the operation that separates a fabricated part from a manufactured one. It is also the operation most often described with a word that means different things to different shops.
Read the guideA solvent bond on acrylic can be stronger than the sheet and invisible. It can also go white and fall apart, and the difference is joint design and cleanliness, not the glue.
Read the guideThe print is the part people touch. Which method you choose decides whether the graphic is still there in two years.
Read the guideAcrylic is attacked by cleaners that are perfectly normal on glass. The damage is not on the surface, so it cannot be polished away — which makes cleaning the single highest-value thing to get right.
Read the guideSome damage is a ten-minute polish and some is a new part. The distinction is depth and location, not the size of the mark.
Read the guideMost damaged acrylic was not damaged in service. It was damaged in a warehouse, a van or a site cabin between delivery and installation.
Read the guideAcrylic belongs around food, not on it. The distinction is the whole answer, and it is a design question rather than a material grade.
Read the guideStandard acrylic holds a charge of several kilovolts and will not let it go. Near exposed electronics that is a failure mode, and it is invisible until a board fails test.
Read the guideGlass is heavier and polycarbonate is lighter; acrylic sits between them and wins on clarity and on being easy to seal properly.
Read the guideMost of an acrylic part's price is in the operations, not the sheet. Understanding which operations dominate is how a design gets cheaper without losing anything visible.
Read the guideThere is no minimum order for most acrylic parts. There is a setup cost, and at low quantities the setup cost is the price.
Read the guideA first article is not a formality. It is the only point where a wrong assumption costs one part instead of a hundred.
Read the guideLead time is not one number. It is a chain of seven steps, and the date fails at whichever link was never scheduled.
Read the guideMost wrong parts were not made wrong. They were ordered with a drawing that left the important things to be guessed.
Read the guideA specification that names a product gets substituted. One that states a performance and a test method gets what was intended.
Read the guideA factory visit tells you more in an hour than a questionnaire tells you in a month, if you look at the right eight things.
Read the guideAlmost every acrylic warranty dispute comes down to two questions: is this a material fault, and was the part installed correctly?
Read the guideAlmost every transit-damaged acrylic part was damaged because it could move inside its packing, or because something rested on its face. Both are preventable.
Read the guideA product designed for a shelf is not the same as one designed for a parcel. The difference shows up in the return rate.
Read the guideA rollout is not forty orders. It is one standard, applied forty times, across batches and years, with a pack list that has to be right every time.
Read the guideThe original drawing is gone, the supplier has closed, and the part is in your hand. That is enough to work from, if the right things get measured.
Read the guideQuick answers
Cast acrylic unless something hits the part (polycarbonate) or aggressive solvents clean it (PETG or PVC). Full chart.
±0.3 mm general, ±0.2 mm for production parts, ±0.1 mm only on features that must fit. Why.
Span in millimetres divided by 60 is a starting point for light loads with four-edge support. Tables.
Send it with a drawing or a photo. Most of these guides started as a real question from a customer.
