"NE Sailboat" wrote

Where does one go to find Lexan? Window places? Who carries it? And do
they normally cut it for you?


I just called up Champion Glass, on of the local auto glass places. The did
some research and came up with the MR 10 Lexan which has a UV and scratch
resistant layer. It came cut to my specifications for half the price the
skylight company wanted for plain Acrylic.

The only hitch was that the supplier who cut it for them didn't have the
jigs on hand for the 1 3/8 in corner radius I wanted. Rather than pay extra
and wait for them to get the right jigs, I just had them sent with 1 1/4
inch radius and will sand or grind to the right radius myself.

The data sheet that came with the pieces sounds great. Scratch resistance
much closer to glass than acrylic, guaranteed against yellowing for 10 years
in building applications which should translate into a lot for a boat that
is covered 3/4 of the year. About 10 times the strength of Acrylic.

The only thing I've heard negative against this stuff is that the scratch
resistant layer may separate if the stuff is bent. Shouldn't be a problem
for skylights but I will continue to scream at people who start to step on
them. I wouldn't try it for wrap around windows on cabin sides until I knew
more about this issue.

--
Roger Long