Are they curved?

If not go with armored glass. If they have a curve then Lexan may be
the best bet. But expect to either polish them ever 10 years or live
with a not so clear view.

I have a forward hatch with armored glass about 22" round and it is as
clear as the day it was installed and it is 1976 vintage.

Joe

Joe
They are flat. Thanks for all of the information. That
surely give me more options.
Thanks again and good luck with the vipers
JR

Joe wrote:

Are they curved?

If not go with armored glass. If they have a curve then Lexan may be
the best bet. But expect to either polish them ever 10 years or live
with a not so clear view.

I have a forward hatch with armored glass about 22" round and it is as
clear as the day it was installed and it is 1976 vintage.

Joe

Mooron I used 3- 4X8' X 1/2" thick sheets of Lexan replacing all my
side windows. Tinted dark. It's good stuff, I can take a 20 pound
sledge and with the widest swing bounce it off the windows over and
over again without any damage. However it has become dull, scratched,
and crazed over time(8years). I'm going to try to polish it this
summer, but if I can not get it clear again I'm going to replace it
with custom curved armor glass. Glass may cost more but a clear clean
view in the long run is worth 10X thew money in the long run IMO.

Joe

If they are flat then go with Armored Glass.

No if's butts or doubts about it.

The viper in my parking space is gone now, Wasen't a problem, the
drivers window was down and lower than the average urinal.

Joe

Not sure what the exact difference is... Lexan is a trade mark. I was
advised to replace with Lexan instead of glass due to the cost difference.
You'll get 10 years out of them easy..... More if you cover the Lexan during
idle and cradle time.

No hard fast rules.... but it would be interesting to cut the piece
yourself.

CM

"JR Gilbreath" wrote in message
...
Thanks Capt.
It sure is nice to get a straight answer every once in awhile. Do you
know the difference between Lexan and acrylic? I found one place that you
could send them and they would would send you an estimate that you had to
approve before they started reworking them. They said that their price
was usually about half what a new hatch would cost but that seems high to
me. They specified that the hatchs (Lewmar) had to have acrylic. I have
never worked with Lexan or an acrylic so I not sure how much trouble it
is.
Thanks Again
JR

Capt. Mooron wrote:

Lexan.... tinted if required. It shouldn't be difficult to locate a
local supplier in your area. You can cut and drill it yourself from the
original as a template or pay to have it done. I'm replacing mine this
spring. I'll cut it with a jigsaw and use my drill press to make the bolt
holes. Sand and polish the edges. If you have a seal channel like mine
... use a router to carve it. Buy extra Lexan so you can practise your
cuts.

CM

"JR Gilbreath" wrote in message
...

Has anyone replaced a hatch lens lately or know a good place to have one
duplicated?

Lexan is not that hard to work with. The worst part is when you cut it
with a jig saw the lexan heats up and cools behind the blade and you
may have to make several passes to get it cut. Do NOT USE PLAIN
ACRYLIC.
unless you plan to sail on a lake close to shore where you can be
rescued easily when your windows cave in . Also regular Acrylic will
not take the pressure of cooling and heating, it will BUST . HEED MY
WORD JR!

Joe

Don't bother with the polish ... everything I've tried has failed to restore
mine to my satisfaction. When I inquired about it I was advised to cover the
Lexan from direct sunlight when in storage or during times that I don't use
the vessel to double the life span. Not practical for a live aboard though.
It's a matter of cost... not everyone can justify bulletproof glass.....
plus the seal channel cuts would be really expensive to place.

I've got a piece of 1/2" and 3/4" Lexan clear in the workshop to practise
on. I'm going to buy the tinted stock and do all my ports and hatches
myself. I'm thinking copper tint.... to accent the teak. :-)

CM

"Joe" wrote in message
oups.com...
Mooron I used 3- 4X8' X 1/2" thick sheets of Lexan replacing all my
side windows. Tinted dark. It's good stuff, I can take a 20 pound
sledge and with the widest swing bounce it off the windows over and
over again without any damage. However it has become dull, scratched,
and crazed over time(8years). I'm going to try to polish it this
summer, but if I can not get it clear again I'm going to replace it
with custom curved armor glass. Glass may cost more but a clear clean
view in the long run is worth 10X thew money in the long run IMO.

Joe

Thats what I figure 10 year tops without some serious polishing.

My windows have become dull IMO, and show internal crazing. You can
still beat the **** out of them and they will not fail, yet the view
IMO is less than desirable. If you have flat windows then use armored
glass. All mine are curved. However if I can get all new glass made for
3X the price of lexan then that is the way I will go. Like I said, I
will try to polish mine this summer, If it does not work then I'm
willing to shell out 5-8K to have custom Armored glass made for
RedCloud.

Joe

"Joe" wrote in message
oups.com...
Lexan is not that hard to work with. The worst part is when you cut it
with a jig saw the lexan heats up and cools behind the blade and you
may have to make several passes to get it cut.

Yeah! Variable speed jigsaw, drill and router at low speed.

Do NOT USE PLAIN
ACRYLIC.
unless you plan to sail on a lake close to shore where you can be
rescued easily when your windows cave in . Also regular Acrylic will
not take the pressure of cooling and heating, it will BUST . HEED MY
WORD JR!

That's what I was told.

CM

Yeah, When I first bought redcloud I did the acrylic thing, Late one
night when it was cold it sounded like shotguns going off inside as one
by one my windows blew apart.

You live and lean, only cost me 400-500 bucks

Joe