Thread: What do you use for plastic scales?

I'm thinking of making my own translucent scales, but I'm not sure what material I should be using. Is it plexiglass? I searched that and got a bunch of options that left me scratching my head.

Thanks,
Ed M.

I personally use acrylic but almost anything goes. Some people like lexan, others plexi and I think one guy even tried that mix&pour epoxy stuff you use for water features in models.

Plexi (polymetylmetakrylat) is an acrylic plastic but it cracks more easily compared to Lexan (polycarbonat).

Also I think Plexi is more sensetive to solvents (alcohol for an example).

Therefore, I really would recommend using Polycarbonat, the drawback is that it's hard to find in any colors, the most common is clear transparant and smoke-colored.

One of the best parts with Polycarbonat is that it's viritually impossible to crack when pinning!!
Best regards

Clas

And does this polycarbonat polish up well?

Well, yes, but to be honest, Plexi is a tad better (or at least a little easier to polish).

Don't get me wrong though, PC do polish up well....

http://straightrazorpalace.com/galle...-smoke-pc.html

Best regards

Clas

Clas, your clover looks great. Thanks for the information everyone.

Ed M.

Plexi glass is a pain in the ***. It is soft and scratches easily. It melts when the rotary tool spins and rests in one spot too long and it stinks. The protective film gets in the way.

Try something else.

I agree plexi glass is not a good choise, breaks to easily, scratches easily and just overall not worth the effort, there are sites on the internet that sell fake mother of pearl/ plain plastics for knife handles/ inlaying, possibly some of these could work?

Haven't used plexi for scales, but have used it a bit for other things. I would say the main thing would be that it cracks way too easy.

I use polycarbonate for clear scales. It's got true optical quality clarity and high quality safety glass lenses are made from it. It will polish up every bit as clear as glass and is virtually shatterproof.