Thread: My Thoughts on Clipboard Plastics

Today I made my first set of clipboard scales. I have a lot of experience in wood, a little in cast acrylic and even attempted a set of leather (don't bother). When I purchased some clipboards the other day I assumed that they would work at least close to the same as most acrylics (stupidly assuming that they were acrylic).
What I have found is that you never know what you will get with clipboards. Now if I were thinking at all I would have known this. I found one of these plastics to be acceptable, but another would not sand properly. The plastic would gum up with out even getting warm to the touch. A couple of you know that I have a hypersensitivity to heat and if there is any warmth at all I will find it. This plastic actually had tear out from being shaped. I found a way around this and wet sanded the scales from there on. This was not fun as the lowest wet/dry I had was 300 grit and I had to sand away the problem areas.
Anyway, I have decided that while interesting; unknown plastics are not my favorite and it is worth it to me to continue purchasing acrylics from my sources.

Oh, the scales are finished (somewhat) and I will post a pic if I ever assemble the razor.

Even with actual acrylic, they behave differently depending on who made it and exactly how it is made. Some sand/cut easier than others. So that's always something to keep in mind when you place your first order for a new material/with a new source.

Yep. I have to agree with Dylan there. I have used a lot of cast acrylic from the sign industry and it is different to the acrylic pen blanks I've been trying lately.
Similar, but different.
Grant

I definitely agree with you. I know that there are literally hundreds of thousands of plastics and of those probably tens of thousands could be used for clipboards (although they probably aren't).
What I also know is that if I order acrylic from Ryan pen supplier it will always be the same and if the formula changes I can generally trust him to change the name of the product. His products are also chosen for properties making them easy to work and consistency in results.
With clipboards they are formed and meant to be used as a clipboard. When I purchase a clipboard from some unknown manufacturer in Taiwan, Mexico or God knows where; they may change where they get their sheet products from between runs and each time I go to the office supply store they may change where they supply their clipboards from.
With the three clipboards I worked today all three were different, from the same manufacturer and even looked the same. While color could have had this effect I'm not knowledgable enough to say so.