About Me

Industry Changes, Environmental Impact and Other Manufacturing News

Are you curious about manufacturing? Do you wonder how things are made? Do you want to know about the environmental impact of the products you are buying? Are you in the manufacturing field? In that field, are you looking for ways to improve processes, profit margins, safety or other aspects of your business? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then, you have find the right blog. This blog explores all aspects of manufacturing from a variety of angles. It may also delve into industrial topics that are related to manufacturing. I invite you to look around, and please feel free to share any posts that interest you.

Search

Latest Posts

Industry Changes, Environmental Impact and Other Manufacturing News

What you didn't know about perspex

by Dan Owens

You're probably familiar with perspex as the highly versatile acrylic sheets used in any number of creative and industrial applications.

Here are some things you didn't know about perspex:

  • Perspex Acrylic is a brand name for a high quality form of acrylic sheets.

  • Perspex take its name from the Greek word plastcos, meaning to be moulded by heat.

  • It is a thermoplastic homopolymer, which means it can be melted down and reformed time and time again.

  • Perspex is available in the form of sheets, tubes and rods, as well as extruded shapes and cast objects.

  • Perspex can be coloured in an incredibly diverse range of transparent, translucent, and opaque shades.

  • Perspex is great to work with. Perspex sheets can be bent, engraved, machined, routed, laser cut and glued, while off-cuts can be shredded, heated and moulded into new shapes.

  • Despite the fact that perspex cast acrylic was first developed in the 1930's, it is fully recyclable and can be placed in your recycle bin.

  • Perspex is widely used as a substitute for glass, offering better light transmission and thermal insulation, half the weight, greater flexibility and equal transparency to optical glass. Several forms of acrylic actually handle impact better than glass does, and some forms are even able to withstand bullets.

  • When perspex does shatter the resulting pieces are large and blunt, making them far less dangerous than shards of glass.

  • While perspex is commonly found in school and university tech labs, it is also employed in some very tough conditions because it tolerates rain, cold, heat and pressure in ways that glass and other plastics are unable to do.

  • You'll find perspex used widely in display cases, racks and donation boxes - in fact, even airplane windows are formed from acrylic. It can be flame treated for a smooth, glassy look, the seams of objects formed from perspex can be sealed to make them airtight and, because perspex is light, even large creations don't need a supporting frame.

  • Coloured perspex will last literally decades, even when installed outdoors.

  • Perspex is economical when compared to other plastics that can be used for the same applications, such as the polycarbonate used in window glazing.

  • Perspex is a well travelled acrylic! UV-resistant perspex is so effective at blocking ultraviolet rays while remaining transparent that it is used to protect exhibits in art galleries and museums the world over.

Whatever your next project, the choice is clear. For a versatile, durable and economical form of plastic, try perspex.

Share