Plexi or Styrene?

[bvlaar]

Hey guys!
I am about to build my first custom computer case from the ground up.
But..
I am still torn between plexi or styrene for my main building material?

I have worked with plexi before and enjoy it because the cutting tool's are very basic and not expensive?
But isn't styrene almost the same thing?

So what do you guys think about these two materials?
My three main factors are price, strength and cost.

What do you believe would suit my needs the best?

Thanks a lot!

[jdbnsn]

I cannot attest to cost, but from what I have gathered you will find styrene as a much more pliable and versatile structural material. That would be what I would go with.

BTW- Welcome to TBCS and good luck with your build!

[bvlaar]

I cannot attest to cost, but from what I have gathered you will find styrene as a much more pliable and versatile structural material. That would be what I would go with.

BTW- Welcome to TBCS and good luck with your build!

Thank you!
I will be posting my worklog here, once I'm done designing it.

I will be heading out to my local shop to see about their styrene selection!

Thanks!

[blueonblack]

I have never worked with styrene but I considered it when I started my current scratchbuild. Wound up making it out of plexi and I love it! Like many things I would say it depends on what you want the finished product to look like. I liked the look of the tinted plexi I used and the strength is amazing. You can even drill and tap it to accept bolts and machine screws. Not sure if you can do that with styrene or not. I would use plexi again in a heartbeat! (I also like the huge variety of colors and tints available in plexi.)
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[RedEye]

Styrene will discolour with exposure to sunlight, acrylic will not. Scratches in styrene don't buff out easily either.

[Cheron]

I am building Obsidian from styrene. but I will remake it in Plexi one day. since it has more strength and like said before when you scratch it, it takes some serious sanding to get rid of that scratch. plus you have to paint styrene or it will die trough sunlight. wile plexi can do well with out painting it.

Yours Cheron

[Aero]

Styrene is less ridged than plexi in most cases. Styrene is usually found in thin sheets and is used for adding textures to models. Plexi can be found cheaply, in large pieces designed for windows and such. I would say that if your going to be building everything from a material, it should be plexi. Now if your simply scratch building parts for show that don't need to be structurally sound, styrene.