Acrylic? Why not glass?

[xmastree]

Apart from the fact that it's easy to drill holes in, what's the advantage of acrylic/plexi/whatever over glass?

Why? Well, I haven't seen acrylic for sale anywhere, but glass is very common. I could have a piece cut to my specification easily and cheaply.

So why not use it for a simple case window?

[Cannibal23]

heres a good reason. because its way less breakable. ever move your pc and set it down kind of hard by accident? ever bump the side of it by accident with something kind of hard? beyond that i think glass is heavyer and its less likely that you can do your own work with the glass, unless of course you have a bunch of diamond bit tools arround.

[jsb666]

Ye i cant imagine it can be very good for you pc if u break the glass and cover all off your expensive parts in shards of glass.

[DaveW]

I thought about this myself as well. I think one of the biggest problems with glass is how damn difficult it is to keep clean; i don't give a rat's ass about how safe it is, i want it to look good!

Then again, glass can give a nice shine...

-Dave

[Rankenphile]

There are applications for both - both glass and acryllic are tough to keep clean, but it really comes down to the fact that acryllic is simply much easier to work with and much more shatter-resistant.

For certain applications, such as a reservoir, I can see how glass would be very useful,a s it conducts heat much better and would assist in the cooling, but you'd be talking about a rather large amount of fluid inside a rather brittle container, right next to a couple thousand dollars worth of sensitive electronics.

My window in my case is glass, as I bought a pseudo-premod case years ago before I really discovered case modding. I like it, it transmits heat quite well and doesn't rattle, and is rather easy to keep clean - it doesn't get static-charged and attract dust the way some acryllics can.

[jdbnsn]

I can see the advantages of acrylic, but I also think glass would work out ok if planned properly. I think that glass would look prettier too. Most glass that I have dealt with was not too fragile, and if supported by rubber lining it should be shatter resistant enough to get away with using it for a window.

[xmastree]

I'm thinking of tinting it, which involves sticking a sheet of plastic to the inside. That would hold it together if it did break. Trouble is, it's on the top of a desktop case rather than in the side.

I wonder if i could get a piece of toughened glass the right size, and flat...

Hmm...

[Cevinzol]

I think glass is a nice choice. Don't buy it from the hardware store. Go to a glass supplier. look for tempered glass. You can get all sorts of finishes and colors including anti-glare, smoke, gold tint, one way, mirror, you have a bunch of options.

you could put a mirror in the back and one way in the window and get an "infinite corridor" illusion. You can also get glass etching compound (brush on) at most craft stores. They also sell paints you can apply to make it look like its stained glass (including fake leading strips).

Don't use that mylar film tintng. It always gets bubbles under it and it looks like crap.

[xmastree]

It's a different world out there, no? Craft stores are few and far between, but glass dealers are evrywhere, unlike hardware stores.
Film tint is fine, pretty much every car on the road here is fitted with it, and there are plenty of people capable of fitting it to a simple small flat piece of glass on a bench. Much easier than a car, and they manage those just fine.

I could probably get it done from an off-cut for the price of a beer... 8)

[RangerDanger]

1. unless u have a big a$$ glass cutting machine, u have tio vbuy premade peices 2. plexi/acrylic DOSEN't brake. 3. plexi/acrylic is lighter, and easy to replace.

[Cannibal23]

2. plexi/acrylic DOSEN't brake. 3. plexi/acrylic is lighter, and easy to replace.

although your right that i think plex is way lighter then glass, it does break beleve me. it may not shatter, but it will crack under the vibration of a hacksaw or a jigsaw if your not really carefull. for the most part its pretty good though it is definately more forgiving then glass is.

[tybrenis]

This looks like my topic.

Acrylic

Is stronger than glass
Doesn't shatter
Is impact resistant
Is roughly half the wieght of glass
Can be easily formed (requires 100 degrees C)
Transmits more light than glass (92% of visible light)
Doesn't filter UV light - good for modders (unless a special type is purchased)
Is easily solvent-glued
Is easily polished

Yay acrylic!

[xmastree]

1. unless u have a big a$$ glass cutting machine, u have to buy premade peicesIs that so difficult? I can simply draw the shape I want and take it to the shop. :p

I do believe acrylic would be better, but I just haven't seen it available anywhere...

[xmastree]

This looks like my topic.
[QUOTE]Is stronger than glassBut not as scratch resistant

Doesn't shatter
Is impact resistant
Is roughly half the wieght of glass
Can be easily formed (requires 100 degrees C)
I'll give you those

Transmits more light than glass (92% of visible light)Irrelevant, as I'll be tinting it anyway

Doesn't filter UV light - good for moddersThat's one up for glass then. the UV lights and stuff are all inside the computer, so glass would keep those nasty UV rays out of your eyes.

Is easily solvent-gluedtrue

Is easily polished no need to polish glass, just clean it.

You missed one, easy to drill.

I'll probably use acrylic if I can find any. :(

Can it be cut by scoring and breaking?

[tybrenis]

[QUOTE=tybrenis]

Can it be cut by scoring and breaking?

Lol, don't mean to shoot down your ideas. Glass is a perfectly viable solution, especially if you can get it cut cheaply and find it readily. Around here, acrylic is fairly easy to find, and plus, I'm biased anyways since I work with it every day. Acrylic CAN be cut by scoring and breaking, but only with acrylic that is 1/8" thick and thinner, it is pushing it going any thicker.

[jdbnsn]

This discussion has rasied an interesting question to me, Ty mentioned UV filtering on glass and I believe that the idea is that if the glass filters UV you won't see the cool effects coming for all those UV relfective components. Is this true?

[tybrenis]

This discussion has rasied an interesting question to me, Ty mentioned UV filtering on glass and I believe that the idea is that if the glass filters UV you won't see the cool effects coming for all those UV relfective components. Is this true?

You know, that is a great question. Perhaps I will conduct a case study, if I can find some glass laying about...

[Cevinzol]

This discussion has rasied an interesting question to me, Ty mentioned UV filtering on glass and I believe that the idea is that if the glass filters UV you won't see the cool effects coming for all those UV relfective components. Is this true?
Answer:You will still see the colors.
Reason: The dye converts UV to visible light which won't be blocked by the glass.
Long explanation:
UV=Ultra violet which is a frequency above that detectable by the human eye (insect can see in UV). The UV reactive dyes function the same way Ozone and Sunblock do. It has to do with quantuim mechanics.

The dye molecules absorb the UV light when a valence electron changes to a higher energy state. These energy states are specific harmonic multiples of the ground state. These frequencies are in quanified steps (hence the term Quantum mechanics). Overtones and sympathetic vibrations in music are similar in concept.

When the electrons drop back to their lower energy state they release the energy, but at a different frequency - In this case its visible light (fyi For sunblock its in the IR range - heat).

These quantum frequency changes are also how light bulbs, electric stoves and microwave ovens work and how stars shine.

[tybrenis]

Wow, great answer, thanks for the insight!

[xmastree]

You know, that is a great question. Perhaps I will conduct a case study, if I can find some glass laying about...
Try this. Have some UV sensitive items on one side, and a UV source on the other. Hold different pieces of glass and acrylic between them and observe the different effects the UV has.

[Lo Pan]

Oh, and what would one use to cut acrylic? A jig? If I could afford one I'd buy a cutting laser, but a jig it is for now. You can also drill through glass without as much fear of cracking. But a true glass case window would be awesome. All depends on area since I have 5 hardware stores in the immediate area, and one supergiant store nearby.

[The Great Destroyer]

hmm, a jig saw would create a straighter edge, but a dremel would allow you to be more precise. i was thinking about a table/circular saw(just to get the general size), but what if it was cut too fast, would that create a chance of the plexi/acrylic breaking

[Omega]

Why not glass?

Long ago, the modding gods made some rules. and gave us some tips. for our own good.


And they said acrylic is better. Don't ask me.

[moonma]

I have a question..can a piece of acrylic on the bottom part of a door be broken simply by kicking the door open by someone:? who weighed approx. 180 lbs ? What if there was already a crack in that window? would it be posible then to put ones foot right through ? what would the break pattern be like and would the window be completly cracked, yet still in tact? Any insight on this would be very much appreciated!

[simon275]

I guess some one could put there foot through it if they tried hard enough. I have no idea what the break pattern would be like and if the rest would stay in the door would determine how it was attacted to the door.

Oh and

Trying to drill a hole in a peice of glass with a powerdrill doesn't work well use plexiglass.