Plexiglass / Lexan / Acrylic Nightmares

[Kamehany]

Cautionary Tale:

I thought I would pass along my woes for those of you thinking of replacing your Plexiglass / acrylic window(s) on your pachinko. Thank twice!

I have two slots for acrylic windows in one of my pachinkos, only one of which had an acrylic window in it. I thought I would buy two new pieces and fill both slots with crystal clear, UV resistant Lexan/Plexiglass (both for clarity and to protect from the sun).

Bought 2 pieces at Home Depot:
1st attempt - Scored one side half way through, piece split fine. Scored the second side once or twice, forgot about it, came back to it, accidentally scored the wrong side as I'd forgotten I scored the other side 90 degrees to my last cut. $13 down the drain.

2nd attempt - Scored one side, piece split fine. Scored the second side, piece did NOT split fine and ripped the Plexiglass in the wrong place. $13 down the drain.

Bought 3 more pieces at Home Depot (guessing I'd screw at least one of them up):
3rd attempt - Scored both sides on both cuts this time to ensure that I did not split the Plexi in the wrong place again. Everything worked beautifully. Went to peel the protective covering back and found a gouge right down the middle of the Lexan/Plexi, and I'm about 98.42% sure that it didn't come from me! $13 down the drain.

4th attempt - Everything worked fine on this one. One window slot filled and $13 put to good use!

5th attempt - (to replace the one existing piece of acrylic). Before I could even start on it I found a gouge down the middle of the Plexi which had to have been there before I got it home. That one is going back to Home Depot as I'm not wasting another $13.


I'm still waking up with cold sweats from nightmares about this! At this point, I'll be content with the existing acrylic window and the one new UV resistant Lexan/Plexi window that worked out. I'm not going to buy any more of this stuff as I can't afford to pay $52 to get one good window each time!

I hope you have better luck!

[ZCore13]

Here's a hint from my experience. Cut the glass, but before splitting, remove the protective paper. I found the paper acts like glue and doesn't allow the glass to split at the correct spot. Remove the paper and it usually follows the line perfectly.

[slotter]

OK. I'm going to stick with using plastic polish products and just make the exisiting plastic clear with some elbow grease! You've convinced me. :lol: :lol:

BTW, I've gotten excellent results polishing out scratches with plastic polish. It is amazing how good it works with some patience and work.

[RKnarr01]

what plastic polish do you use?

[slotter]

what plastic polish do you use?

Arby had the current source, but it is a plastic/cleaning polish that I've used many times over the years and had just run out of it. As Arby mentioned, "Unless you only have 1 machine, do yourself a favor and buy the 8oz bottles rather than the 2oz set." He's right! :lol:

http://stores.ebay.com/COINTECH-GAME...enameZl2QQtZkm

[RKnarr01]

thanks ill have to pick some up from milt next time im there

[Kamehany]

Thanks for the coating/glue tip.

I think scoring both sides is extremely KEY to the success of the split, too, which also scores both pieces of coating. Just make sure your measurements on both sides are spot on.

I probably should have read up on it a bit before I started hacking away.

[arbycoffee]

I think I will buy mine per cut and save money!

[Tulsa]

You might take a look at this auction then. It certainly looks like you'd need to add the glass.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...e=STRK:MEWA:ITDead Link

[arbycoffee]

Yes you do it all

[arbycoffee]

They are close to me, nice little project for the arbycoffee. I can save on shipping. I will be putting on the paint and crawing so and easy.

[dapperdan]

I had a hard time scoring Plexiglas and getting it to break in the right place. What I do now is use a jigsaw with a very fine blade and just cut it out, it works great.

[Bilko44]

A dremel tool with a fiberglass re-inforced cutting disc works great!

[bikerpaul]

I went to the "GLASS DOCTOR", PAID $20.00, and got 4 perfect 16x16 pieces of glass. Fit was excellent.

[azlew]

I went to the "GLASS DOCTOR", PAID $20.00, and got 4 perfect 16x16 pieces of glass. Fit was excellent.

There you go ! Thats hard to beat. Plus you got an excellent fit. Congrats

[Kingsmen26]

Yup - Glass shop is the way to go. I had mine done for $11. Perfect fit and no scratches.

[slotter]

Yep, let the experts do it. Always a good option!

[RKnarr01]

in japan do they use glass?

[Lddrizzt]

in japan do they use glass?

I believe that they do, the 2 machines I have gotten from Arby have glass and since Arby brings them back to original state......

[talk]

most home depots have the machinery to cut the acrilic ,plexi,or glass free
scoring works
but you need to lock a straight edgedown use the sharp pointed tool,available at depot etall,scribe more than once.
i do ten
place the line on a solid edge
i use the top of a pachi machine
when the line is straight with the edge
one sharp move down
while holding the tight on the table or pachi machine
wham its clean on done
as an added piece of insurence
before snapping it off
take the scribe tool
and at both sides,the ends of the scribed line,use the point to scribe the end its only the thickness of the plastic but 4 or 5 times will stop any possible mistakes
if you dont want to snap the plastic
as long as your striaght edge clamped down
you can scribe all the way through
it only takes a few more seconds and as long as you measured twice youll only cut once