By the way, the stuff is easy to cut with a saber saw. Just keep the speed
low so you don't melt the plastic.
Storm Honalee Balboa 20
----- Original Message -----
From: Rich Duffy <duffy@maui.com>
To: <wwpotter@tscnet.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 1999 3:52 PM
Subject: Re: new hatch cover
>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> West Wight Potter Website at URL
> http://www.lesbois.com/wwpotter/
>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>> My understanding is that Lexan is tougher than plexiglass (much
>harder to
>> break), but that it scratches more easily than plexiglass.
>>
>> Anyone know for sure which is right?
>
>In "This Old Boat," Tom Casey says that the acrylics -- Plexiglas,
>Lucite, Acrylite -- tend to develop a spider web of internal cracks
>as it endures the stresses of age and movement. And that these
>internal cracks weaken and cloud the plastic.
>
>He raves about Lexan as a hatch material, calling it "incredibly
>tough and stable."
>
>Of course "tough" is one of those words that are not used with great
>precision.
>
>Materials people and books tend to use "tough" to describe a
>material's resistance to crack propagation (i.e., a scratch turning
>into a fracture; thus, glass is not tough, but wood is). They tend to
>use "hard" to describe a material's resistance to being scratched in
>the first place (thus glass is hard, but wood is not).
>
>Sounds like you folks are looking for hardness. There are some pretty
>standard measures of hardness, so I would think it would be easy to
>compare materials.
>
>I, too would like to know more about these materials, especially
>since I'm getting ready to do a (non-Potter) project that will
>consume maybe 80 square feet of this rather pricey stuff.
>
>I'd be particularly interested if anyone knows of mail-order sources
>for Lexan and/or the acrylics. Here on Maui, I can expect to be price
>gouged for something like this.
>
>
>-----------
>Rich Duffy
>P-14 #362, "Manele"
>Kula, Hawaii
>