Acrylic

Acrylic (PMMA), commonly referred to as Plexiglas, is a transparent, robust plastic material that exhibits glass-like qualities such as clarity, brilliance, transparency and translucency at half the weight of glass with up to 10 times the impact resistance. Acrylic is available in brilliant colors, mirrored or made opaque. 

What is the difference between cast and extruded acrylic sheet? 

Extruded Acrylic Sheet – This type of clear acrylic plastic sheet can often be more cost-effective because it can be made to any length when going through manufacturing. The product will minimize it’s yield loss when cutting apart from custom sheet sizes. Extruded acrylic sheet is also the simplest to bond using solvent cement and the easiest grade to thermoform because of its lower melting point. 

Cast Acrylic Sheet – This type of acrylic sheet is more labor-intensive to create, making this a more expensive product. When compared with extruded acrylic, it tends to have better chemical resistance and superior machining. It is lightweight and rigid, making it more pliable than extruded, less likely to chip, melt, or bend. Since extruded material has a limited thickness, using the cast acrylic for larger structures and installations is preferred. 

Common Brands

Acrylic is often referred to as plexiglass, when in reality, Plexiglas is a brand of acrylic! Other brands include Excelon, FABBACK, Futurplast, OPTIX, OPTIX-L, and Polycast

How Cope Uses Acrylic 

Our graphics materials here at Cope go beyond just signage. No matter what the application, the possibilities are endless in what we can create to help your company and products stand out. Some of the most common applications for acrylic include automotive trim, displays, lenses, light fixtures, signage, and POP displays. More recently, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, acrylic and other see-through plastics have been widely used for safety partitions, desktop barriers, and other shields and sneeze guards to help reduce the spread of the virus.