Repairing Plexiglass?

[Goggles]

I'm quite sure I can't fix plexiglass that's been cracked or can I?

Anyone know of something which can fix cracked plexi?
I was drilling a hole for one of my buttons and the plexi cracked on me just a bit. Even if I were to put the button on the hole, the button only covers 1/3 of the crack. The thing was it was my last button for player 1  

The plexiglass costed me $17.75 CAD, and I don't really feel like putting up with drilling another sheet of plexiglass, or maybe I will later, if I'm really unhappy with it.

I have all the button and joystick holes drilled out through the plexiglass and the wood, so if I were to get another sheet of plexi and put it over the board, and drill new holes on the new sheet, do I drill from the back ie. wood to plexi or try the other way around and eye ball it out and drill from plexi glass side to wood?

ahhhh damnit I'm so mad  

[Tailgunner]

Define "fix"

You can't really undo the crack, but you can keep it from growing any larger. A bit of liquid acrylic cement would weld the sides back together, though the crack will still be visible. Depending on the stress placed on it by the button it crack may still grow though. To truly stop it, you need to drill a small hole just past the end of the crack. The crack will grow to the hole, but stop there.

If the crack is pointing towards another button hole that's close, flex the plexi till the crack connects the two holes. You can then seal it with the liquid cement or leave it alone.

[Goggles]

I meant ie. remove the crack or make it less visable. but I guess I can't do neither  

ohwell I guess I might put out for another sheet
but how do I go about drilling it now that my wood base has been all drilled out?
Do I drill from the backside ie. woodside to plexi or do I drill from the plexi side to towards the wood holes?

I would think drilling it from the backside ie. woodside using the holes as guide lines towards the plexi sheet would be the best idea.

any thoughts?

[Tailgunner]

I would "sandwich" the plexi between the wood control panel and a scrap piece of wood. The trick will be to secure everything so that nothing shifts while you're drilling the plexi.

[Goggles]

that's how I planned on doing it if I were to get another sheet which I'm strongly gonna do, cuz the crack is just too noticible especially it being on the last button on P1.

[dirt]

i would highly recomend buying a hole saw for drilling the button holes but run the drill backwards. the holesaw melts through the plexi and it wont crack it. trust me it works.


dirt

[Kitbasher]

Do you have access to a router?
If you do I would suggest attaching the new plexi to your wood panel with all the holes cut.  Then drill pilot holes that are big enough to drop in a flush cutting bit with a ball bearing on the end in your router.  Then simply rout out the plastic using the wood holes as a guide.  This is what I do.

Hope it works for you as well.

[Goggles]

I was using a hole saw drill bit
it was when I was drilling that hole, I slipped and had a bad start and I couldn't recover from the bad start cuz the little hole was drilled and I tried so hard to dril a new start hole before the actual hole was cut, but it wouldn't cuz it would keep slipping into the intial hole I made, so I just followed through, and when I did the little hole started to crack when I was drilling and then crap, well it cracked about a 1/2" down left from the last button on a Street Fighter button layout on P1.

Ohwell I'll get another sheet of plexi I guess and redrill the holes from the backside.
thx for the help guys. much appreciated.

[dirt]

I was using a hole saw drill bit
it was when I was drilling that hole, I slipped and had a bad start and I couldn't recover from the bad start cuz the little hole was drilled and I tried so hard to dril a new start hole before the actual hole was cut, but it wouldn't cuz it would keep slipping into the intial hole I made, so I just followed through, and when I did the little hole started to crack when I was drilling and then crap, well it cracked about a 1/2" down left from the last button on a Street Fighter button layout on P1.

Ohwell I'll get another sheet of plexi I guess and redrill the holes from the backside.
thx for the help guys. much appreciated.

trust me put the drill in reverse(rotating backwards) the plexi will not crack

[hyiu]

if you're going to buy another one....

why not buy LEXAN instead of plexi ??...

then you drill / cut / saw / sand / rtoue whatever way you want.... it doesn't crack !!!!!

yes... its more $$$....

if budget is pblm.... then use the plexi for now while saving for the lexan....

I've worked with like 4 pieces already.... (all lexan...) never have any trouble....

[grafixmonkey]

Looks like someone should have gotten Lexan or Lucite-Tuf.  It doesn't crack unless you really, really beat it up.  (like, as in, try to hammer a nail into it)

[Goggles]

@#$@!!!!
I got my 2nd sheet of plexi, it was perfectly cut, I ask my brother to help me bring up my wood and plexi from the car to my room, cuz my hands were full, and he bangs my plexi against the edge of the door and it cracks. OMFG
I tell him he's gonna pay me 20bucks for that $hit or I'm gonna kick his @#$'ing @$$ for his clumsyness. He said no, and we ended up fighting and my dad had to stop us.

GOD I'm so pissed I'm ready to murder my stupid brother.
anyways back to the Lexan stuff, can I drill holes through that? It being bulletproof makes me say no, but if it's thin enough it should be able too..

or what about Lucite-TUF?

[Tailgunner]

Lexan actually drills/cuts more cleanly than plexi. There are tradeoffs though, lexan scratches fairly easily where plexi doesn't.

[grafixmonkey]

I posted an "all about working with lexan" thread if you want to read more about it.  I tried a bunch of different tools and wrote down how they behaved.

http://www.arcadecontrols.org/yabbse/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=9746

[OSCAR]

I've been using a lot more plexi than lexan lately.  It's cheaper, more scratch resistant, and a router can't tell the difference between them...  

I've cut out countless plexi overlays with a router, and I haven't cracked a single one.  The key is using the right tool for the right job.  Its the pressure from a drill bit that cracks the plexi.  A router cuts much faster than a drill and removes the material before it has a chance to crack.  I plunge route plexi without pilot holes, no problem.

As far as which cuts more cleanly, plexi or lexan, they are identical when you use a router.  You get nice, clean holes/edges with either.



##EDIT##

For some pics on how cleanly plexi cuts with a router:

http://www.oscarcontrols.com/smoked
http://www.oscarcontrols.com/sinistar/cp04.jpg
http://www.oscarcontrols.com/sinistar/cp05.jpg

[grafixmonkey]

hey those are as nice as my circle-cutter holes.  Very nice.  
Speaking of which, I've seen posts saying the circle cutters work excellent on plexi for avoiding cracks...    but from working on the Lexan, the circle cutter tended to catch an edge and seize every now and then, and I bet that would crack the heck out of plexi if it happened.