About to buy my smoked plexi

[tkuper05]

So tomorrow I'm going to buy my smoked plexi.  It's one of the last things I have to do to my cab.  I am getting 23 15/16" x 22".  I guess I'll get 1/8" thickness.  I painted a shroud for my TV to help hide anything but the TV screen.  I opted to go with plexi since I don't see anyone touching it to scratch it.  I don't really want to shell out a lot of $ for glass either.  Any comments or suggestions?

[RayB]

Plexi was good enough for Nintendo, so why not.

[tommy]

Plexi will cost you more then real glass and is not a good idea IMO. 1/8 is too thin, i would go with 1/4.

[CJK]

I went with real glass (1/4" tempered, 15% grey tint) because I wanted there to be (1) no bowing, (2) no scratches, and (3) no bowing.   

It looks fabulous.

-- Chris

[tommy]

Not sure why you guys think glass dosen't scratch?

[USSEnterprise]

of course it scratches, but it takes a hell of a lot less to scratch plexi than glass. What does bowing mean?

[ShinAce]

A bow shape is the opposite of a flat shape. One is bent, the other is straight.

[kickngas]

I agree with CJK, but my glass is bronze.  I really like the professional look of the glass, and it was only $30 for a 26x21 piece.  The scratching issue is more af an "over time" one also, glass will be a lot less forgiving with regular cleanings and not dive you the fine scatches that plexi will give after a while.  How much is the plexi going to cost you?

[Wienerdog]

glass will be a lot less forgiving with regular cleanings and not dive you the fine scatches that plexi will give after a while.

If by less you mean more, then yes. :-)

[tommy]

Wax your glass.

[RandyT]

IMHO, the concerns about scratches and bowing of Plexi (Acrylic sheet) are overstated.

I've had a piece of Acrylic installed in my cab for about 3 years now with nary a scratch on it.  It doesn't bow either.  Just use common sense when cleaning it.   I.e don't use the wino method of wiping with crumpled newspaper  .  A soft cloth and some decent mild cleaner will work fine.

Unless you are poking at it, you can't tell Acrylic from glass, so if you are putting your cab in the local laundr-o-mat or building a cocktail unit, use tempered glass.  Otherwise, use the material you like best, can afford and has the optical properties you desire.

RandyT