There's a nationwide shortage of acrylic sheet, Lexan and glass

[jmowreader]

My publisher wants to reopen the reception desks of the five newspapers in our media group. To do so we need to install shields for the protection of staff and guest alike. Up he comes to the wide format shop.

“Jim, do we have any clear acrylic in stock? I need you to pull five sheets, cut them in half, print the logos of our papers on them, build wooden frames and put the acrylic in the frames.”

“No sir...all we have is Opaque white and translucent.”

(We have an HP Scitex FB750 printer. It will print on 4x8 sheet stock up to 2 inches thick, it can be loaded with white ink for printing on clear media, and before you ask yes it does come with the settings to print on plywood, doors, sheet aluminum and anything else you want to put in it.)

So off I go to call Grimco, who sells me all my sign supplies.

“Hi. I need five sheets of quarter-inch acrylic, size 48x96, delivered tomorrow morning.”

“We need that too. No one in the country has any, and we don’t know when it’s coming back. There’s no more large sheets of anything anywhere in the US. We’re even sold out of quarter-inch Lexan, which normally sells very slowly because of price.”

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. Can you use glass instead?

[MineralMan]

2. Glass is very heavy, so it would have to be framed

to install as shields. It's also difficult to drill, making mounting very difficult. It would work, of course, but the clear plastics are light in weight, can be drilled, and can be mounted with lightweight materials.

[jmowreader]

5. We're going to frame the plastic, if we can ever get any

[MineralMan]

7. Sure, but it can be framed with lightweight materials.

Large pieces of glass require substantial frames, especially if you use plate or tempered glass. Years ago, I built some display cases with sliding glass doors, 24"x 48" in size. I ordered them from a glass dealer in 3/16 plate glass. I had no idea how heavy they would be. I had to redesign my cases to handle their weight and buy track materials suitable for their use. I had made smaller sliding glass cabinets that used window glass, which didn't require special tracks.

Lexan or Plexiglas is a better choice for such shields - if you can get it.

[dchill]

3. Well, they're using Saran wrap...

...at the local Ace hardware.

[jmowreader]

4. It's not available either but we wouldn't

People are so pissed off now we can imagine someone punching the glass and bleeding completely out all over the front office.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Well, there's that.

Old car windshields, maybe? They are shatter-proof.

This is all crazy.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

12. Windshields are safety glass -- a laminate -- not shatterproof.

Side and rear windows are tempered -- they resist breakage, but shatter into tiny pieces instead of shards when they do break.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

13. Whatever works. Side and rear windows might be too small

for the OP's purposes. A windshield might be closer to the right size, and because they are laminated, if not shatterproof, they'd still be much harder for crazy people to break than ordinary window glass. Some creativity will probably be necessary. Airplane windshields would be even better.

[OAITW r.2.0]

8. I am checking sources in China. Will let you know if the material is available in distribution

there.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

9. Your clear acrylic might have gone to Las Vegas.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/las-vegas-back-business-safety-151257590.html

[jmowreader]

10. Among other places

Every retailer I've seen to date - grocery stores, hardware stores, etc. - has erected acrylic shields between the cashiers and patrons.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

11. Visit your local auto salvage yard. Pick out the size you need amongst the side windows.

[Ilsa]

14. Wow. I bought large sheets of lexan and other clear plastic two years ago to

Protect my TVs from flying objects in my home. (My son likes to throw and break things.) I had no idea it would become so expensive and rare.