WORLDS OF ACRYLIC PLASTIC
Acrylic, a plastic that is more like glass but with the flexibility of plastic.
The squarish thing that you see in the pictures above isn’t crystal, not even glass, and they’re not plastic. Yet it is flexible (bendable) and crystal clear, hence the name “Plexi Glass.” In truth, the moniker is a brand name that its maker decides to call it for what it does best. Its generic name is acrylic plastic.
This plasticky crystal is in high demand today. As people try to eke a living, they need a shield, a spit guard of sorts to protect them from one another, more so as COVID infections rise. Banks, malls, store counters, and payment centers employ them.
Establishments prefer this over a glass in that it is cheaper – way cheaper than glass, and easy to mount on countertops. Like plywood panels, one can drill holes and screw them together. With heat gun use, one can bend and shape Plexis to sharp angles without shattering them to smithereens or fog up their crystal-like appeal. One will be hard-pressed to replicate this feature on glass.
Today, I fashioned them to fit into an all-new usage: a wood router base plate. First, I bore holes to fit in a metal screw. Then I countersank each hole with a larger drill bit so the screw heads can come in and sit flush with the base plate. Sitting these metalheads flushed with the base is vital to prevent snagging the wood as the router skims through its surface when routing.
I needed to fabricate a base plate because my Makita plunge-based router came with a large base plate that does not accept aftermarket kits and accessories. These kits allow a plunge-based router to make wood inlays, template routing and dovetails joints with ease. This faculty opens up a lot of possibilities – endless possibilities, actually, and I am excited.
Yet that’s too far down the line – too much of a stretch of the imagination for the non-woodworkers. But hey, if I could fit this acrylic down to atomic precision, I can, without doubt, make your picture frames, glass tabletop, or the wall décor.
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DOUGLAS REY B. BERIDO
drberido@yahoo.com | Kagudoy Road, Basak, Lapu Lapu City, Cebu, The Philippines