Re: Acrylic bonding/construction.

[protek@shreve.net]

    "Acrylic Plastic Viewports" by Jerry Stachiw.  Marcel Dekker, NY.  I
find my self suggesting this book often for some reason.  Everyone is going
to think I have a fixation with "Acrylic Plastic Viewports", but the fact
is; it is a very informative book on acrylic plastic.  I wish every psubber
had one.  It is everything that I can personally imagine on the subject of
window design using this one material, acrylic plastic.  Its about 2 inches
thick and costs about $50/inch. :-)
    It is also possible to cast acrylic and later machine it.  All this is
covered in the book.  For a long time I have wanted to try this.  The only
problem with casting is that it has to be done in a pressurized oven.  If
not, cast acrylic developes gas bubbles.  Very pretty for decoration but
not good for looking outside a sub.

Gary

At 11:04 AM 3/6/99 EST, you wrote:
>Does anyone know how to bond sheets of acrylic material, I found a
supplier of
>2 inch (~5 cm) thick material.  That was the thickest I could find, and it
was
>somewhat expensive (~ $500/24x24 inch). I was wondering if it was possible to
>bond individual sheets together to get a greater thickness, and maintain
>strength and clarity.  Is this practical?  Is it economically feasible?
Maybe
>put together to achieve a semi-spherical shape, by bonding stacked concentric
>rings and polishing? 
> At this time I am just searching for thoughts and ideas. Anything would be
>appreciated. 
>
>