Polycarbonate or extruded acrylic, which is easiest to cut

I haven't tried acrylic, but I've done a couple of sets of polycarbonate washboards.

I found it tended to melt on the jigsaw blade - not catastrophically, but enough not to leave a clean edge. This was fine for me since I was sawing slightly oversize and then using a router to trim it to the final shape. That left a very nice edge, though the feathery plastic chips got *everywhere* in the workshop ;)

Personally I'd choose polycarbonate for strength, though acrylic is said to be more resistant to surface scratching.

Pete
 
I would go the other way, tinted acrylic is more scratch and UV resistant and I suspect marginally easier to work with. It is also more readilly available in a wider range of thicknesses. Most acrylic suppliers are happy to cut to size from a paper template, you pay for that of course but you finish with a lovely clean bevelled edge.
Bedding your curved windows can be a problem as the sealant can squeeze out with the higher pressure on one side at the bend, this can be readily overcome with little u shaped rubber spacers or by using a reasonably dense bedding tape.

There must be a reason why boat builders choose acrylic?
 
Catalina36 said:
Polycarbonate isn't UV stable, go for acrylic.
Click to expand...
Some Polycarbonate has poor UV resistance and some Acrylic has has poor UV resistance. It all depends on the grade of material. Car headlights are polycarbonate and, other than a few models where the incorrect spec has been used or when they have been replaced due to a crash using aftermarket spec, the vast majority are still very good after 15 years or more.

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk
 
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