# About plastic, is Lexan strong enough?



## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

This seems the best place to post a general knowledge question.

I have been building a shop using cabinets and an 8' counter top along my dining room wall.

My thought was to use an 4x8 sheet of lexan on the floor to protect the carpet, make a more solid floor when we anchor the base cabinets to the wall and make cleanup easier when it comes to sweeping and vacuuming.

I can get a full sheet of Plexiglass at cost from Karen's work The other piece of info is I use a wheelchair, so the floor will be subjected to lots of wheeling over. I was thinking 1/4' thick would be strong enough, though I'd hate to find out I was wrong a few months down the road. I have no problem routing the edges to smooth out the corner, I'd hate to see someone get hurt or trip.

Any thoughts are welcome. If you need more information or have questions, please holler. 
Here is a picture of what we have so far:


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

I'm no expert but in my experience, Plexiglass tends to be brittle. Lexan is much tougher.


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Lexan's strength is most likely not your problem, being 500 times stronger than glass. There's nothing you could drop on it to even cause a hairline crack. But the price!!!

This is my partially-built train shed, to be completed once the snow melts. I used 1/8 inch Lexan at a cost of almost $200. Quarter inch Lexn will run you $300-400 for a nominal 4x8 foot sheet (it's actually closer to a 5x9). Add shipping and delivery charges, depending whether your local distributor has it in stock.












This eighth inch Lexan is very flexible; quarter inch is much stiffer. Beveling or rounding the edges and corners would be a big job. Lexan cuts well on a bench saw (wear respirator) but anything more would be a major effort.

Personally, I'd prefer a cheap rug around the workbench; replace when it gets ugly. It'll reduce chance of breakage when you drop something, and reduce small parts bouncing to who-knows-where. The downside is the tiny parts that you'll never be able to find.

JackM


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## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Here is the quote I got, at cost through my gf's work:

_1/8 lexan $.02651 per si ( 48 x 96 = 4608 si) $122.16 per sheet

¼ lexan $.03651 per si ( 48 x 96 ) $168.24 per sheet
_ 
All I have to do is drive ten miles once I find a friend who has a pickup and bring a check. No crazy shipping costs.


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

Your prices are about right. I used one and a half sheets for the train shed. And had to pay $45 for a guy in a small truck to drive my 1/8 inch across town because my station wagon was in the shop. The $3-400 price for 1/4 inch is Home Depot's price. 

I should befriend someone with a pickup.


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## Russell Miller (Jan 3, 2008)

I've made chair mats for over 30 years now for TAP Plastics. We used to make them all from 1/4" thick textured acrylic. Every now and then someone would break one, usually when they were used on some shag carpeting. When the flexible vinyl chair mats came out, the acrylic versions just kind of dried up. Now we make all of our chair mats out of polycarbonate (LEXAN). I find customers are happy spending more money knowing that they will have a chair mat that will last them a lifetime. 

It looks like you have a carpet free floor under your work table. If so, you can actually get by with a much thinner sheet of LEXAN. We used 1/16" thick 4'x8' sheets under our desks in our corporate office with no problems. You could use 1/8" and not worry about the tripping hazard you have with 1/4". Just make sure the floor is swept clean before you lay the plastic down, that way youu won't have a pointed rock or something underneath that could cause the plastic to eventually fail.

Russ Miller


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## CapeCodSteam (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks guys for your help. 

Russ, there is a cheap industrial carpet with no padding under it. So 1/8" it will be.


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