# Polycarbonate/Acrylic for Door Inserts?



## Jimi_C (Jul 17, 2009)

Hey all, I've been looking on POP Display's ebay store, since they seem to have great prices on polycarbonate and will cut to size (so I don't have to). I was wondering if there are any guidelines for using acrylic/polycarbonate for glass door inserts?

1) Is acrylic ok, or should I go with the polycarbonate (my first choice)? Which one looks more like glass, since I don't want it to look like a plastic display?
2) What is the recommended thickness? I know glass inserts are usually 1/4", so I was thinking I could go thinner with the plastic since it is stronger (1/8" or 3/16"). Added benefit is those are much cheaper too.


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## Jimi_C (Jul 17, 2009)

No opinions on this?


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## chriswright (Nov 13, 2008)

If the acrylic is of a high enough quality it should look just like glass. We do picture framing here at the Arts & Crafts Center and on occasion use acrylic instead of regular glass, and unless you tap it, you wouldn't know the difference. The only down side to it though is it tends to scratch easy. I don't know much about polycarbonate. Since it's used to make eye glasses I'd assume that it's more scratch resistant. As for the thickness, we use 1/8 inch for framing, but if you're doing something more structural, you could go with at least 1/4 inch to 3/8 inch. Anything thicker would be too heavy and possibly cost prohibitive. Acrylic, in my experience isn't stronger then glass, the stuff we use is quite flexible. Again, not sure about the polycarbonates strength.


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## a1Jim (Aug 9, 2008)

I would go with tempered glass.


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## Jimi_C (Jul 17, 2009)

I'm going to be using this for upper cabinet door inserts, so I don't think scratching is too big a concern. I've found one or two sources online for real glass too (besides Rockler), it's just a bit more per sq inch.


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