plastic for an aeroscreen

[anonymous-user]

Can anyone recommend somewhere I can buy a sheet of whatever plastic is suitable to use for an aeroscreen? I think it needs to be polycarbonate but I don't know much more than that. I am finding the airflow with the current aeroscreen hits me right in the eyes making driving uncomfortable, so I'd like to make a new one that is an inch or two taller or slightly more steeply raked.

I will need a piece about 1500mm by 500mm, probably 3 or 4mm thick, and it will need to be able to curve around to follow the scuttle shape of a Fury as shown in this image:

http://www.robcollingridge.com/kitcar/drive/2007/0...

[gtmdriver]

If you need to bend the plastic I would use acrylic (Perspex) rather than polycarbonate.

You can bend acrylic with careful use of a hot air paint stripper.

You can buy pretty much any size and thickness of acrylic sheet you need on eBay.

I've just fitted a taller (8") screen to my UVA using 6mm thick acrylic sheet from eBay. It cost £20 delivered.

[one eyed mick]

Would not like to be behind any thing perspex with out full face [inc visor] its evil if it does break!! not the cause of my offliction but am now double wary and have been for 40 years plus

[anonymous-user]

as I understand it, perspex shatters into razer-sharp shards? Certainly I don't want a face full of that if and when a stone hits it.

[gtmdriver]

I have spent a good deal of my driving life behind acrylic screens of one sort or another and have never yet had one do anything other than stress crack around mounting screws.

I'm not saying it doesn't "shatter into razor sharp" pieces but I have no experience of it and I don't propagate hearsay. I just tell people what I personally have found to be true.

I have no problem driving behind Perspex screens on cars or bikes. It's what everybody did before they invented polycarbonate.

[robcollingridge]

Hi,

That's 4mm polycarbonate (Lexan) pictured in that photo. It will curve naturally but only in one plane. That's a 10-inch high aeroscreen that provides excellent wind protection. I drive my car on the road with sunglasses only (toughened lenses) and have had no issues over the last 8 years. At 100+mph it does flex a bit but still works well up to 130mph. I use a helmet on track.

I bought a large sheet and will probably cut out a new screen this summer as it does have a few scratches and dings from stones on it. It's not looking as shiny as this now :-)



Rob

[robcollingridge]

PS. You don't want to be hit by anything in the face at 100+mph, so make sure your fixings are good!

[Camoradi]

Another vote for Lexan. It's quite easy to bend by heating it, and is highly shatter resistance. At an SVA test some years ago the tester would not accept it was shatterproof, until I removed it and hit it with a hammer in front of him....

[anonymous-user]

Thanks for the info Rob - this is to replace the shorter aeroscreen on my Fury so probably what I want to end up with is exactly what you have. Do you recall where you bought your sheet from?

[Auntieroll]

The material used for aircraft canopies is "high impact" acrylic/ perspex , this seems to have a hard skin on it , difficult to describe ,easier to recognise.
Polycarbonate/ makrolon/ lexan is also suitable for automotive use but can be severely weakened by petrol or solvents coming into contact with it.
FWIW I would always use high impact grade acrylic if possible as it doesn't seem to scratch as easily but obviously the decision is yours.

HTH.

[robcollingridge]

I bought a large sheet (8' x 4' IIRC) from a local shop (Ipswich Plastics) and it cost me about £80 back in 2007. I'm sure you can buy this stuff online as well as local suppliers. I've kept it in my garage assuming I'd need to cut another aeroscreen one day.

[jeffw]

I used 5mm Lexan in a bronze tint for my screen, still have a lot of the sheet in the garage.

[Fury1630]

Auntieroll said:

The material used for aircraft canopies is "high impact" acrylic/ perspex , this seems to have a hard skin on it , difficult to describe ,easier to recognise.
Polycarbonate/ makrolon/ lexan is also suitable for automotive use but can be severely weakened by petrol or solvents coming into contact with it.
FWIW I would always use high impact grade acrylic if possible as it doesn't seem to scratch as easily but obviously the decision is yours.

HTH.

Certainly in military aircraft it's used BECAUSE it shatters - the canopy is shattered into small pieces by a Miniature Detonating Cord (exploding string) so that the ejector seat can pass though.

[anonymous-user]

Thanks guys, I've ordered a sheet of 4mm Lexan that should be large enough to make 2 screens.