Chris would starboard be next step up from plexiglass for strength?
My experience with all of these plastic materials - I make a lot of stuff and have used them all in some manner over the years.
1. Polycarbonate, or lexan as a brand name - it's what they make your headlight lenses out of - the stuff is super strong and rigid, doesn't shatter, and is pretty much impervious to everything. Not sure what it was invented for, but it is amazing stuff. Very difficult to cut and drill - will chip and jolt from a saw blade, can be dangerous to cut - I don't have a strong recommendation. A cut off saw (miter saw) flung a chunk of it a dozen feet - wear safety glasses. Have cut it with jig saw, skill saw, and table saw - none are sure fire. Don't have a best recommendation on this, you use your tool and take your chances. It is quite heat resistant, and not easy to mold.
2. HDPE - high density polyethylene, is Starboard as a brand of marine grade plastic sheeting - is opaque, not clear, so it's not a substitute for lexan or acrylic (plexiglass). This stuff is amazing though, and used extensively in the boat building industry, as well as for cutting boards and bottles, and all kinds of industrial manufacturing. It cuts and drills like butter with conventional word working tools, holds fasteners well, and comes in a very broad color and thickness range. It's quite expensive - a half inch 4x8 sheet is a couple of hundred bucks. But can generally be found as scrap and in smaller cut pieces. The cons are that it is not as strong as plywood, fasteners will strip out fairly easily, and cannot really be glued - it's just too slippery. And it is slippery. I like to use in in place of plywood for some types of applications, and certainly for anything on a boat. I used it for my battery build cuz I saw another forum member here build an amazing battery with it, and copied their concept. Very pleased with it.
3. Acrylic sheeting, or plexiglass as a brand name - this is the old original clear plastic sheeting used for all kinds of applications, including chair mats, marine aquariums, room dividers, even small aircraft windshields. It is very moldable with heat, can be bent into all kinds of compound shapes, is very clear, and very easy to cut and drill. It is also fairly easy to glue with a liquid solvent that literally melts the joint together, making it very strong. An acrylic aquarium is a good example of the use of this material - I have made filter boxes with it for marine reef aquaria, but the joints have to be perfectly tight, there is no fudge factor like with plywood. The cons of this material is that it is soft, scratches easily, breaks easily, and doesn't hold fasteners very well. If you countersink a fastener hold it tends to crack the material if you cinch down on it. It will yellow over time in direct sunlight, but can be painted fairly easily. It's a great clear material but it's just not very strong, and not nearly as durable as lexan or polycarbonate sheeting. Both can be bought at your local big-box hardware store in the glass department.
Here's an electrical control panel I just made for my model railroad, starboard box with a 1/8 lexan panel, painted behind. The box panels are screwed together with #8 wood screws. The holes for the switches are 1/4" and pretty easy to drill with a sharp bit. You don't get the heating with a twist drill bit like you do with a holesaw.
Here's an overflow filter and sump drain box I made for a 75gl reef tank:
Here's a windshield extension/spoiler I made for my Triumph adventure bike:
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