Good places to find sheets of flat plastic?

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Styrene ain't cheap, at least for me. If Goodwill decides to hire me, then I'll have money to buy sheets of it, but in the meantime does anybody know someplace I could source plastic sheet from? I was thinking old computer cases, VCRs, etc...

[JollySipper]

I've heard of people using "for sale" signs and the like....... pretty cheap at the Wal-store....

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Actually I have a couple of those... I should try one!

[Snake45]

How thick do you need, and how big pieces do you need? I have a lot of scrap styrene in the .020-.030" range. If that will work for you, I'd be happy to send you a jet-pack full of the stuff.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

That definitely works!! I love the generosity here! Is there anything that you might want? I'd like to at least give you a small token of gratitude!

[Snake45]

Don't worry about it. Just PM me your snaily address.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I once scored a piece of 1/16 white styrene sheet, about 3'X4', in the dumpster out behind the local mini-mart. It was the wrapper for one of those round ice-things they fill with soft drinks in the summer, and put in the middle of aisles.

Of course, one side was printed with Orange-Crush advertising, but hey, it was free.

Several of the local real-estate companies here also print their signs on sheet styrene. I've gone into a couple of offices and asked if they had any they were discarding. Got the frames too, that were made from low-quality steel stock, good for tooling fixtures.

Edited September 22, 2014 by Ace-Garageguy

[chunkypeanutbutter]

In the meantime I'm going to try the for sale sign idea. I have an Anglia dragster hotrod pickup conversion I'm working on, and should suffice for the rear wall of the cab.

[Mark]

Check the phone book under "plastics"; most cities will have a couple of plastics suppliers. Some will have a store that's open to the public (though only during business hours) and sell scraps/cutoffs from production jobs. One in my area does just that. For a long time, I've gotten sheet styrene in decent sizes for $.75 per pound ($1.50 per pound; buy five pounds, get five more for free). What they consider cutoffs and scraps are plenty big for the stuff we're using it for. Selection is limited, but the pieces I've bought are still bigger than anything packaged for hobby shops. They've gotten wise in pricing some of the styrene lately, but it still isn't bad. The last chunk I found, 1/8" thick, 16" x 30", cost me about eight bucks, including sales tax. Most of what I've found is in the .030" to 1/8" range in terms of thickness. I haven't looked for thinner stuff, as I still have a lot of .020" cutoffs from the days when I was having parts vacuum formed.

[ChrisBcritter]

Would those places be a good source for clear red styrene? Say about 1/8 thick for carving taillight lenses.

[Mark]

I've never seen clear styrene at the place where I get plastic. For industrial applications, acrylics are used because they are stronger and don't scratch as easily.

[Bob Ellis]

I use alot of Evergreen styrene because it bonds to the other plastics well. Not sure all types are the same

[Kennyboy]

Car dealership license plates are sometimes made from sheet styrene also.

They are all over the place and most people just throw em away.

[DrGlueblob]

I always save the clear red sprue trees the kit taillights come from. Heat it, and moosh it into a mold and Bob's yer Uncle.

[gordon]

Clear red plastic, maybe try the toothbrush aisle of your local pharmacy.

[chunkypeanutbutter]

Clear red plastic, maybe try the toothbrush aisle of your local pharmacy.

I second this. Walmart works for this too; buy a big pack of Equate (Walmart) brand brushes for a few bucks and you'll be set for a bit.

[DrKerry]

If you need some cheap plastic rod and you know an area in your neighbor hood that has those orange flags marking underground cables. They work purty darned nice..... Just wait til they are done diggin to grab them...

[DynoMight]

Bread clips

Gift cards might work

Plastic spoons will work with enough sanding

Try deodorant caps, some might be thin enough to use

Vacuum formed blister packs that sometime come with toys

Fiji water bottles are square, those might work. Or even just water bottles in general

Look around, you'd be surprised