Plexiglass/Lexan in/near Anacortes???

Good morning all,

Doing some maint. on Mollie this morning and I need to find someone in the area to make a replacement piece of plexiglass windscreen for my flybridge. I've searched all of the usual avenues and am not having any luck locating a vendor. Any suggestions???

Thanks in advance for any help.

If it is similar to the usual vinyl windows but stiff it is probably polycarbonate AKA Lexan. Better boat canvas shope can deal wit it.

Soulshine said:

Good morning all,

Doing some maint. on Mollie this morning and I need to find someone in the area to make a replacement piece of plexiglass windscreen for my flybridge. I've searched all of the usual avenues and am not having any luck locating a vendor. Any suggestions???

Thanks in advance for any help.

Click to expand...

Look up TAP plastics..
Hollywood

Thanks, I'll give them a shout. It's the starboard curved section of the windscreen on the flybridge. I'll need to have them make a reverse of the port side and want to actually have all four pieces re-made but in a smoked color.

Clear Cut Plastics in Ballard. They made me a new windscreens, using the old ones as patterns and they came out just great.

Hey Steve, thanks for the tip. I got a hold of the guy at CCP on Monday and he said that they don't do the shaping anymore. He gave me the name and number of a guy that he thinks still does it down there so I'm gonna give him a holler. I'm also going to call TAP plastics today and see if maybe they have someone who can do shaping. Didn't think that this would be that difficult. Might want to start up my own side business......

Thanks again,
Ken

I talked to TAP some years ago about replacement panels for our flying bridge venturi. Fortunately ours are flat so are very easy to make. The first question TAP asked me was if our panels are flat or curved. The reason, they said, is that making what in essence is a custom, one-off curved venturi panel is certainly doable but it's pretty time-consuming aka expensive.

This was some years ago so perhaps the technology has changed. Maybe they could even 3D print one. (We've had some small parts for our boat 3D printed but nothing transparent.)

As long as you have something for a pattern...it's not a big deal for a decent glass shop.


Last year I had a glass shop cut mine for $100 plus materials.


The good news was they charged me for the material used...not the whole sheet. So the $100 cutting plus materials was still cheaper than ordering the whole sheet and paying shipping.


For my boat the total bill was less than $300.

There is heat formed and there is simply bent into place. Lots of both types on boats. What have you?

If it is simply a flat panel that has then been bent into place then any good fabricator should be able to cut the pieces for you.

If it has been heat bent then that takes more skill and some equipment. Sometimes a darned good heat gun can do the job with a LOT of patience.

If the curves are very wide and gentle there is a good chance it was simply a flat panel that was then bent into shape.

Photos?

We just had a new bench seat made from 1/2" tinted acrylic. I could buy the material at a couple places but ended having the project completed by a plastic fabricator. They make greeting card displays, collection boxes, etc. They knew how to form, cut, glue and polish. I think TAP Plastics is more of a retailer than a fabricator so I'd also check with a company like Commercial Plastics in Seattle. Just an idea.

You could also call Middy Plastics in Redmond (425) 883-4600.
Over the years they made many types for many manufacturers so they might be able to help.

try taylormade
Taylor Made Systems

Good Info thanks. Soulshine did you find a place? I need to do mine too.

About 20 yrs ago I replaced my 4 panel venturi. I went to a glass shop in Port Coquitlam, asked about it, they told me it would be no problem, so I took in the old panels and a week later picked up the new. It was warmed up and allowed to droop into the right shape. They couldn't match the faded colour so I updated to a modern bronze coloured plexi. It is still good, no fading in the more modern materials. I think it was pricey, $500, when that was real money.

I'd check with Platypus. Assuming they wouldn't want to handle it, they should be able to make a recommendation.

Please don't confuse Plexiglas (acrylic) and Lexan (polycarbonate). Plexi is harder (you can buff out scratches) stiffer, cheaper, and shatters. Lexan is softer, cannot be buffed, is much much stronger, and more expensive. 1/2" Lexan will fold before it will crack. Northeastern fishing trawlers use a single big sheet of 1/2" Lexan across all the wheelhouse ports.

Thanks for all the options....I've been working waayyyy too much this week so no news to report on the search. I'll be stopping by TAP on Monday to see what they can tell me. ASD I'll post pics and info after that. While taking off the three remaining pieces, I saw that, as stated earlier above, the pieces may be able to just be "bent" into shape. The two outside ones are bent slightly more so if need be, I'll apply a slight amount of heat to hopefully bring them around. Once I had them all laying on a flat surface, you could see that there wasn't much bend to them.
Fingers crossed.

Sorry for the delay...had the family up for an unexpected weeks visit. TAP Plastics hooked me up! I took them three of the four pieces of Lexan that I needed (fourth broken prior to purchase) and they said it wouldn't be a problem. They cut four pieces for me in the color of my choosing out of 3/16" stock. They drilled the holes where needed so that everything would fit back into the brackets and did all this in less than a week. I crossed my fingers as he tallied up the bill and was surprised when I was told that it was only $230. This price was due to me have pieces that they could just copy and they wouldn't have to make time to do any templating.
The two outside pieces have a bend in them but upon flexing the material, I didn't think I would need them to do any heat treating at their shop. I got back to the boat and the install was fairly straight forward. I ended up having to trim and notch a couple of pieces, partly because I didn't mark the damn things when I removed them, but that went pretty smooth with a jigsaw and a metal blade. I took my time and then took a heat gun to the two corner pieces. I just heated them for awhile and then slowly bent them as I installed them into the brackets. I was a little nervous at this point but it all turned out great.
I would definitely use TAP again in the future. Thanks for the heads up about them. That's why I love this site.

Pictures would be nice!

plexiglass/lexan in/near anacotes???

Soulshine, Thanks for raising the subject. I'm also in need of replacing my venturi. We live south of Portland and we frequent the Puget Sound area[grandkids]. When inquiring of Tap Plastic here the facial expression of the sales people goes absolutely flush. Could you share the contact person's name, address and phone number at Tap in Seattle that I could follow up with. Thanks in advance. I agree 100 % with your comment as to the content, great advise and people on this forum giving of their time & knowledgable recommendations.
.

I didn't catch the young man's name that helped me but I think he's the one that normally works the front counter. I dealt with:

TAP Plastics
710 9th Ave. N
Seattle, WA 98109
206-389-5900

Real easy on/off I-5 and an easy loop around the lake to Fisheries Supply if need be.
They have a lot of color options and thicknesses available. The 3/16" in my case bent easy enough for my corners.

Thanks They will be getting my business.

Plexiglass/Lean in / near Anacortes ???

Nice looking venturi & boat ! I have the same layout on my Ocean. I will be pulling mine off this afternoon and putting it in the garage in preporation for a trip north to Tap in Seattle. Thanks again for the great recommendation. Bob

Thought I posted the pics yesterday but must have missed the "post reply" button....

I didn't catch the young man's name at the counter but I got the feeling that he is the "regular desk guy". Didn't know what a venturi was but when I showed him the pieces that I needed cut, he said "no problem".

TAP Plastics
710 9th Ave N.
Seattle, WA
206-389-5900

Easy on and off I5 and an easy loop around the lake if you want to go to Fisheries Supply.