I've read some amazing displays of technical knowledge on here, well away from the car world, so I thought you might be able to help with this one!

A friend of mine has a well in his back garden, with a big metal grate over it for safety.
However, for convenience he wants to put a clear plastic disc over it, to keep muck & animals out, etc.

He's approached one supplier of plastics for a 15mm thick x 1690mm circle of acrylic, and was quoted £410 plus vat.

So the obvious question is - HOW MUCH?! It's only a piece of plastic, that seems pretty steep to me......

Next question - do you think that will be thick/stiff enough not to bow or dish in the middle?
15mm seems pretty thick but then 1.7m diameter is pretty big.

Is there another way? Would it be cheaper to buy 2 semi-circles and fit a hinge? 4 quarters?

Thanks in advance for any plastics experts (or other clever people...)!
Ad

Put a 4mm thick disc over the steel grating?

Good idea, but I think from memory the grate is about 3 feet down, but he wants the plastic up level with the top so it can form a table top.

I will suggest that one though just in case he hadn't thought of it!

Thanks
Ad

You will find 2 problems with acrylic...

1. It scratches very easily.
2. It will discolour eventually, even the UV-resistant ones.

I've seen Tommy Walsh (TV DIY bod) put a glass disc over a well in someone's living room - probably toughened glass - so that might resist scratching & yellowing better than acrylic.

Hmmm.
What about the polycarb multiwall stuff, that might work, not quite as attractive, but might resist that a bit more?

Thanks!

£410 plus vat. for 15mm thick x 1690mm circle of acrylic is not bad.

Could get steel cheaper.

Maybe my expectations were just miles out!
It seems to be wider than the standard size (I naively thought it'd be 8"x4" like wood & aluminium!) so anything non-standard shoots up in price.....

Cheers.

Acrylic is not and ideal permanent outdoor solution. I work with it all the time. Polycarbonate is a more expensive but better choice. Tell your friend to phone a company called Trent Plastics in Gainsborough. 01427 611668. Tell them the problem and they will advise and give him a decent price.

I deal with them on a daily basis and their brilliant

[Edited on 15/8/12 by Irony]

Great, word-of-mouth always helps.
I'll pass that on.

Thanks

I would be inclined to make a wooden slatted top, that is easily removable

surely some old pallets cut and shut, planned and varnished, would look neat

cost pretty well nothing

what is the internal diameter of the well, because the clear bit may only have to cover this.

also worth looking at glass garden tables

bet here is a toughened glass table that size on ebay somewhere ? just a thought !

Another vote for 'dont use acrylic' here!

Polycarb. would be a lot better, but I would lean towards laminated glass, as well as only using it for the middle section.



Daniel

Sheets of ply cut to shape 24mm thick. The fibreglass matting and resin to finish off. A bit heavy but much cheapness.

Id be on the lookout for a round glass topped table around the size you are after. should be toughened too being a table top

quote:

---

Originally posted by dhutch
Another vote for 'dont use acrylic' here!

Polycarb. would be a lot better, but I would lean towards laminated glass, as well as only using it for the middle section.

Daniel

---

Thanks all, I like the alternatives.....

I'll get him to check the other dimensions just in case.

Ad

We use our local glass supplier to make toughened glass from a template, he will also drill holes in it etc we have had all sorts of shapes - ovals circles ets and it would do a much better job than acrylic or polycarb. we generally use 6mm toughened for table tops - you could pick glass supliers brains re what they'd reccomend for your mate's application.hth
Mike

That is a huge disc, nearly 6 feet across
I would look a toughened glass, I doubt you will find a round table that size. Maybe for the internal bit, but that is sort of defeating the issue I guess.

I would use a slatted wood top (personal choice) but really I think wells are best left open, with a safety grating to stop anything unpleasant happening.

quote:

---

Originally posted by MikeRJ
Polycarbonate is very soft and scratches if you look at it too hard!

---

Great, thanks gents.
Some good ideas, I'll pass it on.