Acrylic? Why not glass?

[xmastree]

Apart from the fact that it's easy to drill holes in, what's the advantage of acrylic/plexi/whatever over glass?

Why? Well, I haven't seen acrylic for sale anywhere, but glass is very common. I could have a piece cut to my specification easily and cheaply.

So why not use it for a simple case window?

[Cannibal23]

heres a good reason. because its way less breakable. ever move your pc and set it down kind of hard by accident? ever bump the side of it by accident with something kind of hard? beyond that i think glass is heavyer and its less likely that you can do your own work with the glass, unless of course you have a bunch of diamond bit tools arround.

[jsb666]

Ye i cant imagine it can be very good for you pc if u break the glass and cover all off your expensive parts in shards of glass.

[DaveW]

I thought about this myself as well. I think one of the biggest problems with glass is how damn difficult it is to keep clean; i don't give a rat's ass about how safe it is, i want it to look good!

Then again, glass can give a nice shine...

-Dave

[Rankenphile]

There are applications for both - both glass and acryllic are tough to keep clean, but it really comes down to the fact that acryllic is simply much easier to work with and much more shatter-resistant.

For certain applications, such as a reservoir, I can see how glass would be very useful,a s it conducts heat much better and would assist in the cooling, but you'd be talking about a rather large amount of fluid inside a rather brittle container, right next to a couple thousand dollars worth of sensitive electronics.

My window in my case is glass, as I bought a pseudo-premod case years ago before I really discovered case modding. I like it, it transmits heat quite well and doesn't rattle, and is rather easy to keep clean - it doesn't get static-charged and attract dust the way some acryllics can.

[jdbnsn]

I can see the advantages of acrylic, but I also think glass would work out ok if planned properly. I think that glass would look prettier too. Most glass that I have dealt with was not too fragile, and if supported by rubber lining it should be shatter resistant enough to get away with using it for a window.

[xmastree]

I'm thinking of tinting it, which involves sticking a sheet of plastic to the inside. That would hold it together if it did break. Trouble is, it's on the top of a desktop case rather than in the side.

I wonder if i could get a piece of toughened glass the right size, and flat...

Hmm...

[Cevinzol]

I think glass is a nice choice. Don't buy it from the hardware store. Go to a glass supplier. look for tempered glass. You can get all sorts of finishes and colors including anti-glare, smoke, gold tint, one way, mirror, you have a bunch of options.

you could put a mirror in the back and one way in the window and get an "infinite corridor" illusion. You can also get glass etching compound (brush on) at most craft stores. They also sell paints you can apply to make it look like its stained glass (including fake leading strips).

Don't use that mylar film tintng. It always gets bubbles under it and it looks like crap.

[xmastree]

It's a different world out there, no? Craft stores are few and far between, but glass dealers are evrywhere, unlike hardware stores.
Film tint is fine, pretty much every car on the road here is fitted with it, and there are plenty of people capable of fitting it to a simple small flat piece of glass on a bench. Much easier than a car, and they manage those just fine.

I could probably get it done from an off-cut for the price of a beer...

[RangerDanger]

1. unless u have a big a$$ glass cutting machine, u have tio vbuy premade peices 2. plexi/acrylic DOSEN't brake. 3. plexi/acrylic is lighter, and easy to replace.