I just bought a pilothouse and the windows had been previously replaced with plexiglass. The windows are somewhat curved, especially the two that wraparound from the front to the sides. The plexiglass didn't take well to being curved and one cracked. All the others have crazing in the outer layer that makes them difficult to see through clearly. I am waiting to find out if the manufacturer can still supply the original windows but I wanted a back up plan. Does anyone know of a material that is strong like plexiglass but will tolerate bending better? Thanks, Craig
Curvable portlight replacement material
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barrett bonded windows
maybe Barrett bonded window enclosures has a solution: Barrett Enclosures, Inc. 1116 W. Ewing St. Seattle WA 98119 206-285-8100
maybe Barrett bonded window enclosures has a solution: Barrett Enclosures, Inc. 1116 W. Ewing St. Seattle WA 98119 206-285-8100
$0.02
Plexiglass does bend. SO does Lexan. The thickness makes a big difference. I stopped at a company here in Cleveland that makes stuff out of plexiglass...charis, tables, signs...and much more. So I picked the guy behind the ocunters brain. How do you bend it without distortion? Ans: We make a male and female die/mold (a die being wood in the final shape you want). Both sides of the die are covered in felt (the secret!!!) Then, we heat up the plexiglass in our ovens. Then we lay it on the die/mold and press them together. When it comes out there is little distortion. Then we trim it to size. My experiments. I called Richie and asked for a compass cover. They didn't have any in stock and didn't know where to buy one (I should have used a surveillance camera cover). So I started to experiment. I made a vacuum box and heated the plex, dropped it on hot, vacuumed it and ta-da---one crappy cover. One quarter of the dome didn't come out right...you could barley see through it. The rest was clear with little distortion. It worked, till I found a compass on Ebay. Anyway, I took a flat sheet of Plex and a heat gun. I draped about an inceh of the Plex over the side of a table while heating the width of it using an aluminum floor wet-dry vacuum to spread the heat. As the Plex bent, I pushed more off the end and kept bending. Then, I lifted one side of Plex from teh table and got a really nice curve, just like a boat windshield. The problem- The Plex was only a 12" x 12" piece. I plant to try something else this summer for a Hard Dodger.
Plexiglass does bend. SO does Lexan. The thickness makes a big difference. I stopped at a company here in Cleveland that makes stuff out of plexiglass...charis, tables, signs...and much more. So I picked the guy behind the ocunters brain. How do you bend it without distortion? Ans: We make a male and female die/mold (a die being wood in the final shape you want). Both sides of the die are covered in felt (the secret!!!) Then, we heat up the plexiglass in our ovens. Then we lay it on the die/mold and press them together. When it comes out there is little distortion. Then we trim it to size. My experiments. I called Richie and asked for a compass cover. They didn't have any in stock and didn't know where to buy one (I should have used a surveillance camera cover). So I started to experiment. I made a vacuum box and heated the plex, dropped it on hot, vacuumed it and ta-da---one crappy cover. One quarter of the dome didn't come out right...you could barley see through it. The rest was clear with little distortion. It worked, till I found a compass on Ebay. Anyway, I took a flat sheet of Plex and a heat gun. I draped about an inceh of the Plex over the side of a table while heating the width of it using an aluminum floor wet-dry vacuum to spread the heat. As the Plex bent, I pushed more off the end and kept bending. Then, I lifted one side of Plex from teh table and got a really nice curve, just like a boat windshield. The problem- The Plex was only a 12" x 12" piece. I plant to try something else this summer for a Hard Dodger.
I think they were curved cold
I think they were installed, and curved, when cold. The crack happened a few months after the installation, but no doubt there was lots of stress in that area due to the cold bending. It looks like I can try the Barrett Enclosure polycarbonate material or try to build so mold that I can heat to do a custom plexiglass job. Thanks for the tips on how to do that job. I'll enquire with Barrett to see what they think of making pilothouse windows instead of just enclosure windows out of their material. Strenght it obviously a major issue. Although they say their material is stronger than tempered glass, I assume they mean at the same thickness. I'll need something with the same or better strength than 1/4" of plexi. Any other materials? I'll report back when I'm done since replacing odd shaped windows is a common problem in older boats now. Craig
I think they were installed, and curved, when cold. The crack happened a few months after the installation, but no doubt there was lots of stress in that area due to the cold bending. It looks like I can try the Barrett Enclosure polycarbonate material or try to build so mold that I can heat to do a custom plexiglass job. Thanks for the tips on how to do that job. I'll enquire with Barrett to see what they think of making pilothouse windows instead of just enclosure windows out of their material. Strenght it obviously a major issue. Although they say their material is stronger than tempered glass, I assume they mean at the same thickness. I'll need something with the same or better strength than 1/4" of plexi. Any other materials? I'll report back when I'm done since replacing odd shaped windows is a common problem in older boats now. Craig
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