Louey":vow8rdr4 said:
Fergy says that the 3 tops brands for marine applications: 1. Spartech Polycast 2. Cyro Acrylite GP 3. Autofina Plexiglas - G.
Hey there Louey,
I'd have to agree with Brian wholeheartedly. The reasons are varied, but here's the long and short of it:
Chemcast, Acrycast, and a few others buy resin on the open market based on price (for the most part) with little attention paid to consistency, and different mfg plants within the same company have different quality controls and methods of mfg. Eg., Chemcast has six plants casting their acrylic throughout the world which means six different sets of QC guidelines. Now while the Mexican plant usually makes some decent acrylic (labeled MX on the ID sticker), the others may not. When ordering Chemcast from your local distributor - you have no way of guaranteeing which plant made the specific sheets you are buying. Some sheets glue "okay" some not well at all as the molecular weight of the material will vary due to different methods of mfr and because they simply buy off the open market so the resin itself will vary. Due to this you will also different "shades of clear" when buying this material. Some will have a yellow hue, while others may have a green, blue, grey, etc... and the surfaces will vary as well - some can be very good while some get "pok marks" in them as a result of not cleaning and or replacing the cell glass often enough or buying inferior cell glass to begin with.
Polycast is pretty good about the consistency of their resins and all material is made in their Connecticut facilicty. Same goes with Cyro, which is made in Maine, and the Autofina material (Plexi-) is made in Mexico. For this consistency you do pay the premium price though. Is it worth it? hell yes IMO as the first time you build a tank and the sides literally fall off when you fill it - you have not only a mess to clean up but if you do this for a living - your reputation as well.
Does anyone have any experince with the imported brands like Chemcast? My local supplier swears by the imported brands saying there is little to no difference in quality at all.
For the most part, the imports polish very well so in that sense - he's correct, but insofar as gluing - he's lying through his teeth or is ignorant about the product he is selling. I'd submit that he's never even attempted to glue these products and compare joint strength side by side. It may sound bold but...
FWIW, those top 3 would cost me double what the imports are going for! The supplier is quoting $130 for a 4X8 sheet of 3/8 cast made by Chemcast. Does this pricing seem reasonable?
You can get the same pricing for all three of the domestics as well. I pay far less than $130 when buying 3/8 Cyro Gp so look around a littlemore.
HTH,
James
