Products & Services

Protocase manufactures fully finished custom electronic enclosures and associated parts from a wide variety of materials and components, in 2-3 days with no minimum order. Protocase also provides expert and affordable enclosure design services.

Translucent Plastics

Protocase Tech Tip Video

At Protocase, we stock translucent plastics for your projects.

Acrylic and polycarbonates are lightweight, high impact materials with excellent transparency and superior weatherability.

Both acrylic and polycarbonate offer properties similar to glass such as clarity, brilliance and translucence, but are lighter and has better impact resistance.

These plastics are often used to showcase an enclosure’s inner electronics and display lighting.

Comparing Acrylic and Polycarbonate

Impact-Modified Acrylic Polycarbonate
Impact Resistance 5-10x stronger than standard acrylic; handles moderate impact Up to 250x stronger than glass; extreme impact resistance
Clarity Excellent optical clarity; does not yellow Good clarity; may yellow without UV treatment
Scratch Resistance More scratch-resistant than polycarbonate Prone to scratches
UR and Weather Resistance Naturally UV resistance (ideal for outdoor use) Would require UV treatment for outdoor use, to prevent yellowing
Durability and Strength Strong. Less durable than polycarbonate Extremely durable and very flexible under stress
Weight Lighter than polycarbonate Slightly heavier than acrylic but still lightweight
Cost More costly option compared to polycarbonate More cost-effective than high-impact acrylic

Finish:

Unfinished

Fasteners:

Typically, we not install any fasteners into acrylic or polycarbonate. Instead, we commonly install self-clinching nuts or studs into the mating metal parts to screw into.

Stocked Sheets for Polycarbonate

Stocked in 48" X 96" | 1219.2mm x 2428.4mm sheets

Type Thickness Thickness Tolerance
Plastics - Polycarbonate.118".012
Plastics - Polycarbonate.236".024
Plastics - Polycarbonate.06".006

Stocked Sheets for Acrylic

Stocked in 49" X 97" | 1244.6mm x 2463.8mm sheets

Type Thickness ASM Standard Thickness Tolerance
0.080"±0.008"
0.118"±0.0118"
.177"±0.0177"

Please note: Our suppliers have provided the material data above, with the nominal thicknesses based on industry standards.

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