Whats the cheapest plastic sheet around?

[basskitcase]

Looking for 1/8" or 1/4" plastic sheet for misc projects. Whats the cheapest kind to get, and where should i get it from?

Thanks

[DareBee]

Polypropylene is about cheapest.
Mechanically it is crap though.

[Jesse B]

What kind of "misc projects" are you talking about here. Every type of plastic is good for some things, and not so good for others, so we need a bit of an idea.

[judleroy]

Try sentra or styrene.

[basskitcase]

the "misc projects" could be anything really, from a plastic sign to e chain. Granted i know some things require special plastics, like you would want to use delrin or some other self-lubricating plastic for mechanical parts, but i'm thinking of more general purpose, less technical applications. I guess maybe I'm looking for the most "bang for the buck" in terms of a decent general purpose plastic that could be used for a lot of different things without breaking the bank.

[lunchtrayrider]

i like petg but i use it in a laser cutter usually. it is cheap but still pretty strong. i use it for my e-chain that i designed.

[RomanLini]

Originally Posted by basskitcase ... I guess maybe I'm looking for the most "bang for the buck" in terms of a decent general purpose plastic that could be used for a lot of different things without breaking the bank.

Then I would suggest clear acrylic. It's pretty cheap in 1/8" thickness and you get benefits from good hardness, rigidity and of course being extremely clear can also be used for covers, panels, pretty trinkets etc.

The other cheap alternatives PP and PE etc are soft and will stretch, scratch and gouge easy. Buy a few cheap PE kitchen chopping boards and cut that up, but being soft bendy stuff it's ok for some things but nowhere near as "all purpose" handy as clear acrylic.

[revwarguy]

The cheapest plastic is the stuff you get for free. I once went to a sign maker, who does CNC vinyl cutting and plastic sign cutting. I was hoping to be able to buy some plastic from him. I happened to have an album of pictures with me of my CNC machine, and we got to talking about making one, and he asked me what I need the plastic for. At that time, I needed some pvc for making the e-chain for my cables, and he gave me some "shorts" of some for free! I have since gone back to him, offered to pay for it each time, and he still gives me some things. If I need a large piece that he might be able to use someday, I pay for it.

It pays to be friendly!

[lunchtrayrider]

this is true, our workshop at the university gets all the home for sale signs we ever want. they are the plastic cardboard kind and they either toss em or bring them over. we can get an entire truck full if we want sometimes.

[2TALLTARY]

the cheapest plastics is usually styrene or petg. both are great for vacuum-forming and are pretty easy to find. a great website i found is Your Source For Plastic Sheet, Slab, Rod and Tube. 866-832-9315 and also if you just need scrap or remnant pieces High-Tech Plastics is good place as well.