We use acrylic in many retail display projects.
Counter displays, product holders, display boxes, shelves, logo panels and larger mixed-material displays — acrylic is a very common material for us.
One question comes up quite often:
Should we use cast acrylic or extruded acrylic?
From a manufacturing point of view, we don't choose only by price. We first look at the drawing and see how the acrylic part will actually be made.
They can look very similar, especially when they are just flat clear sheets.
But once we start cutting, polishing, bending, bonding or assembling the parts, the difference becomes more important.
For most retail display projects where the acrylic needs good edge polishing, bonding, machining or heat bending, we normally prefer cast acrylic.
Extruded acrylic can also be used. Its thickness is generally more consistent and the cost can be lower, so for some simple flat parts or larger quantities, it can make sense.
We don't say one material is always better than the other.
It depends on the display.
Before quoting or production, we normally look at a few things:
For a simple flat panel, there may be no reason to use a more expensive material.
But if the acrylic has several bends, polished exposed edges, bonding or precise fitting with other materials, material selection becomes much more important.
This is something we have seen many times in actual production.
A drawing may say 5 mm acrylic or 6 mm acrylic, but the actual sheet thickness is not necessarily exactly 5.00 mm or 6.00 mm.
Cast acrylic normally has a larger thickness tolerance than extruded acrylic.
This matters when the acrylic needs to fit into a groove, metal channel, wood base or another acrylic part.
For example, if a clear acrylic cover needs to fit over a painted wood base, we don't only look at the outside dimensions on the drawing.
We also need to think about the actual acrylic thickness, the wood tolerance, the paint thickness and the clearance after assembly.
Sometimes a very small difference is enough to make assembly too tight or leave a visible gap.
That's why for this type of project, the final fitting dimension is often more important than the nominal sheet thickness.
Clear acrylic looks simple, but it is not always simple to make well.
A small scratch can be seen.
A glue mark can be seen.
An uneven polished edge can be seen.
A small gap between two parts can also be seen.
The cleaner the design, the more attention we normally have to give to the manufacturing details.
During production, we try to keep the protective film on as long as possible. After machining, bending, polishing or bonding, the parts are checked again before final assembly.
For mixed-material displays, we also check the acrylic together with the metal or wood components instead of looking at each part separately.
For our retail display projects, cast PMMA is usually our first choice when appearance and fabrication quality are important.
Especially when the project involves:
visible polished edges, heat bending, bonding, CNC machining or more complicated acrylic construction.
For simpler flat parts and some volume projects, extruded acrylic can still be a suitable option.
There is no need to use cast acrylic everywhere just because it costs more.
The important thing is to use the right material for the actual construction.
This is also why we prefer to review the drawing before confirming the material.
Acrylic may only be one part of a display, but choosing the wrong sheet at the beginning can create problems later during fabrication and assembly.
You Design. We Manufacture.
