Dark plexy ??

[jay]

I am just in the process of putting my 14' sign back together.
When I took my sign out of the bar in Pittsburgh I left the black plexy material....

Is this Plexy Glass ? or what is the material I should be looking at. I called up one sign shop and they told me for a 4" x 14' piece I am looking at $175.00 but I am not sure the guy was clear on what I needed.
He kept asking what I wanted printed on it, I kept telling him I didn't want any thing printed and it goes in front of a lighted dot matrix display.
I explained that It needs to be see through but be tintned dark. He then asked me why I don't need words printed...... 

Thoughts anyone ?
(other than calling someone less stupid).

[StatFreak]

...
Thoughts anyone ?
(other than calling someone less stupid).

Well if the tint fits.. I guess he was fixated on printing fees..

I wonder if Lucite would work, or would it be too stiff? Have you called a glass (window type) company? They might have smoked Plexiglas, and if not, smoked glass would be another alternative. Just a thought.
Of course, there's always the internet for the Plexi. 

[Joeylc]

Use Polycarbonate plastic and window tint...

[stayouttadabunker]

I tried that Joey,
You would NOT believe how hard it is to get rid of all the freaking bubbles....ARGHH!!!
If the immediate area where the sign is fairly dark, like way up in the ceiling perhaps, then you're okay...the bubbles don't show,
But if the sign is in a well lit room and fairly close...you're oughta luck because all you see IS bubbles.

The rubber squeegee went RIGHT into the garbage after I was done with it....didn't hardly help at all...
I ended up using a pin to bust every bubble then use my fingertips to smooth everything out...
I'll never do it again if I can help it...
I'd rather take the clear polycarbonate and film to a car place where they do custom window tinting next time.

[Hokiehog]

Actually rather than car window tint, why not use the window tint that you get from lowes / home depot.  It goes on with a water based solution and you squeegee out the excess and it would last FOREVER...

I actually think it would work very well for this application

[jay]

I agree with stout about the bubbles. I bought a roll of this and used it for the small windows that I use for player tracking bar. I still did over about 6 times, and I am not particullary happy with the results. It looks ok when the slot is on but the bubbles still show when it is off.

I like the HomeDepot thought. I think my main challenge at this point is getting a single 14' piece.
PolyCarbonite is probably the word that I was missing.

[Hokiehog]

Here is one that would put a tint on it ... Rolls are 15' long

http://www.gilafilms.com/Residential/window-film-heat-titanium.htm

[StatFreak]

I'm a little confused.   Why use these tinting materials when smoked glass, plexi, or polycarb is available, would do a much better job, and can be had in different shades and levels of "tint"? Typical shades would be greys and browns, for example. One controls the final effect by the selection of the level of shading and the thickness of the material. While the materials can be purchased over the net, the best choice would be to take the PS and one panel to the store and try out different shades and thicknesses. All you would need would be any display on the panel: an error message would be fine. Otherwise, you'd have to use your best judgment or bring home samples.

I did this for a wall panel that I have that simulates an Enterprise computer LCARS panel. I had bought three transparencies at a convention back in the early 90's that were printed from pirated images and wanted to create the effect of having dark glass when the back lights were off and usable displays when they were on. I ended up using 1/4" smoked glass. This is, admittedly, a different application, but it worked wonderfully.