Bank Window Acrylic

[Zex Marquis]

A local bank has just closed and I have an inside source to get the windows. It's inch thick acrylic. Saw them in person but didn' measure. 6 large panels with open arches at the bottom...I would guess 5ft+ wide and at least 30" or so above the arches. 6 small panels that covered the arch openings.
Questions:
1. Would this be the same type of acrylic used in aquariums? If not is it at least useable?
2. Would it be expensive having the arches cut away to leave a flat edge?
3. Would it be possible to weld two panels side by side to make one large viewing window?

Any and all opinions and suggestions are appreciated. I will have to move on this opportunity quickly if I do at all

 

[esoxlucius]

Are you 100% sure the material is acrylic? I'd have thought that those transparent panels to protect the cashiers from would be bank robbers would be made of polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is way tougher than acrylic, and way more expensive. If laminated in multi layered sheets it can be bullet proof, which goes hand in hand with the bank robber bit.

 

[Zex Marquis]

I' not 100% sure to be honest. It' definitely not laminated though. The edges are super smooth with no indication of layers. Would polycarbonate be something I could use as an aquarium material?

 

[millerkid519]

Are you planing a plywood build with it? I would have no issue using it for a plywood build, but trying to bond the panels together would have me worried just because your not 100 percent sure what the material is

 

[Zex Marquis]

I was hoping to bond the panels. Honestly that would be the only way buying them would be worth it to me. But I've been reading about polycarbonate as an aquarium material and that possibiliy makes it sketchy. Trying to find links where I can tell the difference between the two. I figured it' a steal at less then $100/panel but only if it' really acrylic

 

[esoxlucius]

The reason i asked whether you were 100% sure it's acrylic is because there are ongoing concerns over polycarbonate and the fact that it leaches a substance called bisphenol A into the water that it comes into contact with. There is lots of literature on line if you care to wade through it.

I work in the plastics recycling industry and come across hundreds of different types of plastics. We usually identify the different plastics on an infrared spectrometer as each and every plastic has its own unique infrared fingerprint. However, i'm guessing you wont have one of these to hand.

There is a much simpler way however, and this is what i used to do before we invested in the spectrometer that we have now. And that is to burn the plastic. Most plastics burn in certain ways, smell of different things and some have different colored flames. Just set fire to a small corner piece, just for a second or two, and the way it burns and how it smells will tell you what it is.

Polycarbonate doesn't burn as readily as most plastics, it'll keep self extinguishing. It smells unpleassnt too, rather acrid.

Acrylic, or polymethylmethacrylate to give it its proper name, burns slowly, smells rather sweet and doesn't self extinguish when the flame gets going.

Hope this helps a little.

 

[wednesday13]

Bank windows are almost always a type of poly carb or composite plastic laminate... it will cut the same as acrylic with a skill or table saw... there are different solvents for it than for acrylic tho... you can use weld-on #40 with it but theres a different psi rating for the bond than for acrylic. As others have stated its not as soft as acrylic hence acrylic solvents not working... When u see it in person ull most likely be able to see the laminated sheets, it can be hard to tell if you dont know what ur looking at as theres only faint lines that show where it was heated/melted together. Acrylic is usually clearer than polycarb... poly carb will be a bit grey colored on the edges. Ive purchaced teller windows from gas stations before and they were laminated polycarb. You may get lucky tho with them being acrylic.