dark tinted material for front panel display window

grayson · 11th June 2008, 06:50 AM

i'm looking for some dark tinted clear material (acrylic, lexan, polycarbonate, whatever) to make a window in a front panel through which to view an alphanumeric display. i got some grey tinted acrylic from mcmaster-carr, but it doesn't seem dark enough. of course i did some searching, both on diyaudio and elsewhere, but the closest i could find to a source of tinted acrylic was here. anybody else know of a mail-order source of the stuff? or other suggestions? please let me know. thanks!

gbyleveldt · 11th June 2008, 07:06 AM

What type of display do you have? VFD, LCD or LED? I'm also curious. For my VFD display I ended stripping an old VCR for its filter and that worked a treat.

justblair · 11th June 2008, 11:06 AM

I found some 3mm tinted perpex on ebay the other week when I was hunting around. It was very cheap to buy and the company offered cnc shaping, cutting etc as well.

Plastics online ebay

This is a uk supplier, but you could use some keywords to find something if your elsewhere.

grayson · 11th June 2008, 04:10 PM

thanks guys. i also found some plastics sources online in some further searching, and i just ordered a "bronze & gray tint sample pack" from ridout plastics (aka eplastics). i think i'll use the lighter-tinted stuff i got from mcmaster-carr for my first attempt (just 'cuz i already have it) but if the sample pack from eplastics includes some nice looking options then i'll be placing an order from them before too long. looks like the smallest amount you can order from them (other than sample packs) is a 24" x 48" sheet, but they'll cut it into whatever size pieces you want, seemingly free of charge. if i just want a small chunk of the stuff, perhaps you'll see a post in the "group buys" area before too long.

p.s. regarding my display, i'm leaning toward vfd at the moment but haven't ruled anything out yet. got some work to do.

Chartal · 11th June 2008, 08:27 PM

Hi.

Matrix Orbital have some VFD filter (blue, green , grey, red)

20x2 size: 95.25mm x 25.25mm
20x4 size: 96.00mm x 35.00mm

dave_gerecke · 12th June 2008, 12:03 AM

Hello Grayson, Perhaps you could put a layer of automotive window tint on the inside of your current piece of tinted plastic. If you are interested in red color, I have multiple pieces of red plastic sheet, not sure of the type, in my basement across town from you. If I remember correctly they are around 4-6" high by 12" long. I don't remember the thickness off the top of my head. I also have some longer, narrower pieces of clear, and I have some pieces of smoked glass you could get cut down to size.

Peace,

Dave

11th June 2008, 06:50 AM	#1
grayson diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: burlington, vermont, usa	dark tinted material for front panel display window i'm looking for some dark tinted clear material (acrylic, lexan, polycarbonate, whatever) to make a window in a front panel through which to view an alphanumeric display. i got some grey tinted acrylic from mcmaster-carr, but it doesn't seem dark enough. of course i did some searching, both on diyaudio and elsewhere, but the closest i could find to a source of tinted acrylic was here. anybody else know of a mail-order source of the stuff? or other suggestions? please let me know. thanks!

11th June 2008, 07:06 AM	#2
gbyleveldt diyAudio Member Join Date: Jun 2006	What type of display do you have? VFD, LCD or LED? I'm also curious. For my VFD display I ended stripping an old VCR for its filter and that worked a treat. __________________ The walls between art and engineering exist only in our minds - Theo Jansen

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11th June 2008, 11:06 AM	#3
justblair diyAudio Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Glasgow, Scotland	I found some 3mm tinted perpex on ebay the other week when I was hunting around. It was very cheap to buy and the company offered cnc shaping, cutting etc as well. Plastics online ebay This is a uk supplier, but you could use some keywords to find something if your elsewhere.

11th June 2008, 04:10 PM	#4
grayson diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: burlington, vermont, usa	thanks guys. i also found some plastics sources online in some further searching, and i just ordered a "bronze & gray tint sample pack" from ridout plastics (aka eplastics). i think i'll use the lighter-tinted stuff i got from mcmaster-carr for my first attempt (just 'cuz i already have it) but if the sample pack from eplastics includes some nice looking options then i'll be placing an order from them before too long. looks like the smallest amount you can order from them (other than sample packs) is a 24" x 48" sheet, but they'll cut it into whatever size pieces you want, seemingly free of charge. if i just want a small chunk of the stuff, perhaps you'll see a post in the "group buys" area before too long. p.s. regarding my display, i'm leaning toward vfd at the moment but haven't ruled anything out yet. got some work to do.

11th June 2008, 08:27 PM	#5
Chartal diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Montreal	Hi. Matrix Orbital have some VFD filter (blue, green , grey, red) 20x2 size: 95.25mm x 25.25mm 20x4 size: 96.00mm x 35.00mm

12th June 2008, 12:03 AM	#6
dave_gerecke diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Vermont	Hello Grayson, Perhaps you could put a layer of automotive window tint on the inside of your current piece of tinted plastic. If you are interested in red color, I have multiple pieces of red plastic sheet, not sure of the type, in my basement across town from you. If I remember correctly they are around 4-6" high by 12" long. I don't remember the thickness off the top of my head. I also have some longer, narrower pieces of clear, and I have some pieces of smoked glass you could get cut down to size. Peace, Dave

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