At my work, there are scraps of clear plastic sheet that was once used as a machine guard at my workplace. It’s flexible and tough and is about 7.25mm (or .28 inches) thick. I’d guess it’s vinyl but I can find its like nowhere on the internet. I want an 18 inch square of it for a project at home but none of the scraps at work are big enough and I can find nowhere to order more.
I don’t think it’s polycarbonate (lexan) or acrylic (perspex), I can bend a 6 inch square of this material fully in half with my bare hands then flatten it out again. Those materials are workable but not THAT workable, and certainly not by hand.
I’ve looked into vinyl tubing, but to get an 18 inch square out of tubing I’d need a 6 inch diameter tube, which seems like larger than you typically see flexible vinyl tube offered.
I have a friend who works at the aforementioned McMaster-Carr. Their customer service team lives for answering questions like this, and finding & delivering the product. I highly recommend just giving them a call and seeing if they can scrounge up the exact product you need.
I am so envious of you for having a friend that works there! We had a saying where I used to work “McMaster-Carr will save this project!”. And that’s a fact!
The HQ is only 20 mins from where I live. I’m surprised I don’t have MORE friends that work there! Actually I had another friend who worked there for years but she passed away. As far as I know all of their customer service reps are people with un-used masters degrees. So far that is true for 2/2 people I know who have done customer service there.
Give TMI a call and see if they would give or sell you a small piece. They have this in their catalog on Page 6 - STANDARD CLEAR PVC PANEL (0° to 150° F) with thickness upto 1/2 inch but they come in 60 ft rolls. Call them and they may be able to work something out.
Maybe something like this stuff? Square slabs of clear PVC, so you don’t need to buy a big roll of the stuff. I don’t see one that is the exact thickness of your example.
Looking for PVC table covers and floor mats might get you different options than industrial supply websites. Here is a clear flexible table cover. At 3mm, it’s not as thick as you are looking for, but suggests some different ideas for search terms.
