I bought a plasma ball, and I'm going to do a case around it. but I have a few questions: How well does acrylic shatter? I want to duplicate the plasma "lightning bolt" effect using smoked acrylic on top of clear acrylic. I want to know if it breaks into spikes that are several inches long. I wish to attach the aformentioned smoked acrylic directly on top of the clear acrylic. Will gluing it cause the clear acrylic to frost? is there a way to attach it without worrying about that kind of thing? lastly, since the case will be completley made out of acrylic, would 1/4" acrylic be the best? will it be sturdy enough to act as a case when only attached at the corners? dimensions are 22" x 19" x 8" so far...
Well, if you wanna see how well acrylic shatters, take a piece and put it in your freezer till it's ICEY cold (Or just use your canned-air upside down for a few seconds on it) then HIT IT AS FREAKING HARD AS YOU CAN with a hammer... You will find out quickly how well it shatters.
ok il change my question, what do you think I should do to this... ok leave the watermark alone... the white globe in the front of the case is a 4" plasma ball. the optical drives are on their sides above and below it. My quandry is what do I do with the side. It is all smoked acrylic on clear acrylic. I had the smoked line all the way across and didnt like it, it looks good on the top but I want to do something different to the sides, both of which are going to get the same treatment edit: the side has to have at least that much coverage in that manner, because all of the electronics for it are going to be concealed there, in a horizontal band 2" high.
Another way, if you want the cracked LOOK but not the shattering into a million tiny pieces effect, just heat up your acrylic with a heat gun or similar, and while it is still REALLY HOT (Not burning or anything) use a can of air upside down on it ( don't touch this, as it will cause frostbite if you contact the liquid too long) It will make stress cracks that are pretty long along the acrylic. (found this out by accident when trying to cool a bend job..)
