DIY Display Case (Acrylic/Plexiglas)

• This is the DIY guide I followed
• finding a local supplier for acrylic took some effort. You find either 1) actual supplier/manufacturer which will be cheap but the minimum size is a huge 4"x8" and they may not sell it to you. 2) a retailer with more manageable sizes and volumes but also more $. Home Depot actually carries acrylic too (2"x4"x1/4" for $60 I think). So depending on how much you actually need and the suppliers willingness to help you make a few cuts for nominal charge your choices are limited
• material cost varies greatly depending on thickness. 3mm to 4.5mm to 6mm almost doubles the cost each jump. Of cause thicker will look better on larger case though
  
• as for tools you really do need a rotary tool, table saw, router and router table. You could do without the saw if you manage to get your panels pre-cut. I already had some so it helped but I still spend a good $300 on just tools and misc. I tried to sand the edges manually but you just can't get them perfectly flat and straight which always resulted in poor adhesion and poor finish in my experiments so I ended up using the router table to clean all edges suitable for gluing and buffing
• I would recommend to bend acrylic for better build, looks and possibly less work but that means one more tool and one more skill to manage. You can buy ($300+) or make a strip heater. I did a DIY following this guide but instead of an improvised heating element from a hair dryer or toaster I bought the actual replacement heating rod for better quality from kidder.ca for $40. BTW I was told you can only bend Extruded acrylic and not Cell Cast type and you cannot bend anything thicker than 4.5mm. Cell Cast is suppose to be better for routing
  
• Toughest part is to ensure that everything you process is perfectly parallel or perpendicular. I made my life a little easier when strategizing the build with the assumption that the final case dimensions will NOT be accurate. The focus is to NOT build a crooked case. Assuming all cuts are parallel and perpendicular the two bends I made were most critical as they needed to be parallel and of the same distance from the edge so the box is proper. I used clamps and extra MDF pieces to lock down the distance to the element so the bend is 100% identical on both sides.
• don't bother trying other than the recommended glue, cause I did that for you already spending >$40 and my advise.... don't bother!! Even if you follow the guide it is still difficult to get the end result to look perfect
• Weldon #4 seems to be impossible to source and poisonous but I am sure there are alternatives (kidder.ca has something I am going to try when I run out of Weldon) but still poisonous. I better look into respirators if I am to make more of these
• Ones assembled I used the buffing compound and my rotary tool to make the exposed edges transparent again (don't worry about the edges you glue, the glue will dissolve the edge enough for a transparent look
• THINK EVERY STEP THROUGH.. I had to improvise a few tools and methods to ensure accurate build.... This is definitely one of the more challenging DIYs I have done and if you only need a case or two pay someone to do it...... BTW I made the case for my Tumbler and X-Wing and 2 more. I will be enhancing my computer stand with acrylic as well :)

Updated notes:

• Having build my first batch of cases (and more to come as I want to dust proof everything now lol) I will log more of my experiences here
• Translucency of the edges turns out to be a strange phenomenon. routed and unbuffed it will be hazy but it is good enough to be used to glue and tape but when used as a surface you will need to buff it out to get that shine and translucency
• You could go the extra mile and sand it first for a real smooth edge but you will likely loose the perfect straight and flat characteristics of the edge so until I find a better method and efficient method I rather keep it as is
• Now here is the interesting part..... the edge even after buffering and even if sanded down perfectly will NOT look transparent if the wall behind it is a light color. Transparency is the perception of being able to see THROUGH an object. For the main surfaces that is not an issue. However for the edges it really is tunneling the image or the color of the wall behind the display so if your base is black, your objects are dark and your backwall is white no matter how perfect the finish of the edge is in most angles it will look white