How thick does plexiglass/acrylic need to be?

[Ender_rpm]

Ha, nice.

Also, you may want to pick up some angled steel, and epoxy it along the edges, make it more rigid, if at the expense of weight.

 

[Andre]

If I recall correctly, either will also cut it into any basic rectangular shape you need.

Yep, tho the cost for cutting can exceed the cost of the original sheet in some cases.

BTW, take the recommendations for thickness with a grain of salt - it really depends on how much you'll be moving them around. I purchased four 36" x 30" pieces years ago and they're still going strong (1/16" thick).

Also, the thicker the sheets are, the more distortion you get when trying to see where creatures are on the grid underneath (or in my case, counters from a wargame). I don't mean distortion as fuzzy - it's just that when viewing the table from the side (rather than straight above), it will seem like the pieces are off-center.

 

[Nyarlathotep]

You might also check out using Melamine (I think that's what it's called). I bought a 4x8 Sheet for about $35.00 CAD, scored a one inch grid on it using a carpet knife and a T square and it's worked great with dry-erase for two years now.

 

[The_Universe]

Well, I picked up some .093 inch lexan (Home Depot's plexiglass subsitute), and cut it to fit my table. It's got some warp in it, but I'm currently weighing it down with a significant portion of my gaming library, so that should help flatten it out. It only cost ~$21/sheet at 36"x48", which means eventual replacement is unlikely to break the bank.

Apparently, neither home depot or lowes will cut plexiglass/acrylic anymore, so I had to get a plastic knife and a straight edge to do it myself. It's not great, but the jagged parts I hosed up are flush up against the lip of the table, so they're not overly noticeable.

 

[Festivus]

I bought mine at a lumberyard, but only because I was looking for an 8 foot x 4 foot piece. In hindsight, two smaller 4x4 foot ones could be obtained at Home Depot for less money (I think it was around $35 a sheet for the 4x4). I paid close to $100 for my sheet.

To smooth out those rough edges you can wet sand it and you won't crack the surface. For the warp... heat will flatten it out too. You could try putting a towel over the area and ironing it but my best suggestion is to lay it flat in the sun for a little while and then bring it back in and weight it.

 

[Nail]

I have gotten mine from Lowes and Home Depot for very cheap.

Me too.

We have two sheets, the largest being 4 ft by 3 ft (roughly).