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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/28/2010
Posts: 44
Location: Central Florida
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The clear won't run if the playfield is level (front to back and side to side) and you apply it evenly. I leveled the playfield by lowering the back leg adjusters and raising the front leg adjusters completely. A Piece of 2x4 under the front legs finished leveling it off.
Good luck with the remaining coats. Remember to post pictures when you're done.
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Rank: Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 7/22/2010
Posts: 22
Location: USA
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i dont want to totally hijack your thread so i added pics of my progress on my thread
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Rank: Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 7/22/2010
Posts: 22
Location: USA
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what tool did you use and technique to cut the lexan so smoothly?
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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/28/2010
Posts: 44
Location: Central Florida
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• Probably not the safest thing to do, but I rough cut the plastic with an old Skil $20 hand held jigsaw clamped upside down in a vise. The saw sounds horrible so you probably don't want to do this to an expensive tool. A benchtop scroll saw would work much better, but I don't have room for many more tools. I stay about 1/16" - 1/32" outside of my line. I cover the base plate of the saw with blue painters tape so it won't scratch the plastic. • Use benchtop belt sanders (Delta 1" and Central Machinery 4" from Harborfreight Tools) to get the exact shape of the plastic. • I hand sand with 150, 400 and 600 sand paper. • Polish the edge with a cotton wheel on my drill press at 4600 RPM(15" Craftsman floor drill press) and white polishing "rouge". Saw  Sanders  Drillpress 
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Rank: Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 1/25/2010
Posts: 27
Location: NC
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adding my 2cents....while making some lexan doors for an electronics box on my boat. I found that after you cut the lexan you can heat the edges with a heat gun and it will smooth out and look factory cut. I tried a propane torch but it was too inconsistent.
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Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Member
Joined: 3/28/2010
Posts: 44
Location: Central Florida
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Flame/heat polishing is fast and looks great, but careful if you clean the edge with alcohol or solvents after flame/heat polishing. The heat along the edge makes the plexi or lexan harder and brittle. The edge can develop hundreds of little parallel cracks when you wipe the plastic with alcohol to remove oil or fingerprints before adding decals. Apparently the solvent softens the plastic along the edge causing cracks. Not sure exactly why, but I've had it happen twice(google search produced lots of info on the subject). I quit flame polishing when I had this happen to some complex pieces that took a long time to cut. Boat.......Boat......... what kind of boat? Electronics box leads me to believe you have a center console......yes? Sorry boats are one of my other passions. 
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