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Perforating Plastics
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Plastics are exceptional in their ability to resist corrosion, but have limitations when it comes to perforating. Not all plastics can be perforated. Materials such as nylon will string. Polycarbonates and acrylics are too hard and may shatter. Teflon is too slippery and does not feed easily through the punch.
· Punching - Plastics can be punched as light as .032 inch
· Thickness - Generally maximum thickness up to 1/4 inch
· Flatness - Plastics cannot be leveled like metal sheets, so flatness may be a problem
· Sheet Size - Plastic sheets are typically available in 48 inch by 96 inch sheets
· Coils - Plastic in not available in a coil |
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Hole Size
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| Hole size is the diameter of the perforation. McNICHOLS carries PlastiPerfTM in three hole sizes: 3/16, 1/8, and 3/32 inch. Other hole sizes can be special ordered as required. |
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Hole Pattern
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| Hole pattern is the arrangement of holes on a sheet—either staggered or straight rows. In a staggered hole pattern, the direction of the stagger is normally parallel to the short dimension of the sheet. PlastiPerfTM comes in a 60° staggered hole pattern. |
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Hole Center
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| Hole Center is the distance from the center of one hole to the center of the nearest hole in the next adjoining row. Hole centers is one of two measures of perforation spacing. The other is open area. Because hole centers and open area measure essentially the same property (perforation spacing), you need specify only one or the other, not both. |
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Open Area
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Perforated sheets contain holes and material. Open area is the total area of the holes divided by the total area of the sheet and is expressed as a percent. In other words, open area describes how much of a sheet is occupied by holes. If a perforated sheet has 60 percent open area, then 60 percent of the sheet is holes and 40 percent is material.
This open area table provides a quick way to determine open area for perforated sheets with a 60 degree staggered or straight row hole pattern. |
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Thickness or Gauge
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| Thickness is the measurement from the top surface to bottom surface of the material. Gauge is the most common measurement, but thickness can also be measured in fractional inches or millimeters. This gauges and weights chart can provide additional information. |
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End Pattern
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| End pattern is the pattern of the perforations at the beginning and the end of the sheet. End patterns are either finished or unfinished. An unfinished end pattern is standard. A finished end pattern requires special tooling and is typically more expensive. |
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Length and Width
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| Length is the overall measurement of the long side of the sheet; width is the overall measurement of the short side of the sheet. Note that mill tolerances for length and width apply to stock sheets unless otherwise specified. If you have a stock sheet cut-to-size, cut tolerances apply. To specify other than standard tolerances, please use the PlastiPerfTM quote form to specify the required tolerances. |
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Quantity
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| Quantity is the number of full sheets or cut pieces you need. Unless otherwise specified, the standard tolerance on quantity is “Exact Quantity.” In other words, McNICHOLS will deliver the exact quantity you specify. |
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Margins
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Margins are the blank (unperforated) area along the edges of the sheet. For stock sheets, the standard is minimum margins along the length and no margins along the width.
To specify other than standard margins, use the perforated round hole pattern quote form. Provide the width of each margin on all four sides (measured from the edge of the sheet to the edge of the first hole) and the direction to which the margin is parallel (side or length dimension). Manufacturing considerations may affect margins. If the margins requested are not possible, the quote you receive will specify the new margins.
Below is an example of a margin specification based on the illustration to the right:
Margins:
· 1 inch margins parallel to both 25 inch dimensions
· 0.75 inch margins parallel to both 48 inch dimensions |
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Margins on Cut Pieces
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| When stock sheets are cut to a smaller size, the cut pieces will have no margins. |
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| Tolerances
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