Six questions decide which plastic will last on your job.
Answer them and you land on a material we keep on the rack in Sparks. Rather skip the reading? Tell us what the part does and we will pick it with you.
Most jobs have one requirement that rules out everything else. Find it first and the list gets short fast.
Acrylic when clarity and a polished look matter most: displays, signs, covers, boxes. Polycarbonate when it is going to get hit: guards, barriers, safety glazing. PETG when the clear part gets thermoformed.
UHMW for chute liners, wear strips and guides. Acetal or nylon for machined parts that hold a tolerance: bushings, gears, rollers.
HDPE and polypropylene handle water and most acids and caustics. Need it flame rated? We stock SIMONA PP‑C FR, UL 94 V‑0. Look up your exact chemical in the chemical resistance guide.
Almost everything on our rack lives in the bottom two bands of the map. Above roughly 250°F you are into PEEK, PTFE and PEI; ask us about those. Give us the temperature it runs at all day, not the peak.
Acrylic, polycarbonate, PETG, ABS and PVC glue and form easily. HDPE, polypropylene, UHMW, acetal and nylon won’t take glue, so they get welded or fastened.
Sun is the quiet killer. Acrylic holds up to UV well. Polycarbonate needs a UV grade. HDPE and UHMW last outside in black. PVC foam is for indoor signs and short outdoor runs. Tell us where it sits and which way it faces.
Why do some plastics glue and others won’t? It comes down to which side of one line a material sits on.
Every plastic sits on one side of a line. The left side glues, forms and is often clear. The right side wears, resists chemicals and won’t glue. Each step up buys heat and chemical resistance, and the price per pound climbs with it.
On the rack in Sparks. Everything else, ask us. Inside each box, heat resistance climbs left to right and bottom to top. Bands follow the classification the plastics distribution industry uses, and the temperatures are rough family ceilings, not ratings. The data sheet for your grade has the real number.
So why does one side glue and the other won’t? Zoom in on the sheet.
Inside the sheet, the molecules are either tangled or packed in order. That one difference decides how the part gets built.
The joint becomes part of the sheet. Clean enough for a display case.
Same material melted together. This is how tanks and containment hold liquid.
Countersunk screws or bolts, with slotted holes so the sheet can grow and shrink with heat.
Here is every material we keep on the rack, side by side.
Three dots means it is one of the best we stock for that job. No dots means pick something else.
| Material | Clarity | Impact | Wear | Chemicals | Glues | Watch out for | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acrylic | Cracks under hard impact | On the rack | |||||
| Polycarbonate | Scratches easier than acrylic; some cleaners crack it | On the rack | |||||
| PETG | Softens at lower heat than polycarbonate | On the rack | |||||
| Twin wall poly | Lets light through, not a clear view | On the rack | |||||
| ABS | Check the UV grade before it goes outside | On the rack | |||||
| PVC foam board | Not structural; short life outdoors | On the rack | |||||
| HDPE | Grows and shrinks with temperature | On the rack | |||||
| Polypropylene & FR | Turns brittle in deep cold | On the rack | |||||
| UHMW | Too soft for tight tolerance machining | On the rack | |||||
| Acetal (Delrin) | Not for strong acids | On the rack | |||||
| Nylon | Takes on water and grows; check before tight tolerance wet parts | On the rack | |||||
| PEEK, PTFE, PVDF, PEI | When heat, chemicals or the spec calls for it | Higher price per pound | Ask us | ||||
Dots are our shop’s rough guide for picking, not test data. The manufacturer data sheet for your grade has the real numbers.
Data sheets for our stocked materials are free in our data sheet library. No email required. Know it by a brand name like Plexiglas, Lexan or Delrin? The plastic names guide translates it. Down to two? See acrylic vs polycarbonate, UHMW vs HDPE, twin wall vs solid or PVC foam vs ACM.
Still stuck between two? That is the call we get most, and here is how we settle it.
Silver State Plastics has sold and fabricated plastic in Northern Nevada since 1979. The recommendation comes from the same shop that cuts, routes, welds and engraves the part.
What it does, what touches it, how hot it runs, inside or out. A sketch, PDF or DXF helps.
If a stocked sheet does the job, it is cut and ready for pickup in an hour.
Free next day delivery in Reno, Sparks, Carson City, Fernley and USA Parkway.
"Fast turnaround, great quality, and very fair pricing. These guys are the real deal."
Describe the part, how hot it runs and what touches it. You get a material recommendation and a price. Or call (775) 358-8211.
Silver State Plastics stocks acrylic, polycarbonate, PETG, twin wall polycarbonate, ABS, PVC foam board, HDPE, polypropylene, UHMW, acetal and nylon at our Sparks, NV shop. We cut to size, and our fabrication shop routes, welds and engraves in house. Need PEEK, PTFE, PVDF or PEI? Ask us.
Most of the material questions we answer come from engineers, maintenance leads and contractors across Reno, Sparks, Carson City and the USA Parkway corridor. Visit us at 745 E. Greg St. #6, Sparks, NV 89431, or call (775) 358-8211.
Whatever you need — one piece or one hundred, a quick cut or a full fabrication run — we're here. Serving Northern Nevada since 1979.