Perspex Enclosure Advice Needed

[peps1]

I want to build a perspex enclosure for my Duplicator i3, and was after a few tips.

I have seen a few built using brackets to attach the sheets to each other, rather then gluing, and was wondering what the advantage/disadvantage of both methods are?

I was also wondering if there was a consensus on where best to place intake and exhaust ports?

And finally if there was an off the shelf kit I could use as a basis of my design (or just buy)?

[LuckyImperial]

I want to build a perspex enclosure for my Duplicator i3, and was after a few tips.

I have seen a few built using brackets to attach the sheets to each other, rather then gluing, and was wondering what the advantage/disadvantage of both methods are?

I was also wondering if there was a consensus on where best to place intake and exhaust ports?

And finally if there was an off the shelf kit I could use as a basis of my design (or just buy)?

Acrylic is very brittle and perspex is only a little bit better.

The advantages to using brackets is that they are relatively easy to install. However, drilling acrylic without cracking is kind of an art in itself. If you use a through holes with nuts and bolts it's even easier than if you try to drill holes to be tapped, but tapping holes is cleaner in my opinion. Advantage, ease of install. Disadvantages, ugly and drilling acrylic is hard.

Gluing is the way to go I think. If you cut your acrylic with a decent table saw and maintain straight cuts gluing can be easy, very strong, and fun. If you use RTV sealant or some silicone caulk you can almost get away with no clamps, but I would always advise clamping.

In terms of venting...it's smart to do a low intake and high exhaust on opposite sides. Think desktop PC cooling. A low to high intake and exhaust ensures that all of the air in the enclosure gets moved with minimal dead spots.

Build on your own! Getting good with acrylic is a good skill to have. I recommend buying a scrap piece of acrylic just to test drilling/hole sawing in.