Pretty cool Replicator 2 Dust Cover

[RobH2]

Plexiglas is not that hard to work. You can cut a radius or straight corners off with a jigsaw. A table saw will work for straight cuts. You can then sand the cut down if you like with a palm sander. Finally, you can polish it with a flame. A simple propane torch will work. Just go slow because too much heat and you'll scorch and bubble the plexiglas. You can score and cut thin plexi but you have to be careful. Sometimes you can score it pretty deeply and then clamp two bars of flat metal or wood right behind the score. Then take some pliers and very quickly snap down. If it leaves a sharp point you can sand it off. However, snapping is risky. Frequently you'll crack the plastic unless you get good at it. But all in all, plexi is pretty easy to work with wood working tools. Just don't use too much speed on electric tools because it melts and then you'll have problems.

A good trick for marking it up and cutting it is to lay blue tape where you make the cuts. Draw and mark on the tape then saw along those lines with the tape on. It helps keep from scratching the plex and some people say it helps keep if from cracking too. And, we all have a lot of blue tape lying around for our hot beds don't we?

Edit: One more thought about the design above. If you make all the parts out of clear plex, take the parts that represent the black one and spray the back of those pieces with black paint, or any paint you like. After you spray the black, you could spray chrome paint to provide a bit of heat reflection back into the enclosure. It might help with keeping it warm. Plus, it will look cool. From the outside it will look shiny and black ( or whatever color you use) and then on the inside it will be all shiny and hi-tech looking.

You could also, before painting anything, lay down a stripe or two of tape all the way around the inside of the front, sides and back, like a pin stripe circling the whole enclosure. The spray the inside black. Pull the tape off and then spray your chrome paint. Now from the outside you'll have a black enclosure with a cool chrome stripe all the way around. It's an easy way to give it a very professional looking touch.

Below is a rough idea:
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