Replacing Isenglas with Acrylic Glass

OK .... after much deliberation I decided to tackle this project myself. My Isenglas had begun to age and was getting a "golden haze" after about two weeks from cleaning and polishing. It would clean up clear but then begin to get the haze.

I priced new Isenglas at $2400 and new EZ2CY at any where from $6500 to $9000 with Strataglass coming in the middle.

One day while walking the treadmill at the health club (it's amazing how many things I can work out in my head while walking) I began to entertain the idea of building the enclosure panels myself ... I figured that if third world countries could sew then I could learn! I went to the boat and studied the construction of the existing enclosures and made a few drawings. (OK ... I'm an Architect and we measure and draw everything!)

Off to Wally World I went to buy a sewing machine ... a Singer ... bottom of the line ... $125! Next I called the local supplier of plexiglass (GE Polymer) and found that .093" acrylic sheets (about 3/32" thick) were UV stabalized and could bend slightly without breaking. I located marine vinyl upholstery material and outdoor UV stable tread at the fabric store (JoAnn Fabrics) and found marine grade separating zippers (YKK #10) in the appropriate lengths online (Outdoor Textiles). My Isenglas made a rounded corner at the transom corners so I decided not to try and bend the acrylic (as I didn't have an oven large enough to heat the whole sheet) instead I ordered continuous plastic hinges online (TAP Plastics) to make this transition as well as hinging the panel at the boarding gate 10" from the top. These hinges have no pins holding the halves together rather a flexible vinyl - so no chance of leaks. No one could offer the best way to attach the vinyl to the acrylic so I made a test panel using high temperature hot glue ... and it worked great!

I cut a 6" strip of vinyl the width of a panel and folder it in half length wise ... stitched it 1/4" from the edge ... sewed a zipper on ... slipped the acrylic sheet between the two "flaps" of vinyl and hot glued it in place. Utilized the same procedure around the entire piece of acrylic and added necessary straps and snaps. I used each existing Isenglas panel as a template so as to duplicate the exact sizes and zipper orientations. (3" vinyl at top, 2.5" vinyl at sides and 6" vinyl at bottoms.)

20 hours later I had the nine panels made and inplace. Only time will tell ... but I think that this will work as well as or better than Isenglas. Since I never remove all of the panels when I'm underway, I added straps with snaps (three on each panel) at the two boarding gates and the transom gate so that those panels could be unzipped and snapped infront of the adjacent panel.

Novus makes several types of acrylic polish and scratch remover which I'll use to clean the panels. (This is the same product that pilots use on their wind screens and the Air Force uses on its jet canopies.)

If anyone would like to see some pictures please feel free to send me an email. Oh ... total cost including sewing machine = $600.

Tom
"Serenity" 1979 43DCMY

Novus is good stuff.....

I used it on all sorts of plastics - they're "the bomb".

Tom,

I would be interested in seeing your pictures. I have this same job to tackle (yeah, like I needed another one added to my list...) and I already know how to sew, so I should be able to do this myself.

Thanks.

Angela@SanctuaryCharterYacht.com

How many hours did it take you to make them? I saved $9,000 bucks replacing my airconditioners myself, so I figured the 4 hours it will take to install them is worth about $2200 an hour. I am making my own canvas as well. Post some pictures for the rest of us. It is very good to escape the boat thieves!

P.S. They also make very thin lexan sheets that you can sew through for those panels that need to flex. I use a heavy duty hot air gun to bend plexi and other plastic. You need to heat it slowly so that you get heat saturation all the way through, if you rush, you will melt or oxidize the surface.

Depending on where your job is located aboard and what you wish to accomplish here's an alternative.
I replaced the Isenglass soft side curtains on the aft deck of my 48 YF with solid acrylic..either 1/4" or 5/16", I forget which. Roughly 45 inches by 45 inches. I first mounted stainless steel window ("U" shape with the fuzz inside) channel on the three solid sides. (Remove the plastic slider strip within the channel , screw to surface, then replace the plastic strip. Then I fitted the acrylic sheet in and locked each in place with a stainless screw thru the edge of the window channel on each side. Then I added a fouth piece of window channel vertically along the aft edge to use to stiffen this edge and provide a strong connection point for the soft cover buttons across the aft of my bridge deck.

Gives a lot more light, was less than having new side curtains made, and will outlast soft curtains by a wide margin. Won't rip in winds: these made it thru 90 MPH gusts. Only drawback: they don't open, but I never opened these side curtains anyway.

Chris

It took about 20 hours to make the nine panels. I sent an email to www.starcarpentry.com so send me an email back and I'll send some pictures.

Tom, if you can figure out a a way to post photos of this, it would be great. I don't have this kind of enclosure, but most Hatteras owners do, and it would be useful to see this. Congrats on saving all the money you did and the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

Jim ... please send me instructions on how to post the pics ... I can't seem to get them posted. Thxs.

OK guys ... I've posted several pictures in the Technical Images Section ... they are titled "Aft Deck Enclosure" ... I hope it worked.

Hey are you sure you sew in the panels it looks to clear
Looks great Nice Job.

The acrylic panels are hot glued to the vinyl surrounds ... not sewed

I bought an old used Singer industrial sewing machine for $80 a few years ago. I replaced all the eisenglass in my enclosure 2 years ago for a whopping $105. Since then made new cushion covers, control panel and seat covers, and window shades. Soon I'll make fender covers so I don't have to scrub them anymore, just throw them in the washer and reinstall. That's the best $80 I spent. Ron

Tom,

I have to say that looks pretty darn good. I hope the glue holds to the two materials well for you. I don't know if plastic like that would take a stitch without problems. For your future projects, you might look at canvsdealer.com as I have had very good luck dealing with them for my supplies. I thought I was in the minority of Hatt owners that did their own canvas covers and repairs but it doesn't look that way from this post.

Good job.

it looks real good... i never understand why getting any canvas work is so expensive... you're right... if they can saw in third world countries, so can we !

so the acrylic you used is like very thin lexan ? sort of rigid, wont' rollup, correct ?

i was thinking of using lexan instead of the soft stuff on the sides of my aft deck as the existing one is starting to be tired. ... and i'm tired of the restitchign every 3 or 4 years. opening panels on the side (for air) could be hunged at the top, lifted and secured against the ceiling.

I just received a sale flyer from Sailrite. You might check them too. I have only ordered headliner from Sailrite but they have all of the canvas and sewing stuff. Here is their website: www.sailrite.com

Great job Tom, my hats off to you. I just had mine redone by a real pro hear at the cost of $225 per panel 18 in all with screens for bugs. However isenglass. I do not roll the panels but rater attach them to the roof of the top deck when opened.

Pascal ... I considered Lexan but the supplier said that it was not UV stabalized ... and yes ... this acrylic being .093" thick won't roll up nor can it be sewed ... but it will bend slightly without breaking.

Wil ... thanks ... it was a fun project and not too difficult even for a novice ... but using the existing panels as templates made it much easier.

Lexan or polycarbonate, can be uv stabilized by either a roll on product or in the extrusion process however in the extrusion process the uv protectant is under the last layer of polycarbonate therefore you get some immediate yellowing. Acrylic is uv stable and won't yellow however it is more brittle than polycarbonate and will not bend as easily. The roll on product is actually better for the polycarbonate however when you scratch it you lose the uv protection. Seems to be a catch 22 as to what would be the best. I do think that what you have done is great for the money as well as good looking. What type of hot glue did you use? I deal with Dglass formerly Cyro who makes the acrylic panels and I can ask them about the compatability over the long haul if you would like. I also would be interested as my wife sews and I need some new canvas.

Pascal said:

opening panels on the side (for air) could be hunged at the top, lifted and secured against the ceiling.

Click to expand...

You're right, and you're better off opening and securing that way even with traditional isenglass or stratglas...less scratches. I just had my enclosure done with strataglas last year, and my fwd center and the two big aft side curtains lever flat up against the underside of the hardtop. It's quicker to fasten up, those 3 are the biggest panels, and they'll stay clear much longer. I seldom ever use the other panels that roll up with those 3 opened up.

" I sent an email to www.starcarpentry.com so send me an email back and I'll send some pictures."


eze2bme:

I never recieved an email;

send me an email to Starcarpentry@hotmail.com

www.starcarpentry.com is my web addy