hi imlaura, im new. ive been reading for a few weeks, now i have a question.
i read in a book about an idea for putting clear plexiglass ontop of a lame coffee table, with a collage of take-out menus underneath. i think this could look awesome with the right menus and presentation. but i dont know where to get a large sheet of plexiglass. is this something i can get at home depot? will they cut and drill holes in it he corners for me? because i think id need a special bit for that?

What a great idea! I kinda want to do a similar thing but with a printer's drawer. Anyways, back to you questions: I got some plexiglass at Home Depot but they wouldn't cut it for me. We ended up cutting it at my in-laws with a table saw. We had to put masking tape along our cutting line to prevent it from cracking. I'm pretty sure you don't need a special bit for drilling through it. Just tape both sides and drill into a block of wood to, again, prevent cracking. Hope this helps!
V

sawing plexi by hand is a major pain in the ass. you have to go really slow, or it melts onto the saw blade and gums it up. it takes for fucking ever. the masking tape on the cutting line is a good idea. you can drill it with a regular bit, it just might melt on to the bit.

stella

Hi, I'm new too!

I recently had a piece of plexi cut at a glass company that does windows, picture framing glass, etc. You should be able to find one in the yellow pages under "glass." They should carry plexi there; I brought in my own piece and they didn't charge me anything for cutting it! You also might want to sand the edges if they will be exposed...sharp plexiglass edges can be dangerous, I've cut myself on it pretty badly before.
Picture framing shops also sell and cut plexiglass.

www.tapplastic.com it is best to call their 188# get a location and call them.THey did a great job for a project I did with a motercylce for work.(I'm in nor Cal but they have shops everywear!)

Where are you? Home depot should have it.

wow thanks everyone! its weird, tonite i actually ran into an old friend from high school at home depot who wasnt sure if they cut it or not. he said clear is more expensive than coloured too. like 28 dollars for a small sheet! i hope hes misinformed. i think ill try calling the glass and framing places. i typed in www.tapplastic.com and it came up 'domain for sale' with a ton of pop ups! bummer. oh well. thanks again girls!

Try the URL again http://www.tapplastics.com/ it worked fine for me this afternoon. They have stores all over the west coast. (OT: anyone remember their radio ads? they used to run them on the alt rock station in the Bay Area all the time in the 80's. "Tap, Tap Plastic, the fantastic plastics place..." sorry). I'd also look in the phone book - I found a place in Seattle a few years ago that cut me a new lid for my aquarium for far less than I expected.

oops!Sorry I missed the s on the end!
Let us know how this turns out!I love to know the end result!