Acrylic Rod and Tube

Acrylic rod and acrylic tube give you the optical clarity and weather resistance of acrylic sheet in a round profile. Both are used heavily in manufacturing, construction, signage, display and creative work, and both machine, polish and glue in much the same way as sheet acrylic. Because they are cut from stock lengths, you can order the exact lengths your job needs rather than buying full bars and cutting them yourself.

Acrylic rod

Clear acrylic rod is a solid, transparent bar with a polished surface. It transmits light along its length, which is why it turns up so often in lighting, signage and display work. Perspex rods are also used as structural spacers, standoffs, handles, shafts, axles and machined components where a plastic part is preferable to metal for weight, corrosion resistance or appearance.

• Display stands, risers and standoffs
• Light pipes and edge lit signage features
• Handles, knobs and pulls
• Machined bushes, spacers and rollers
• Model making, prop building and sculpture
• Jewellery, trophies and awards
• Retail fixtures and shopfitting details

Acrylic tube

Acrylic tube is hollow, which makes it the right choice when something has to pass through the centre or sit inside it. Common uses include display cylinders and cases, protective sleeves over lighting, raffle and collection drums, aquarium and water features, dispensers, confectionery and product tubes, and cable or cord management on shopfittings.

Tube is available in a range of outside diameters and wall thicknesses. Thin wall tube is lighter and more economical for display use, while heavier wall tube gives you the strength for structural applications and lets you machine, thread or bond the ends properly.

Cut to size and lengths

We cut acrylic rod and tube to size, which is where most of the value sits for our customers. Rather than buying a full stock length and being left with a metre of offcut you have nowhere to store, tell us the lengths and quantities you need and we will cut them for you. That is equally useful for a single one off piece and for a production run of identical parts where consistency matters.

We can also drill, tap, face, polish ends and machine features into rod and tube as part of our fabrication service.

Working with acrylic rod and tube

• Leave any protective film in place until installation to avoid handling scratches
• Use a fine tooth blade and a slow feed to avoid chipping, then flame or buff the cut end for a clear finish
• Bond with a purpose made acrylic cement such as Weld-On rather than a general purpose adhesive
• Clean with a plastic safe cleaner, never with ammonia based glass cleaner
• Allow for thermal movement in any fixed installation, acrylic expands and contracts more than metal or glass

Why buy from Associated Plastics

Associated Plastics has been machining and fabricating acrylic in Hobart since 1979. We hold rod and tube in stock, we cut and finish it in our own workshop, and we deliver Australia-wide. If you are unsure whether your application needs solid rod or hollow tube, or what diameter and wall thickness will hold up, describe the job and we will recommend a size. Precision cut lengths save you time, waste and the frustration of trying to get a clean square cut on a round profile without the right blade.