'm looking for thin sheets of rigid material that have a regular pattern of holes in them.

November 16, 2010 11:41 AM

I'm looking for thin sheets of rigid material that have a regular pattern of holes in them. So, a sheet of opaque plastic with ben-day dots drilled out of it for use in a fluorescent light fixture would be great. Any ideas? Search terms? The material the sheets are made of is unimportant, as is the size and placement of the dots.
posted by dirtdirt to Shopping (13 answers total)

Best answer: Perforated Plastic sheet?
posted by Erasmouse at 11:47 AM on November 16, 2010

Best answer: Maybe this company can help you (they might only sell in large quantities, but you could contact them for names of local distributors); I remember getting their "Hole Story" catalog every quarter when I worked in the steel business.
posted by Oriole Adams at 11:48 AM on November 16, 2010

Depending on your scale, perf board or peg board might do it.
posted by MrMoonPie at 11:49 AM on November 16, 2010

Pegboard?
posted by halogen at 11:49 AM on November 16, 2010

Home Depot and Lowe's sell pegboard. You can probably get it as little as 1'x2' for about $4. If they don't have such a small sheet, they can cut a bigger sheet so that you can fit it in your car.
posted by deadweightloss at 12:08 PM on November 16, 2010

Best answer: Mcmaster-Carr Perferated Metals
posted by bdc34 at 12:08 PM on November 16, 2010

Are you trying to build something like a big lite brite? I've done some investigation down this road...

I contacted a guy who built some pretty big items. He told me this, "The most important part is the peg holes. Google around for perforated sheet metal. You need 3/16 inch holes on 1/4 inch staggered centers (ask/look around for this specifically). You may wanna try www. mcnichols.com."

However, I could never find the pegs in bulk for the colors I wanted.
posted by kookywon at 12:12 PM on November 16, 2010 [2 favorites]

BTW, if this is what you're doing and you have a line on pegs I would be very interested in talking to you.
posted by kookywon at 12:13 PM on November 16, 2010

Screeching derail: kookywon, I DEMAND you finish your giant Lite-Brite, because it's the coolest thing I've heard of in many a moon. These cast acrylic rods are apparently easily machinable... order 'em in short lengths and run 'em through a lathe?...
posted by julthumbscrew at 12:33 PM on November 16, 2010

Came in to suggest McNichols, which was linked by Oriole Adams above. Great variety of materials, sheet thicknesses, and hole sizes.
posted by LionIndex at 12:42 PM on November 16, 2010

McNichols definitely sells to individuals. They'll even custom perforate things.

So does McMaster-Carr. They probably ship faster if that's a concern.
posted by sepviva at 1:10 PM on November 16, 2010

Response by poster: Well, 'perforated' is definitely the search term I was missing. Both of the Mc's look like good sources, but are maybe a bit more spendy than I can do right now. I'll keep an eye out for alternate sources.
posted by dirtdirt at 8:19 AM on November 17, 2010

Response by poster: Oh, and pegboard has the holes too far apart. I know I said the intervals don't matter, but that is only true to a point. But thanks anyway!
posted by dirtdirt at 8:21 AM on November 17, 2010