Keeping a social distance of 2 metres proves to be quite tricky in practice, so making a perspex screen to reduce the contact between cashiers and customers is a good way to reduce the spread of infection. This blog brings you a few ideas on how you can make a plastic cough screen for your counter or cash register.
The basis for your plastic sneeze screen
Before you start on your plastic shielding, the first thing to consider is whether you want a hanging or standing construction. A hanging screen is the easiest to make yourself. For a standing construction, some DIY experience is required, because you’ll be carrying out several different processes. The following rule applies to all types of plastic counter screen: are you going to machine it? If so, use cast acrylic sheet rather than budget acrylic, the cheaper extruded type. This is because the way extruded acrylic sheet is manufactured creates more tension on the sheet and it can break when being machined.
# 1. Making a hanging perspex sneeze screen with suspension holes
The easiest way to make a hanging glass sneeze screen is to order a 3 mm thick cast acrylic sheet. Drill two holes with a diameter of about 8 mm, then attach your screen to the ceiling. If you want to secure the screen at the base as well, drill holes at the bottom. Read our blog Drilling acrylic to learn how to drill this type of plastic.
# 2. Making a hanging protective screen without drilling holes
Would you like to make a hanging protective screen yourself without drilling holes? Opt for our suspension system suitable for perspex panels with a thickness of 3 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm or 6 mm. The key advantage is that you can order the acrylic sheet separately in the exact dimensions you require. Then all you need to do is to clamp the panel into position using a stainless steel ceiling holder, a stainless steel panel holder and stainless steel wire.
# 3. Making a standing plastic display screen
If you don’t want to suspend a sneeze screen from the ceiling but prefer to attach it to your counter, this is of course also possible. You can attach plastic shielding to your counter or checkout using spacers. To mount these stainless steel spacers, drill a hole of 8-10 mm wide in the acrylic sheet. Fix the base of the support against the wall with a screw, drilling a 4 mm screw hole. If you prefer not to drill the acrylic, use panel holders to attach your perspex screen.
# 4. Making plastic shielding in a frame
Another way to place or fix your plastic shielding between a cash register and counter is to make a wooden frame to surround it. This is rather like making a window frame in which you place a window. In this case, the window is a 3 mm thick acrylic sheet and acts as a protective shield between cashiers and customers. Read our blog DIY: window replacement to learn how to do this.
Tip: because you don’t have to machine this type of shielding, you can opt to use budget acrylic if you prefer.
# 5. Making a standing protective counter screen
DIYers with more experience can also make a standing acrylic screen for their cash register, counter or display. The advantage is that you can completely customise the protective shielding with a maximum surface area of 305 by 203 centimetres. For this project, you’ll need to order a cast acrylic sheet at least 3 mm thick. For the pedestals, use 8 mm thick acrylic sheet to create extra strength. Make cut-outs 24 cm wide and 10 cm high using a router or saw. We explain how this is done in our blogs: Milling acrylic and Sawing acrylic.
# 6. Make a tabletop corona screen
This set of plexiglass clamps allows you to make a corona screen for your table quickly and easily. Handy if, for example, you want to create one or more partitions over a conference table. All you have to do is to fix the clamps and attach a 4 mm thick clear acrylic sheet. You can order this separately. You can also choose to order the set of clamps with the acrylic panel included.
Ready-made plastic shielding
When you order plastic sheet material from us, we saw everything tailor-made to the size you need free of charge. For the latest delivery information, please see our coronavirus information page. If you prefer a ready-made transparent screen, choose from one of our ready-made counter screens. If you have questions about making a plastic sneeze screen, feel free to contact us at 0122 397 6701 or send us an email to info@plasticsheetsshop.co.uk.