Making a dust cover

Is the dust cover of your record player due for replacement? Or do you want to protect a work of art against dust and bumps? Then a customised protective acrylic perspex sheet dust cover is the perfect solution. It’s particularly handy that you can order the supplies for this project all in one go. Clear acrylic is the most obvious choice for protecting artworks or model building. The choice of colour is of course up to you: acrylic dust covers can be created in all possible colours of acrylic sheet.

Requirements for making a DIY a dust cover:

Why make an acrylic dust cover?

Acrylic sheet, also known as Plexiglass, has a number of advantages over ordinary glass. Firstly, acrylic is a lot lighter than regular glass and it is many times stronger. It is 30 times more impact-resistant than glass and therefore does not break easily. If it should break, it does not shatter like glass, but a single breakage occurs. Secondly, moulded acrylic is easy to process. This makes it a great product to get started with. When it comes to protecting beautiful, valuable things, an acrylic dust cover is definitely the way to go.

How to: Make a dust cover

Making a DIY protective cover does not have to be expensive or difficult. The only thing you need are customised acrylic sheets and a good acrylic adhesive; ordinary glue does not work for acrylic glass. In a few short steps, we explain how it works and what you should keep in mind when assembling and maintaining the dust cover.

Step 1: Measure carefully

“Measure carefully” naturally applies to every project. How big will it be and what dimensions will I order? Measure the height, width and length of the object you want to protect. Make sure that you take the dimensions accurately enough so that the dust cover fits well around it.

Now that you know the dimensions, it’s time to order the acrylic. You need five sheets. Two equal sides, a front and back with the same dimensions and a top. Don’t forget to order a tube of Acrifix acrylic adhesive for bonding the sheets.

The order is delivered and you can get started! Safety first: always use rubber or vinyl gloves and safety glasses when using acrylic adhesive.

Step 2: Prepare the acrylic

Before we start glueing, it’s important that all sawn edges are flat and straight, this will be the case if we have cut the sheets for you. We still recommend sanding the edges with fine sandpaper (grain 200 or finer). Once you have finished sanding, clean the edges with antistatic cleaner or alcohol, then dry the edges with a lint-free cloth.

Step 3: Get started with acrylic

The sheets are now ready to be glued. When making the dust cover, it’s all about right angle connections, therefore the use of a square hook is necessary. Make sure that the parts remain fixed during glueing and drying. The time has come: all the supplies are ready and you can start glueing.

An interesting fact: acrylic adhesives do not have their own adhesive power but soften the contact surfaces so that they melt together!

Acrifix is applied via a vial with a needle, this allows you to apply the glue very precisely. Apply the acrylic glue to the contact surfaces and keep the two parts fixed for at least 15 minutes. The adhesive bond reaches full strength after 24 to 48 hours. The most convenient order for glueing is: first the front on one side and the back on one side. Then glue these two parts together, finally glue the top into position.

Maintenance of an acrylic glass dust cover

Acrylic is easy to clean though the top layer of acrylic is a little more liable to be scratched than normal glass. In our blog “Cleaning acrylic” we describe how you can clean acrylic scratch-free. Have any scratches occurred on the dust cover? Then read our tips about getting rid of scratches on acrylic.