Can I put small nails through plexiglass?

Question

I would like to attach a 1/8" thick piece of plexiglass to the front of a bookcase. (It will be open at the top and will be used to house a hamster, so no hinges are needed.)

Can I use small nails?

Should I drill a very fine pilot hole?

If the nail idea is no good, then should I use a special adhesive, or should I use screws?

I do not have clamps and I do not have any special drill bits. If you want me to buy a special drill bit that doesn't cost more than $15 and that's available at Lowe's or Home Depot I'm game.

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Edit:

I followed the recommendations and it worked great. Very fine bit first, dipped in the dish soap. Went partway into the wood too. Then switched to a slightly larger bit and didn't go into the wood. (Particle board, actually.) The fine nails (1 1/4 " long) went in nice and straight thanks to the partial pilot hole. Used a slow speed and didn't push much. Operated drill while removing the drill from the hole. Made sure not to overhammer the nails.

I left the outer backing film on, to reinforce.

Tip: to remove the inner backing film, I rolled it up with a heavy cardboard mailing tube (borrowed from hamster).

Comments: the plexiglass didn't slide around even though I didn't have clamps. The drill bit never got hot but I did periodically dip it in the dish soap and I had the sense this was helpful.

Conclusion: faster and easier than it would have been with screws.

Answer 1

Fine nails are fine. But you do need to drill a clearance hole the full diameter of the nail shaft through the plastic. You may want to drill a smaller pilot hole at least partway into the wood to reduce the chance of splitting.

Any standard drill bit will do, but go very slowly to avoid melting the plastic as you drill.

Drill bits tend to walk on plastic, so you may want to put a piece of masking tape over each area to be drilled, which will give a bit of grip to avoid the slide.

Screws would also be fine (and a bit stronger; maybe overkill), but the same pilot hole rules apply.

Answer 2

Polycarbonate (Lexan) might be a better choice than acrylic (aka Plexiglas, Lucite or Perspex).

It's very tough but a bit softer with a bit of a yellow cast in the transparent 'color', whereas acrylic tends to be hard, more transparent and much more brittle.

See, for example, this comparison.

I would still drill the holes of nail diameter + a bit. Go a bit slow and use a sharp bit.

Answer 3

Too late to help you this time, (but for others); using washers under the head, especially if using countersunk screws helps, as it creates a clamping force with no chance of a wedging or splitting force building up in the plastic.