[snippitysnap]

Used 1/4" lexan sheet, jig saw to size

Replaced rubber gasket, which was both old and hard, and also designed for 4mm thick windows which are really hard to find, with mcmaster p/n 3275T22 one-piece gasket which works similarly but has the locking strip built in instead of as a separate piece of cord

I picked lexan because its practically bullet proof, but I notice alot of machine tools have acrylic, which from what I can tell is much more brittle and prone to shatter..although I think more scratch resistant

[dpuch]

The lexan will chip and wear over time. While it is tough it may or may not be a strong on an actual impact as the original window was.
Just remember it isn't just a window, but a saftey shield too.

[snippitysnap]

The lexan will chip and wear over time. While it is tough it may or may not be a strong on an actual impact as the original window was.
Just remember it isn't just a window, but a saftey shield too.

I'm more concerned with it as a safety shield, thats why I put in lexan in instead of acrylic. Are you saying there is another plastic that would be superior to lexan for impact resistance at this thickness?

[dpuch]

The newer machines I have looked at have been putting in 1/8 to 1/2" saftey glass composited with lexan on the operator. Total thickness is 3/4 to 1"
Granted these are large windows without the metal grid or bars. We have some older machines with only 1/4" thick lexan but that is backed by sheetmetal that only had 4x6" openings cut out in a grid.

Design trends have changed over the years (usually towards more saftey) and I'm just commenting based on the examples I have seen. Just make sure your not mistakenly replacing a window with something weaker.

[snippitysnap]

The newer machines I have looked at have been putting in 1/8 to 1/2" saftey glass composited with lexan on the operator. Total thickness is 3/4 to 1"
Granted these are large windows without the metal grid or bars. We have some older machines with only 1/4" thick lexan but that is backed by sheetmetal that only had 4x6" openings cut out in a grid.

Design trends have changed over the years (usually towards more saftey) and I'm just commenting based on the examples I have seen. Just make sure your not mistakenly replacing a window with something weaker.

As I said in the original post, the window that came with the machine was 4mm thick and I replaced it with 1/4" thick. So the new window is thicker than the original. The new window is also Lexan which is the most impact resistant plastic material available for this thickness.