Materials & Finishes Guide

Acrylic: cast or extruded

Both are PMMA sheet and both look like clear plastic on a shelf. The difference appears when you machine, polish or bend them.

	Cast acrylic	Extruded acrylic
Clarity	Very high, consistent	Good, slightly lower
Machining	Clean edges, resists crazing	Can stress and craze near cut edges
Polishing	Excellent — takes a near-optical polish	Acceptable, more prone to dulling
Bending	Needs controlled heating	Bends easily and predictably
Cost	Higher	Lower
Use for	Polished display props, cases, visible edges	Flat panels, simple bends, internal parts

Default recommendation: cast acrylic for anything a customer will look at closely, extruded only where cost matters more than edge quality.

Acrylic thickness

• 1–3 mm — sign holders, printed panels, low-load dividers. Light and cheap, but flexes across a span.
• 5–10 mm — structural walls, risers, box sides, display cases. The working range for most retail props.
• 15–30 mm — solid blocks and plinths, heavy product support, premium counter pieces.

Thicker is not automatically better: it adds weight, freight cost and machining time. Specify thickness against the load and span, not against a feeling about quality.

Wood species and board

Material	Strengths	Watch out for
Pine	Light, economical, paints well	Soft — dents under impact; grain telegraphs through thin paint
Rubberwood	Dense, stable, even grain, stains well	Needs a proper sealer; visible finger joints on some grades
Walnut / oak	Grain character for premium retail	Cost and colour variation between boards — batch in one go
MDF, E0-grade	Very flat, smooth paint finish, stable	Not structural across a span; edges need sealing
Plywood, E0-grade	Strong across spans, good for shelving	Edges need banding or a painted frame

E0-grade board is the usual specification for export markets with formaldehyde limits. If your destination requires material documentation, ask at quote stage rather than after production.

Finishes and what they cost you

• Clear lacquer — matte, satin or gloss. The default for stained wood; sheen level matters more than most buyers expect under store lighting.
• Stain plus lacquer — colour and protection in one system. Always approve a physical sample; stain reads differently on pine and rubberwood.
• Hard-wax oil — open-pore, natural feel, repairable on site. Less resistant to liquids than lacquer, so better for dry retail than food service.
• Painted and lacquered — the widest colour range and the most forgiving of substrate. Best on E0 MDF for flatness.
• Laminates — durable and consistent, but edges and joints need detailing or they give the piece away as flat-pack.

Branding methods

Laser engraving is permanent, ink-free and reads well on wood and on clear or black acrylic. UV printing handles full-colour artwork on flat faces. Silk screen suits one or two spot colours at volume. Reverse printing seals the graphic behind the sheet and is the most durable option for premium acrylic pieces handled daily.

Choosing between wood and acrylic

Wood reads warm, ages visibly and suits heritage, food, gift and lifestyle brands; it is also the better choice where the display must feel like furniture. Acrylic reads clean and modern, transmits light and shows product from every angle; it is the better choice for cosmetics, jewelry, collectibles and anywhere the display itself should almost disappear. Hybrids — a wooden base with an acrylic hood — are common precisely because they get both. The buying guide walks through the decision against a real shelf.

Related pages

Frequently asked questions