ty for sharing
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I made it out of 1/8 inch Black Acrylic. I engraved the Letters, then cleaned out the engraving with a toothbrush, then still with the masking on I painted them with White Acrylic paint. Let it dry then removed the masking. The 2 Red dot are cut out for the screws.
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How well have these held up?
Does the acrylic crack too easily, e.g.?
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You may or may not hear from @stanleycampbell, as he has not been active since that post almost 2 years ago.
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You can buy silicone license-plate frames for a few $$, and you could engrave them on the GF if you like. I’ve had one on my plate on one of my bikes since the mid 2000’s, and another on my car since 2018.
No way acrylic would hold up to the elements that long.
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Silicone? Is it flexible?
(I may not be familiar with all the forms/consistencies of silicone.)
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I made a frame from acrylic about 4 years ago that i adapted from this thread. It’s still looking great on my car. It’s proofgrade black, white, red, and green acrylics held together with super glue.
I’m in California, so it’s held up to 100+ degree weather, and the rainy season, and even snow. It also survived several trips across the country (east to west and back).
Oh, also no issue going through car washes… but i made a rear plate cover only.
It’s got a crack near the center top, but that mostly has to do with adapting it for another camera-someone messed with my camera mounted on the black acrylic and caused it to crack.
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Looks awesome great idea.
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so…this particular thread has been up for 5 years! For those that made license plate frames —
- what did you make the frame out of (and thickness)
- how have they held up to the seasons?
- how long have they been in use?
I have engraved premade black frames and it showed the silver underneath. I have always wanted to make them as an item to sell but wasn’t sure how long they would hold up. Would really appreciate the information! Thanks!
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I used 1/8" black acrylic, but i have a 1/8" hardboard frame behind it. The add ons are also 1/8" acrylic superglued on.
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You can tell they lived in a place with little rain! 
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I made one from Proofgrade acrylic in early 2019, and it looked good as new until the day I sold the car in October 2021. The car was parked outside in the sun daily. I also took that car through a car wash about once a month, that didn’t harm the acrylic either.
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Yes, but it survived the rainy season this year, plus weekly car washes. The hardboard was really just a precaution for the thin swirly bits of the original frame i made. Every time we dried the car, the red acrylic would snap from getting stuck on the towel and we’dneed to super glue it back on, so husband wanted a backboard for it.
For the second frame (which is at least 2 years old now), i made the black acrylic cover the area where we added the red alfa logo and i made it a bit thicker in width to prevent breakage. Worked like a charm, but he continued to use the hardboard too since it was already there.
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Awesome!
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Awesome! You didn’t need the bottom two screw holes? Are you placing anything behind the license plate to hold it up inside of the frame?
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There are only 2 top screws, and it holds it on very well; but, just to be safe, I used double stick tape for additional hold on the bottom. The “Heart 2 Fly!” is just adhered with 3M tape.
BTW, if I am going through a car wash, I use a shower cap with pull strings and just put it over the license plate and tie it.
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ha, i like that shower cap idea. I want to make some of these with different designs but I was worried about car washes. Thanks!
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That is impressive Dan! Would that have been 1/4" thick acrylic? Awaiting your reply so I can try that out this weekend! I would love to make it all myself and not have to pay someone for a frame (and make a fraction off of the sale). Thanks for the reply
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Mine was made with 1/8" acrylic
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