When you don't have the time to wait for a vehicle's defroster to melt away ice on a windshield, use an ice scraper. And instead of spending money on one, you can make your own. If you have scrap Plexiglas sitting in your workshop, use this as the material for the scraper. You can choose how big you want it and fashion a handle that's suitable for your grip.
Set the Plexiglas on the workbench. Draw the spatula-shape of the scraper on the glass using the straight edge and the marker. Make the scraper at least 5 inches wide at the end, and keep the handle length no longer than 15 inches long and 2 inches wide.
Cut the ice scraper pattern out of the Plexiglas square with the table saw. Wear goggles for safety. As you begin to saw the Plexiglas, monitor the heat from the friction and make sure it is not melting. As a rule, the narrower the width of the Plexiglas, the more susceptible it is to heat friction and chipping. Go slowly to prevent both.
Place the ice scraper cutout into the bench vise and file the handle edges down so they are round and smooth. Use the file and power sander to smooth the sawed edges out and round the edges of the scraper.
File the front of the scraper so it has a sharp edge suitable to scrape off ice on a glass windshield. Do not make it razor sharp; try to keep at least 1/8 width on the scraper edge.
Wrap the handle in several layers of duct tape. To make the scraper handle softer, wrap layers of closed-cell foam fabric between duct tape layers. Cut off the excess foam and tape when the handle is wrapped.
