tools needed to cut acrylic?

[agoutihead]

what kind of tool is needed to cut acrylic?

[Village Idiot]

I use my hand-held jigsaw...I use the plain 'ol wood cutting blade -- not the neatest cut but for sump baffles, who cares? If you want show-quality cuts, probably need a tablesaw with an acrylic blade.

If your cutting thin (<1/4 inch) you can score the acrylic and break it by hand.

[agoutihead]

most of it will be 1/4 in i do want show quality cuts though.

can i acheive show quality cuts from scoring them?

or do i have to use a table saw with acrylic blade?

how much are these blades?

doesnt the acrylic melt under high temps?

[Village Idiot]

When I cut with my jigsaw, the plastic does melt, that's why it's not show quality! Check out Melev's site for lot's of detail on acrylic work: Melev's Tools

[Hop]

Well the table router and guide fence IMO cuts better than the table saw w/ 80 tooth blade. I have to do the the least amount of work on the edges this way.

It also depends on how wide the pieces are you want to cut as most table saws only stretch out to 12-18" based on the model of saw. I built mine to do a max width cut of 72"

[Hop]

What are you building btw?

[agoutihead]

are table routers expensive?

im building a small customized nano.

[BigBadBlenny]

i have a small tool that i use to score the sheet over and over, then I just bend it on the line. like doing tiles.


Cutting Acrylic Sheet

Cutting with a knife or scriber

Acrylic sheet up to 3/16" thick may be cut by a method similar to that used to cut glass. Use a scribing knife, a metal scriber, an awl, or a utility knife to score the sheet. Draw the scriber several times (7 or 8 times for a 3/16" sheet) along a straight edge held firmly in place. Then clamp the sheet or hold it rigidly under a straight edge with the scribe mark hanging just over the edge of a table. Apply a sharp downward pressure to break the sheet along the scribe line. Scrape the edges to smooth any sharp corners. This method is not recommended for long breaks or thick material.

Cutting with power saws

Special blades are available to cut acrylic. Otherwise use blades designed to cut aluminum or copper. Teeth should be fine, of the same height, evenly spaced, with little or no set.

Table and circular saws

Use hollow ground high speed blades with no set and at least 5 teeth per inch. Carbide tipped blades with a triple chip tooth will give the smoothest cuts. Set the blade height about 1/8" above the height of the material. This will reduce edge chipping.
When using a hand held circular saw, clamp the sheet to the work surface and use a length of 1x3 wood to distribute the clamping pressure and act as a guide for the saw.

Feed the work slowly and smoothly. Lubricate the blade with soap or beeswax to minimize gumming from the masking adhesive. Be sure the saw is up to full speed before beginning the cut. Water cooling the blade is suggested for thicknesses over 1/4", especially if edge cementing will be performed.


Saber saws

Use metal or plastic cutting blades. The blades you use to cut acrylic should never be used for any other material. Cut at high speed and be sure the saw is at full speed before beginning the cut.

Hand saws

Good results are possible, but very difficult. Be sure the acrylic is clamped to prevent flexing. Flexing at the cut may cause cracking.

Routers and shapers

Use single fluted bits for inside circle routing and double fluted bits for edge routing. At the high speeds at which routers operate it is critical to avoid all vibration. Even small vibrations can cause crazing and fractures during routing.

[agoutihead]

my buddy has a hand router that he said we can flip upside down and build a make shift table for support.

that should work.

[Hop]

Check The DIY forum for a thread titled something like "acrylic questions, I can help" by Acrylics. It shows a router table and I basically copied it, by placing an inverted router on my DIY table saw and then using a guide fence it makes great cuts

[kwaters]

We used a circular saw. As HOP mentioned, a table is a little difficult when dealing with a whole sheet. Some of the edges weren't exactly square, but a little extra #16 and 24 hours of weight things were just fine. The blade was around $8 bucks...get one that is used for laminate/plastic. It has more teeth.

We didn't melt any of the acrylic, but the saw does produces some nasty stuff. There were a few chunks of stuff left on the blade and the edges. A small, straight router bit would cut through just fine (hmmm wish I'd though of this). It would be easy to set up two fences as a router guide. I would not use a table on a big piece, especially with 1/4 inch. Just set your bit slightly longer than the material thickness...should come out well.

Kris

[agoutihead]

the pieces im going to be working with are scrap pieces, no more than 2 feet big probably.

could i possibly rig something up other than having to build a big table and utilize the router with my hand likes its meant to be?

[Scuba_Steve]

cuts need to be exactly straight or you will get lots of bubbles in the seams, and weak joints. Look for the thread mentioned above, or the pins method of joining acrylic. Both will teach you alot. Oh and melevs site, also mentioned above.

[agoutihead]

alright, i got some acrylic, the guy cut it for me, so now all i have to do is drill 2- 1/2 inch holes in the back.

will any 1/2" hole saw work? or does it have to be special acrylic hole saws?

[agoutihead]

anyone?

i think i have to drill a 3/4" hole, not that the size should matter.

but can i just use any kind of hole saw?

[BigBadBlenny]

http://www.melevsreef.com/

[BigBadBlenny]

http://www.melevsreef.com/tools.html


go way down he talks about hole saws

if your cutting a hole for a bulkhead make sure you cut the right size.

[Hop]

Originally posted by agoutihead
anyone?

i think i have to drill a 3/4" hole, not that the size should matter.

but can i just use any kind of hole saw?

Well know for sure before you drill out the size making holes bigger is a bit of a chore.

Yes a regular hole say will work. Take your time and try to keep the saw cool. Otherwise it melts the acrylic to the teeth and has a hard time cutting.

[agoutihead]

would a paddle bit work better than a hole saw?

also, i tried a couple test runs last night, and i got weld on 16 from the guy i got my acrylic.... and it seems sloppy to me.

does the weld on 4 give you a much "cleaner" look? is it easy to use?

what do you do, just paint a small thin layer on the edge? with the 16 you have to put globs, and thats probably why it doesnt look good. but if you can basically "paint water" on the edges, i would imagine it looks much cleaner.

how long does that stuff take to set?

what do you do if you have an air bubble or a gap or something after its already dried?

[BigBadBlenny]

i would pm melev or check his site. he has a ton of greatstuff there

[alan214]

I got tired of trying to score the thinner stuff and having it work only half the time. I had a guy do all the cuts for me. It cost me more but it saved me a lot of frustration.

[Hop]

Originally posted by agoutihead
would a paddle bit work better than a hole saw?

also, i tried a couple test runs last night, and i got weld on 16 from the guy i got my acrylic.... and it seems sloppy to me.

does the weld on 4 give you a much "cleaner" look? is it easy to use?

what do you do, just paint a small thin layer on the edge? with the 16 you have to put globs, and thats probably why it doesnt look good. but if you can basically "paint water" on the edges, i would imagine it looks much cleaner.

how long does that stuff take to set?

what do you do if you have an air bubble or a gap or something after its already dried?

Hole saw is fine.

Yes 4 is better. 16 shrinks as it cures and causes bubbles. weldon 4 is better, but keep in mind there is no room for bad cuts. Everything has to be perfect. It will give you nice, clear joints. Using the pin method, it's easy to use. Finding weldon 4 is hard as it is listed as hazardous. I had to wait till I got my business license before anyone would ship it to me.

The 16 should be applied in a bead that runs the length of where you are gluing. The 4 needs to be applied with an applicator, not a brush.

[agoutihead]

alright, i did a couple of test runs yesterday, but i didnt sant the edges where i was making contact and i was able to break the two pieces apart.

does this make acrylic pieces lock together super hard? or is it still easy to break apart if enough pressure is applied? (like an L piece say)

im just going to use the 16 then.

i also ended up using a paddle bit, thats all i was able to find at the store. it went alright, i had to trim into the sides to make the threads to the bulkheads fit. but pretty good overall.

i started putting my actual tank together tonight.

it seems to be going alright, i did the front and left side pieces first and their both standing up straight, with the corners taped to hold them tightly together. i dont see how people use clamps in the begining?

tomorrow i will then weld the bottom, then the back and overflow partition, then finally the right side.

i didnt mine a bit different, instead of all the sides resting on the bottom piece, they all butt up against it.

[agoutihead]

anyone?