Acrylic

[Guest clownfish4]

What is the easiest and most accurate way to cut acrylic or other plastics?

[michaelg]

for sheets your best bet is a table saw with a zero kirf blade (many teeth is better).  Go slow, to avoid chipping- too slow, the plastic can start to melt.  Have some scrap to practice.  Double measure!  After cutting, use several grades of sand paper to make the edge super smooth before gluing together.  Tubes are a whole different story.

[xeon]

I use a table saw w/ a relatively cheap blade I bought at Lowes.  You could really spend some money on a triple chip carbide tipped blade, but my cheapie does fine.  The blade packaging mentions plastics as one of its usages.  A 10" 80 tooth or so w/ a low kerf is a good choice.  The optimal feed rate for a table saw cutting acryic is ~50ft./min as I remember.  That is a pretty fast rate, so I just run the material as fast as the saw can cut.  If you run too slow the plastic can start to melt, chip and doesn't turn out too well.  Picking up some scraps to tinker around with before hitting your project material is a good idea.

[Sph2sail]

I'm about to build a sump out of acrylic.  Should we turn this into a bit of a building party and have several folks share tools?  My plan (and the best laid plans...) is to get mine cut this weekend.

 

s

[flowerseller]

carbide tip, fast speed is best, and smooth, even push.

joint the edges so you don't round the sides sanding. At least use a block

of scrap and hold the paper tight to the scrap.

BTW, a router will cut that pretty smooth and leaves minimal sanding similar

to jouinting.

Chip