Best blade to cut acrylic?

[Neto]

Any recomendations on blades to cut acrylic sheets of 1/4" thick? I have a 40 tooth carbide tip blade but havent tried with it..

[AlanM]

Ive heard a few times now to turn that carbide blade backwards and cut. Marco told me that and I read it elsewhere too, but havent tried it yet. Mine cut well with a brand new 60 tooth carbide, but each cut got a bit worse. I did it before knowing the backwards trick.

[Marc Weaver]

If all your cuts are 24" or less, you can use our acrylic panel saw at work, it cuts very nice and square.  I also have an 84 tooth carbide which we used to make a refugium you can borrow.

[monkiboy]

alan, i don't think i ever tried it, though. i think it was a measure as to cut back on the acrylic making a mess in the cutter's face.

 

i just cut baffles for a sump with a 40-count blade and easy peezy and that was 1/2". it was really easy, good pace, no burn edges or need for compressed air. i have a bunch of acrylic you can practice on if you want.

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

The blade will cut the acrylic just fine as is.  Obviously, a carbide blade with a higher tooth count will make a "cleaner" cut, but how clean it needs to be really depends on the purpose of the pieces and if you are going to be doing any other type of edge prep later.

[Neto]

Great, I will try my blade and see.. Anybody knows of a good local source of acrylic? I know HD sells clear 1/4" sheets for like $20 or so.. I dont need a lot, maybe 2ft x 2ft...

 

thanks

[matt]

The blade will cut the acrylic just fine as is.  Obviously, a carbide blade with a higher tooth count will make a "cleaner" cut, but how clean it needs to be really depends on the purpose of the pieces and if you are going to be doing any other type of edge prep later.

 

Not to put you out of work, but what blades do you recommend for small jobs where people want good clean cuts?

[MBVette]

Im pretty sure every piece he cuts goes through a router to clean up the saws cut marks.  I highly doubt any table saw or circular saw will leave any piece with a perfect finish like a router.

[Marc Weaver]

We saw cut, waterjet, and laser-cut acrylic at work and I've never seen any of them leave as nice an edge as a router.  Laser-cut edges are nice but they cut on a slight 1/2 degree angle which is just enough to make tank building not work.

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

Great, I will try my blade and see.. Anybody knows of a good local source of acrylic? I know HD sells clear 1/4" sheets for like $20 or so.. I dont need a lot, maybe 2ft x 2ft...

 

thanks

 

HD and Lowes both carry lines of acrylic up to 1/4" (technically .220 vs .25 as there are metric, not imperial.  Only a few american acrylic manufacturers that cast acrylic to imperial standards).  If it's close, you can go to Piedmont Plastics in Elkridge, MD.  They will do "Cut-to-Order" pieces for you on their saw if you like even.  There, you can get higher quality materials.  Everything Lowes or HD carries will be Extruded acrylic.  I only use Cell Cast for my builds.  Google the difference to determine if it will be an issue for whatever your project is.  If the project is small then it likely won't be an issue to use extruded material.  You will find the cost to likely be a bit cheaper than HD for better quality material.

 

 

Not to put you out of work, but what blades do you recommend for small jobs where people want good clean cuts?

 

 

LOL, not worried about being put out of work by a blade recommendation Matt.  My panel saw uses a 7 1/4" circular saw to operate.  It functions well enough for the medium cut jobs.  Large cut jobs I still outsource to my suppliers.  I use the highest tooth count carbide blade I can get at HD which is a Diablo 54 Tooth Triple Carbide blade.  It's a pricey blade but worth it.  With small jobs it will last you quite a while.  I replace them every month or two with my volume however.

 

As MbVette said though, the true clean surface I use for building tanks and sumps isn't coming from the saw.  It comes from the router table.  I build old school as an art so don't have fancy CNC routers.  I manually machine every piece and every opening.  For small projects you could get by with a small big box bought table router, but those are really designed for routing wood.  The fence setup, configuration, feed method, and many other things are different with a router table setup for cutting acrylic on a larger scale as to volume or piece size.

 

If you will be welding the pieces and don't have access to this other type of equipment you can use a Jointer if you have one to get nice clean edges on smaller pieces.  Or you can use sandpaper tape down to a table and run the edges across the sandpaper.  Keeping the piece level and perpendicular to the sandpaper is important.  You need a good square edge for the welding.  220 grit will work good for this purpose to remove the saw marks.  There are also "Acrylic Scrapers" available that you can use to remove the saw marks in lieu of sandpaper.  When I built my first project, this is the method that I used, but I wouldn't recommend for anything big.  It's a lot of work scraping all of those edges .

 

Hope this helps .

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

We saw cut, waterjet, and laser-cut acrylic at work and I've never seen any of them leave as nice an edge as a router.  Laser-cut edges are nice but they cut on a slight 1/2 degree angle which is just enough to make tank building not work.

 

Laser-cut acrylic edges are nice for signage and many other things, but as you say...not good for building water/pressure vessels such as tanks.  The degree angle you mention plays one role, but the heat of the laser plays the other.  This creates stress in the acrylic.  Using solvents to weld the acrylic together is another stress.  Two stresses spell yucky with acrylic.  The joints would likely be bubble filled and/or display crazing (stress micro-cracks inside the material).  Certainly a cosmetic eye sore at the very least that may or may not display structural issues later on.

 

And you are right again about the clean edge left by a router.  It can be a thing of beauty =).  Also a thing of pain...many many times I have sliced a finger or palm open on a freshly routed piece of acrylic while maneuvering it around .

[dandy7200]

I use 120 tooth Tenryu blades with a ATAFR grind specifically designed for cutting acrylic sheet and tube.  When they start to dull I throw em in a pile until I get tired of looking at them, then I throw them away.  If you can use a 10" blade I am sure I have one laying around and while it is dull by my standards it is still going to cut better than anything home depot sells.  Let me know and I can bring it to the social.  http://www.tenryusawblades.com/proddetail.php?prod=74-226

[Rosco's Reefs]

for what kind of saw?  Table saw or circular?  If circular I'd love to try it.  A great WAMAS person gave me some acrylic sheets that I want to build tops from.  Thx in advance

[Neto]

I use 120 tooth Tenryu blades with a ATAFR grind specifically designed for cutting acrylic sheet and tube. When they start to dull I throw em in a pile until I get tired of looking at them, then I throw them away. If you can use a 10" blade I am sure I have one laying around and while it is dull by my standards it is still going to cut better than anything home depot sells. Let me know and I can bring it to the social. http://www.tenryusawblades.com/proddetail.php?prod=74-226

Thanks for the offer, i have a 10" table saw and would like to try it!

[matt]

I'd take one...saving the earth one blade at a time here

[Origami]

I use 120 tooth Tenryu blades with a ATAFR grind specifically designed for cutting acrylic sheet and tube. When they start to dull I throw em in a pile until I get tired of looking at them, then I throw them away. If you can use a 10" blade I am sure I have one laying around and while it is dull by my standards it is still going to cut better than anything home depot sells. Let me know and I can bring it to the social. http://www.tenryusawblades.com/proddetail.php?prod=74-226

Dan, toss one of those blades in for me. I'll pick up at the social. Thanks.

 

Sent from my phone

 

 

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

I use 120 tooth Tenryu blades with a ATAFR grind specifically designed for cutting acrylic sheet and tube.  When they start to dull I throw em in a pile until I get tired of looking at them, then I throw them away.  If you can use a 10" blade I am sure I have one laying around and while it is dull by my standards it is still going to cut better than anything home depot sells.  Let me know and I can bring it to the social.  http://www.tenryusawblades.com/proddetail.php?prod=74-226

 

That's a great blade Dan =).  I was referred to those before.  I forego them on cost as I still have to take everything over to the router table post saw anyhow.  That is an awesome blade for you though as it will give an edge that is great for the thicker solvents you guys use without the need for hitting it with the router separately.  If I were doing it that way then it would be worth every penny as I'm sure it is to you =)

 

for what kind of saw?  Table saw or circular?  If circular I'd love to try it.  A great WAMAS person gave me some acrylic sheets that I want to build tops from.  Thx in advance

 

Rosco, as it's a 10" blade then it's gonna be for either a table saw or a panel saw.  Won't fit circular.  There are blades much like that one made for circular saws however.

[Rosco's Reefs]

Thanks Adam:

 

I don't really want to do it that bad (to spend big money on a special blade.)  This project is a little ways down my "need to do next" list anyway.

[dandy7200]

I actually only have one right now anyways but ya'll can pass it around.  I usually go through about 4 a year so I will just remember that they would be welcomed freebies here

[PK3]

Would this fit on a 10" miter saw?  If so, could you keep me in mind when you are finished with another one?  Thanks.

[Neto]

lol, I guess we all need too look at AVAST's trash more often

 

Thanks Dan