Cutting clear acrylic (plexiglass) sheets

[RoamingGnome]

Seemed a timely thing to share with discussions of fabricating windows for winter cabs on our tractors

I had to cut a piece of 1/8" clear acrylic sheet to temporarily replace a broken pane of glass in an old window today. I've cut this stuff before, and it's never been fun - regardless of what tool I used for making the cut.

Today was different, and a pleasant surprise.

First time I've used the 3" plastic cutting disc that came with my Milwaukee cut off tool

- even used the mini skil-saw adapter with vacuum pickup - once I figured out how to connect the two parts (instruction manuals are only for people who don't know what they are doing... Right?)

Marked off my lines on masking tape and just went to it - no chips or chunks flying, and the vacuum pickup seemed work well.

Of course you don't need a fancy cordless tool, but that cutting disc was a game changer for me

[thebuildist]

wow. All I"ve ever used is a table saw. (But I wear a face shield. Cutting either plexiglass or aluminum, the table saw really likes to shoot shrapnel at your face.)

But I'll have to try one of those and see how it goes.

Bob

[DavidBarkey]

My experience cutting "plastics" is to remember 3 things
-at least 2 teeth contact the cut surface ( pitch of blade)
-cutting blade speed , to fast and will stick to blade (soapy water helps some times )
-feed rate too fast and it will take to big of a bite (bad things tend to happen )

This why Gerry's setup worked so well . Blade being an abrasive blade is a "fine tooth" . The tool is battery powered which tend to spin slower. Has had issues in past so took his time . A little soapy water may help as well , but vac needs to be setup for wet use .

[Toolslinger]

Had anyone asked me if that would work, I would have for sure said no... I will have to look in to that. Traditional plastic cutting blades tend to be high tooth count, low hook angle, with a triple chip grind tooth that has been tweaked a little. Thin bodies help as well. Basically you want to avoid any kind of heat generation, and not take too big of a bite. An abrasive like that is certianly a fine enough tooth, but I'd think it's going to generate heat. It does look like there's a good bit of glazing starting to deposit on the side of the blade, which could become an issue.

I used to cut tons of plastics. Now, not so much really.

Always nice to find another option...

[RoamingGnome]

A follow up on my acrylic cutting - went back and looked at one of the off cut scraps,

The original cut made 20+ yrs ago with a circular saw is on the left hand side - the new cut with the carbide blade is on the right. It's worth noting some of the chips from the old cut aren't all the way through, it's like the blade was breaking off bits half way through the material

The comment about melted acrylic sticking to the side of the blade was accurate - I had to go back and have a closer look - it did flake off the blade with very little pressure,

As I was making the cuts with the carbide blade the swarf was coming off almost like a fine powder and if I pushed too fast into the cut the particles were sort of melting together in a delicate strand that would fall apart if you touched it.

The cut off tool does spin up to 20,000 rpm but the speed is variable depending on how hard you squeeze the trigger. It's also reversible, and blade direction could be something to play with in the future. The big plus was small powder like swarf, not the sharp, broken glass like chips I had dealt with before.

After picking at the plastic residue on the blade I can't see any noticeable wear on the carbide surface after cutting about 36" of plastic - It's not cheap though, $20 Cdn bucks at your favourite big box hardware store. It was included as part of the cut off tool kit (along with a standard abrasive metal cutting disc and a diamond one for tile.) The bare tool kit is $189 - I've used a lot of zip cut discs on air die grinders - sometimes it's nice not having to drag an air hose behind you.

[Grayelve]

I have had pretty good results 3.5 " diamond blade in a B&D 18v and a squirt bottle to keep the cut cooled. This past summer I used a Dremel oscillating tool with a fine-tooth blade to cut quite a bit of acrylic glazings repairing a green house which went great and fast. I run a piece of adhesive and mark my line in it and some of the time I will clamp a guide for long runs to keep it all true. Just my 2 cents Grayelve

[Eugen]

Good tips y'all. This'll be useful for me when I attempt to make a clear enclosure to the latest acquisition.

[Eugen]

Good tips y'all, thank you! This'll be useful for me when I attempt to make a clear enclosure to the latest acquisition.

[RoamingGnome]

I have had pretty good results 3.5 " diamond blade in a B&D 18v and a squirt bottle to keep the cut cooled. This past summer I used a Dremel oscillating tool with a fine-tooth blade to cut quite a bit of acrylic glazings repairing a green house which went great and fast. I run a piece of adhesive and mark my line in it and some of the time I will clamp a guide for long runs to keep it all true. Just my 2 cents Grayelve

Oooh... an oscillating tool That's one of them fancy new fangled tools that hasn't found it's way into my tool collection yet
is always saying I've got every type of tool imaginable I think I've got a suggestion now when time comes around...

[Eugen]

Oooh... an oscillating tool That's one of them fancy new fangled tools that hasn't found it's way into my tool collection yet
is always saying I've got every type of tool imaginable I think I've got a suggestion now when time comes around...

Gerry, you may have better success making a case with your knowing that the Milwaukee oscillating tool fits perfectly with your M18 set. I got one and it was not terribly expensive. You haven't heard this from me though