?: How do I cut acryllic.

[DigitalGriffin]

I thought about making my own display case and want to cover it in an acryllic shell.

 

 

[7j43k]

A table saw works nicely. I think you'll want a carbide blade; I hear acrylic dulls regular blades. If you want, you can polish the cut edges. I'd start with a very smooth fine file, then go to your choice of finer and finer carbide paper. At the end, you use an appropriate polish.

If you want to glue the cut edge to another piece, it'll still have to be "prettified", but you don't have to go all the way down to a beautiful polish. And you especially don't want to round over the sawn edge.

If you want to avoid messing with the cut edge, you can build a frame.

You should consider the possibility of having the cover made up by a pro. There are times when that's cheaper (in the widest sense). With acrylic, EVERYONE can see your mistakes.

I'll mention that I saw a display case made using a sliding glass shower door. It was VERY cost effective. Of course, your overall size is pre-determined. It was also very presentable, considering. I didn't even notice their use of the shower door until they pointed it out (fondest memories of Dave and Peggy of Lee's Trains!).

Ed

[dstarr]

 My wall mounted display case is wood with sliding acrylic doors to keep the dust out.  The acrylic doors slide in groves milled into the wood sides and bottom.  The local plastics shop cut the acrylic to size for me.  Measure carefully, cause they won't give a refund if your measurements are off.

 

[St Francis Consolidated RR]

   Hi....I think you're asking for trouble cutting acrylic for presentation. You might try a local art framing shop, they use the stuff to frame pastels and drawings when glass would be to heavy or somebody's afraid of it breaking. If you get a good framer they won't try to soak you too bad. Just a thought.

[farrellaa]

You can cut it on a table saw if you use a special 'very fine tooth blade' that is made for cutting acrylic and other hard plastics. I used to work in a professional model shop in New York and we cut it every day. They also used a wax to coat the blade from time to time. This left a wax residue on the cut but it was easy to remove with a little turps. You can buy the blades at some of the commercial plastic supply shops. Check your yellow pages or go online. Just remember to cut slow and wear safety glasses (or even two pair!). It does make a mess with the plastic shavings/chips that are static crazy.

The main difference with plastic (acrylic especially) cutting tools is the rake angle and tooth offset, which are generally a lower degree of angle than wood or metal cutting tools.

[Javelina]

One thing to know about using a table saw for acrylics, or any plastic for that matter, is that the blade speed is too high. IF you change the pulleys to slow the blade down by about 50% you're in the ballpark and a fine tooth blade will work well. Rule of thumb on tooth count is you always want to have at least 3 teeth "in the cut". In other words, for 1/4" work, 12 teeth per inch is minimum. Any fewer and the work will tend to chip badly, any more and the blade "loads up" and burns the work. Don't over feed the saw by pushing it too hard or you'll burn the edge and have a mess. Leave the plastic wrap on as long as you can, but take it off before the next step. You can "flame polish" the edge to shine it up better than abrasives. Use a propane torch set to a "soft" flame. Point the flame cone right at the edge, about two inches away (like you were painting it with the flame) and run it along quickly. The flame softens the plastic to the melting point just enough to level it and as the flame moves on the surface hardens. You will need to practice, so try and get some scrap to play with. Be safe. Have fun.

Lou

[Don Z]

When all else fails, go to the manufacturer and read their recommendations.

http://www.sdplastics.com/acryliteliterature/13192GTBCuttingwithCircularSaws.pdf

I have cut many hundreds of feet of acrylic sheet ranging from 1/4" to 3/4" thickness on my tablesaw using the correct blade and have never had a problem with melting or chipping. Feeding the material through the blade too slow is the most frequent problem with inferior cuts.

Good luck on your project.

Don Z.

[UncBob]

DigitalGriffin

I thought about making my own display case and want to cover it in an acryllic shell.

 

 

 

You can get them cut to order at most class supply stores 

I did 3 display cases and they cut them all to size for me 

here is a pic with the covers off so I didn't get reflection in the pic 

I used flexitrack to mount the trains on 

 

[lvanhen]

I'll second the supplier cutting it for you.  I cut my own, having been a contractor, untill I found a piece of "scrap" I got at a bargain price was Lexan!!   Brand new $39 blade "ka ka" after about 5" of cut!!

[DigitalGriffin]

The information is greatly apprecaited gentlemen.  Thank you as always!