Need to make some small cuts in 4mm acrylic plastic sheets that make
up two side of my shower enclosure. After the old shower tray leaked,
I bought a tray with four upstands and need to fit it in place so that
the acrylic sheets sit inside the upstands. Don’t want to take the
acrylic off the wall but it needs to be notched for the upstand. Also
a couple of other bits need to come off for the tray to fit. Total
length of all the cuts is about 15cm.

What might be the best way to cut the acrylic? I could spend £30 on a
Dremel tool but it sounds like overkill. A jigsaw will not work since
the wall is on the other side of the sheet. The score and break method
is not right for this job. Keep going round and round but coming back
to the Dremel. There must be an alternative….


Eric

"Eric" wrote in message
...
Need to make some small cuts in 4mm acrylic plastic sheets that make
up two side of my shower enclosure. After the old shower tray leaked,
I bought a tray with four upstands and need to fit it in place so that
the acrylic sheets sit inside the upstands. Don’t want to take the
acrylic off the wall but it needs to be notched for the upstand. Also
a couple of other bits need to come off for the tray to fit. Total
length of all the cuts is about 15cm.

What might be the best way to cut the acrylic? I could spend £30 on a
Dremel tool but it sounds like overkill. A jigsaw will not work since
the wall is on the other side of the sheet. The score and break method
is not right for this job. Keep going round and round but coming back
to the Dremel. There must be an alternative….

Eric

How about a fine spiral cut drill bit, like this
http://www.transtools.co.uk/store/ex...productId=2617 .

Easier and cheaper than buying more tools. Although, more tools means
easier jobs in the future.

:-)

In article
,
Eric wrote:
What might be the best way to cut the acrylic? I could spend £30 on a
Dremel tool but it sounds like overkill. A jigsaw will not work since
the wall is on the other side of the sheet. The score and break method
is not right for this job. Keep going round and round but coming back
to the Dremel. There must be an alternative….

Sounds like a job for - tara - MultiMaster.

--
*I never drink anything stronger than gin before breakfast *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article
,
Eric wrote:
What might be the best way to cut the acrylic? I could spend £30 on a
Dremel tool but it sounds like overkill. A jigsaw will not work since
the wall is on the other side of the sheet. The score and break method
is not right for this job. Keep going round and round but coming back
to the Dremel. There must be an alternative….

Sounds like a job for - tara - MultiMaster

Dave Plowman


My Bosch would be to heavy for a little job like acrylic sheet. Although,
now you mention it, there is a ceramic blade that might just do it. I'd
like to try it on a spare bit of sheet first though, but it might just be
the very thing for this type of job.

On with the goggles to go and try it. :-)

Eric wrote:
Need to make some small cuts in 4mm acrylic plastic sheets that make
up two side of my shower enclosure. After the old shower tray leaked,
I bought a tray with four upstands and need to fit it in place so that
the acrylic sheets sit inside the upstands. Don’t want to take the
acrylic off the wall but it needs to be notched for the upstand. Also
a couple of other bits need to come off for the tray to fit. Total
length of all the cuts is about 15cm.

What might be the best way to cut the acrylic? I could spend £30 on a
Dremel tool but it sounds like overkill. A jigsaw will not work since
the wall is on the other side of the sheet. The score and break method
is not right for this job. Keep going round and round but coming back
to the Dremel. There must be an alternative….


No, I think a dremel - a damn good powerful one, is the way to go.



Eric

In article ,
BigWallop wrote:

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article
,
Eric wrote:
What might be the best way to cut the acrylic? I could spend £30 on
a Dremel tool but it sounds like overkill. A jigsaw will not work
since the wall is on the other side of the sheet. The score and
break method is not right for this job. Keep going round and round
but coming back to the Dremel. There must be an alternative….

Sounds like a job for - tara - MultiMaster

My Bosch would be to heavy for a little job like acrylic sheet.
Although, now you mention it, there is a ceramic blade that might just
do it. I'd like to try it on a spare bit of sheet first though, but it
might just be the very thing for this type of job.

On with the goggles to go and try it. :-)

I'd say the semi-circular saw blade that came with my Fein perfect for
this - use at a slow speed to prevent melting.

--
*It's o.k. to laugh during sexŒ.Œ.just don't point!

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

In article ,

The Natural Philosopher wrote:
Eric wrote:
Need to make some small cuts in 4mm acrylic plastic sheets that make
up two side of my shower enclosure. After the old shower tray leaked,
I bought a tray with four upstands and need to fit it in place so that
the acrylic sheets sit inside the upstands. Don’t want to take the
acrylic off the wall but it needs to be notched for the upstand. Also
a couple of other bits need to come off for the tray to fit. Total
length of all the cuts is about 15cm.

What might be the best way to cut the acrylic? I could spend £30 on a
Dremel tool but it sounds like overkill. A jigsaw will not work since
the wall is on the other side of the sheet. The score and break method
is not right for this job. Keep going round and round but coming back
to the Dremel. There must be an alternative….


No, I think a dremel - a damn good powerful one, is the way to go.

Simply not in the same league as a Fein - I've got both. Dremels are toys.

The beauty of the Fein is the saw blade reciprocates. A rotary one hand
held is *far* more difficult to control. So to cut a straight line
following a mark with the Fein requires little skill.

--
*Keep honking...I'm reloading.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Nov 5, 9:20*am, "Dave Plowman (News)" wrote:
In article ,

The Natural Philosopher wrote:



Eric wrote:
Need to make some small cuts in 4mm acrylic plastic sheets that make
up two side of my shower enclosure. After the old shower tray leaked,
I bought a tray with four upstands and need to fit it in place so that
the acrylic sheets sit inside the upstands. Don’t want to take the
acrylic off the wall but it needs to be notched for the upstand. Also
a couple of other bits need to come off for the tray to fit. Total
length of all the cuts is about 15cm.

What might be the best way to cut the acrylic? I could spend £30 on a
Dremel tool but it sounds like overkill. A jigsaw will not work since
the wall is on the other side of the sheet. The score and break method
is not right for this job. Keep going round and round but coming back
to the Dremel. There must be an alternative….

No, I think a dremel - a damn good powerful one, is the way to go.

Simply not in the same league as a Fein - I've got both. Dremels are toys..

The beauty of the Fein is the saw blade reciprocates. A rotary one hand
held is *far* more difficult to control. So to cut a straight line
following a mark with the Fein requires little skill.

I idnt find any difficulty in controlling the die grinder cutting
acrylic. Not enough torque I guess. FWIW select max speed if its
variable, its the locally generated heat that does most of the
cutting.


NT