My daughter wants to smarten up her bathroom prior to sale and her bath
panel is cracked.

Its a funny length though (1670mm) and seems hard to find.

One end of the panel tucks behind a vanity unit and wont be visible so
its tempting to buy a cheap 1700mm panel and to trim the end off.

Anyone done this? What would be the best cutting tool for a plastic bath
panel? I do appreciate that itll weaken the end of the panel cutting off
an end but about 450mm of that end of the panel will be behind the vanity
unit so I dont think itll matter.

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

You can always reinforce the cut end with a timber profile stuck to the back of the cut end, since the edge will not be seen then you have the option of screwing the profile on. If you can create and fix the profile first then you can cut alongside it to minimise chipping.

Bath panels shatter and chip very easily a fine blade like a hacksaw blade in a pad handle at a shallow angle is probably best.

Richard

On 05/10/19 11:52, Tricky Dicky wrote:
You can always reinforce the cut end with a timber profile stuck to the back of the cut end, since the edge will not be seen then you have the option of screwing the profile on. If you can create and fix the profile first then you can cut alongside it to minimise chipping.

Bath panels shatter and chip very easily a fine blade like a hacksaw blade in a pad handle at a shallow angle is probably best.

Do they melt easily? If so, how about a scalpel (craft?) blade or
Stanley knife blade wired on to a heavy-duty soldering iron, even maybe
glue gun if that gets hot enough? It could then be slowly drawn through
the panel to melt a "cut" through it..

As the melted end won't be seen, it wouldn't matter if it's a bit ragged.

--

Jeff

Tim+ wrote:

My daughter wants to smarten up her bathroom prior to sale and her bath
panel is cracked.

Its a funny length though (1670mm) and seems hard to find.

One end of the panel tucks behind a vanity unit and wont be visible so
its tempting to buy a cheap 1700mm panel and to trim the end off.

Anyone done this? What would be the best cutting tool for a plastic bath
panel? I do appreciate that itll weaken the end of the panel cutting off
an end but about 450mm of that end of the panel will be behind the vanity
unit so I dont think itll matter.

Tim


It is usual to have to trim them.

The last time I did one, admittedly about 2002, I measured it several
times, placed tape over the area, marked the line, and cut it with a panel
saw which had hard teeth, taking my time. A little finishing with fine
abrasive paper (before removing the tape), then removed the tape. It didnt
chip etc.

You can get MDF ones which have areas which have cuts on the back so you
can curve them.

There is a place, I think in Kent, which specialises in buying up old stock
bathroom fittings- bath panels, odd sinks, toilets, etc I did stumble
across their website but didnt save it. If you know the make it may be
worth trying to search for them.

I'd have thought a multi-tool would be the best thing to use - one of those electric things with a blade that vibrates/rotates a tiny bit at high speed.

Murmansk wrote:
I'd have thought a multi-tool would be the best thing to use - one of
those electric things with a blade that vibrates/rotates a tiny bit at high speed.


Good idea. Only bought one recently so a good excuse to use it. ;-)

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

On 05/10/2019 15:08, Tim+ wrote:
Murmansk wrote:
I'd have thought a multi-tool would be the best thing to use - one of
those electric things with a blade that vibrates/rotates a tiny bit at high speed.


Good idea. Only bought one recently so a good excuse to use it. ;-)

Tim

IIRC that's one of the things I used when I had to do a (sort of)
similar modification. Obviously you have to watch out for melting if you
apply too much pressure, even with the small amplitude.

On 05/10/2019 15:37, newshound wrote:
On 05/10/2019 15:08, Tim+ wrote:
Murmansk wrote:
I'd have thought a multi-tool would be the best thing to use - one of
those electric things with a blade that vibrates/rotates a tiny bit
at high speed.


Good idea. Only bought one recently so a good excuse to use it. ;-)

Tim

IIRC that's one of the things I used when I had to do a (sort of)
similar modification. Obviously you have to watch out for melting if you
apply too much pressure, even with the small amplitude.

If the end is weakened you could glue a strap of wood on the inside.

On Saturday, 5 October 2019 12:14:03 UTC+1, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 05/10/19 11:52, Tricky Dicky wrote:

You can always reinforce the cut end with a timber profile stuck to the back of the cut end, since the edge will not be seen then you have the option of screwing the profile on. If you can create and fix the profile first then you can cut alongside it to minimise chipping.

Bath panels shatter and chip very easily a fine blade like a hacksaw blade in a pad handle at a shallow angle is probably best.

Do they melt easily? If so, how about a scalpel (craft?) blade or
Stanley knife blade wired on to a heavy-duty soldering iron, even maybe
glue gun if that gets hot enough? It could then be slowly drawn through
the panel to melt a "cut" through it..

As the melted end won't be seen, it wouldn't matter if it's a bit ragged.

You'd have to get it yellow hot t melt through the glass fibres. I've a feeling he resulting finish would be poor.


NT

They really are crap aren't they. To make matters worse they bulge into the
room and are liable to get damaged.

I once carefully cut one to make way for some pipes. Came to re-fit it and
found I had cut the wrong end! I abandoned it and bought a wooden one.

"John" wrote in message
2.236...



They really are crap aren't they. To make matters worse they bulge into
the
room and are liable to get damaged.

I once carefully cut one to make way for some pipes. Came to re-fit it and
found I had cut the wrong end! I abandoned it and bought a wooden one.

did you cut the right end of that one?

tim