I have been given some 4mm acrylic of the type used for signs. Great I
thought I can use this for all sorts of things... that is until I tried to
cut it. How do you do it, I've tried a hacksaw and tenon saw, etc - it
either cracks or melts. Any suggestions welcome.

Peter

Peter wrote:
I have been given some 4mm acrylic of the type used for signs. Great I
thought I can use this for all sorts of things... that is until I tried to
cut it. How do you do it, I've tried a hacksaw and tenon saw, etc - it
either cracks or melts. Any suggestions welcome.

Hacksaw, with lots of coolant can work.
Copious amounts of water may be worth a try.

Score it as deeply as possible, then snap it across a sharp edge as you would a
tile. Clean up any jagged bits with a file or sandpaper

"Peter" wrote in message
...
I have been given some 4mm acrylic of the type used for signs. Great I
thought I can use this for all sorts of things... that is until I tried to
cut it. How do you do it, I've tried a hacksaw and tenon saw, etc - it
either cracks or melts. Any suggestions welcome.

Peter



When I cut it on my bandsaw it's ok - but have to keep the blade speed low
or it melts to the blade.

Andrew Mawson

"Peter" wrote in message
...
I have been given some 4mm acrylic of the type used for signs. Great I
thought I can use this for all sorts of things... that is until I tried to
cut it. How do you do it, I've tried a hacksaw and tenon saw, etc - it
either cracks or melts. Any suggestions welcome.

If it melts it isn't proper acrylic (Perspex, Oraglas) but the cheap nasty
stuff from Italy. Try using a jigsaw with a very fine toothed blade and a
light covering of water on the sheet.

On Sat, 8 May 2004 18:59:49 +0100, "Peter" wrote:

I have been given some 4mm acrylic of the type used for signs. Great I
thought I can use this for all sorts of things... that is until I tried to
cut it. How do you do it, I've tried a hacksaw and tenon saw, etc - it
either cracks or melts. Any suggestions welcome.

Peter

Whetever you use, the teeth must be razor-sharp, i.e. a new blade not used for cutting anything
else.

You can just about use a jigsaw, ideally with compressed air cooling, but you need a fine-to-medium
VERY SHARP woodcutting blade to avoid overheating and clogging. meUse goggles.

You can also cut it on a circular sawbench (not handheld c.saw) - I'm told the pros use blades
designed for aluminium cutting, but I've used a normal TCT wood blade - it was a bit scary but
worked OK with only minor chipping.

Bandsaws are also good as the heat is dissipated over the length of the blade.

A coarse hacksaw blade is also quite good.

Acrylic sheet cuts very well on a circular saw bench using a coarse rigid
sanding disc with holes as the saw blade.

Regards
Capitol

In article ,
Peter wrote:
I have been given some 4mm acrylic of the type used for signs. Great I
thought I can use this for all sorts of things... that is until I tried
to cut it. How do you do it, I've tried a hacksaw and tenon saw, etc -
it either cracks or melts. Any suggestions welcome.

If it is Perspex or its equivalent, I've not had any trouble cutting it.
I've used hacksaws and jigsaws, but used slowly, with the work well
supported. I think some acrylic sheet isn't as forgiving.

--
*Learn from your parents' mistakes - use birth control.

Dave Plowman London SW 12
RIP Acorn