Can anyone recommend the type of 10" tablesaw blade that might be best
for cutting 1/8" and 1/4" acrylic sheets? I need to make several
acrylic boxes/tanks approximately 10x10x1 1/2.

Also, What sort of adhesive would you recommend for gluing the sheets
together? I'll be putting some photographic chemicals in the tanks.
(Separate tanks for silver nitrate, potassium cyanide, and sodium
thiosulphate solutions if any of that matters as far as the adhesive.)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

"joe smigiel" wrote in message
...
Can anyone recommend the type of 10" tablesaw blade that might be best
for cutting 1/8" and 1/4" acrylic sheets? I need to make several
acrylic boxes/tanks approximately 10x10x1 1/2.

Also, What sort of adhesive would you recommend for gluing the sheets
together? I'll be putting some photographic chemicals in the tanks.
(Separate tanks for silver nitrate, potassium cyanide, and sodium
thiosulphate solutions if any of that matters as far as the adhesive.)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Carbide tipped, as many teeth as possible.
A Glass/plastics shop will have the type of adhesive you need.

Max D

Also run from back to front less cracking that way... At least it worked for
me taht way...


-- Log

"Max" wrote in message
m...

"joe smigiel" wrote in message
...
Can anyone recommend the type of 10" tablesaw blade that might be best
for cutting 1/8" and 1/4" acrylic sheets? I need to make several
acrylic boxes/tanks approximately 10x10x1 1/2.

Also, What sort of adhesive would you recommend for gluing the sheets
together? I'll be putting some photographic chemicals in the tanks.
(Separate tanks for silver nitrate, potassium cyanide, and sodium
thiosulphate solutions if any of that matters as far as the adhesive.)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Carbide tipped, as many teeth as possible.
A Glass/plastics shop will have the type of adhesive you need.

Max D

Can anyone recommend the type of 10" tablesaw blade that might be best
for cutting 1/8" and 1/4" acrylic sheets? I need to make several
acrylic boxes/tanks approximately 10x10x1 1/2.

GOOGLE this group. This has been discussed in detail over and over and over
and over.

Also, What sort of adhesive would you recommend for gluing the sheets
together? I'll be putting some photographic chemicals in the tanks.
(Separate tanks for silver nitrate, potassium cyanide, and sodium
thiosulphate solutions if any of that matters as far as the adhesive.)

As far as the adhesive, the chemicals you listed are not going to effect the
adhesive. The solvent you use for the chemicals would be more of a deciding
factor. Water?

EEk, potassium cyanide. Be careful dude.

In article , "stoutman" wrote:
Can anyone recommend the type of 10" tablesaw blade that might be best
for cutting 1/8" and 1/4" acrylic sheets? I need to make several
acrylic boxes/tanks approximately 10x10x1 1/2.

GOOGLE this group. This has been discussed in detail over and over and over
and over.

Also, What sort of adhesive would you recommend for gluing the sheets
together? I'll be putting some photographic chemicals in the tanks.
(Separate tanks for silver nitrate, potassium cyanide, and sodium
thiosulphate solutions if any of that matters as far as the adhesive.)

As far as the adhesive, the chemicals you listed are not going to effect the
adhesive. The solvent you use for the chemicals would be more of a deciding
factor. Water?

EEk, potassium cyanide. Be careful dude.

Sodium thiosulphate is an antidote for cyanide poisoning...

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
om...
In article , "stoutman"
wrote:

EEk, potassium cyanide. Be careful dude.

Sodium thiosulphate is an antidote for cyanide poisoning...

--

Even so, both taste awful! :-)

Seriously though, call the plastic and glue makers and ask them. There are
different grades of acrylic and glues for different uses. Easier to check
than it is to clean up a mess.

James

"stoutman" wrote in message .com...

EEk, potassium cyanide. Be careful dude.

If this is a photographic process, it's probably a ferrocyanide rather
than a cyanide. Much less dangerous.

In article ,
(Andy Dingley) wrote:

"stoutman" wrote in message
.com...

EEk, potassium cyanide. Be careful dude.

If this is a photographic process, it's probably a ferrocyanide rather
than a cyanide. Much less dangerous.

Nope. It's the real deal-potassium cyanide. Deadly stuff if not
handled properly. It's a fixer for ambrotypes and collodion wetplates.

The chemical you are thinking of is potassium ferrIcyanide which is a
pretty benign compound used as a bleach when toning photographs or as a
reducer.

It's the real deal-potassium cyanide.

Interesting - How much fume control do you have to provide ? I've
often wanted to use sodium/potassium cyanide in electroplating baths,
but couldn't face the hassle of setting up the fume control I'd need.
Even with a commercial lab fume cupboard to hand, I still needed to
provide fume extraction directly above the bath.

What do you use as a stop bath ? Presumably the usual acetic acid stop
bath from modern B&W processes is the last thing you'd want just
before a cyanide solution.

In article . com,
wrote:

It's the real deal-potassium cyanide.

Interesting - How much fume control do you have to provide ? I've
often wanted to use sodium/potassium cyanide in electroplating baths,
but couldn't face the hassle of setting up the fume control I'd need.
Even with a commercial lab fume cupboard to hand, I still needed to
provide fume extraction directly above the bath.

What do you use as a stop bath ? Presumably the usual acetic acid stop
bath from modern B&W processes is the last thing you'd want just
before a cyanide solution.


I'll be doing this outdoors in the field using a portable darkroom which
I'm currently building. I plan to have a sort of French easel type
arrangement for the darkroom with a safelight window at top and sleeves
at the front ala a changing bag to access the the chemicals within and
coat and develop the plates. Strictly 19th century.

You're totally right about the acetic or any other acid potentially
mixing with the KCN as that would release deadly hydrogen cyanide gas.
This process does not use a stop bath though.

The developer however is acidic ferrous sulphate followed by a water
rinse, then KCN or sodium thiosulphate as fixer and another wash. (I
believe that a brief rinse in sodium thiosulphate would also neutralize
the cyanide by forming a thiocyanate compound. Also, I believe the
ferrous sulphate would react with the KCN to form potassium ferricyanide
which is not very toxic. IIRC, sodium thiosulphate and ferrous sulphate
are both used as antidotes for cyanide poisoning because of these
reactions. I'll check on that before I actually attempt to do the
process. Additionally, the cyanide is required as a fixer only for
ambrotypes and I'm planning to start with wetplate negatives which use
the benign thiosulphate as a fixer. I've enrolled in a formal workshop
to learn this process and the safety requirements I'll need to consider
before actually trying it. I'm quite aware of the potential for
fatality with this stuff and also realize a great number of
photographers went to the "final wash" as a result of cyanide and
mercury poisoning in the 1800s. I have a very healthy respect for this
stuff.)

As far as ventilation is concerned, I think the worst of it will be from
ether fumes. Ether and ethanol (Everclear) are mixed with the collodion
as the vehicle for the emulsion. The stuff evaporates so quickly that
the entire process of coating, sensitizing, exposing and processing the
plate must be done within about a 5-minute timeframe. Otherwise the
collodion hardens and becomes impervious to the processing chemistry.
Hence the name "wetplate" and the need for a portable darkroom for
location work.

As a photographer the wetplate process has always interested me and
especially now as film choices are becoming limited due to the popular
switch to digital cameras. As a novice woodworker it is giving me the
opportunity to expand my skills making the portable darkroom, a camera
and plateholder, developing tanks and racks and a bunch of related items
like shutter boxes and plate cases, tripod cradles and perhaps even a
wooden tripod. I'm enjoying blending the two and making very practical
stuff.

Joe

Call Charles at Forrest Blades 800 733 7111 ext 314. they have a blade
specifically for this.
--

Rumpty

Radial Arm Saw Forum: http://forums.delphiforums.com/woodbutcher/start

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


"joe smigiel" wrote in message
...
Can anyone recommend the type of 10" tablesaw blade that might be best
for cutting 1/8" and 1/4" acrylic sheets? I need to make several
acrylic boxes/tanks approximately 10x10x1 1/2.

Also, What sort of adhesive would you recommend for gluing the sheets
together? I'll be putting some photographic chemicals in the tanks.
(Separate tanks for silver nitrate, potassium cyanide, and sodium
thiosulphate solutions if any of that matters as far as the adhesive.)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

"joe smigiel" wrote in message
...
Can anyone recommend the type of 10" tablesaw blade that might be best
for cutting 1/8" and 1/4" acrylic sheets? I need to make several
acrylic boxes/tanks approximately 10x10x1 1/2.

Also, What sort of adhesive would you recommend for gluing the sheets
together? I'll be putting some photographic chemicals in the tanks.
(Separate tanks for silver nitrate, potassium cyanide, and sodium
thiosulphate solutions if any of that matters as far as the adhesive.)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Shouldn't that stuff be scored and then *snapped*?
Won't a rapidly spinning blade melt the plastic?

You can get away with that with 1/4", but the 1/8" is so flimsy that it
busts up when I've tried it. You can cut all the way through with a
sharp utility knife & a few passes. Just be careful to have a fully
suported surface & don't press too hard. Just pressing hard with the
knife blade seems to crack it back. I've only had to use it a couple
of times & really hated it, so I'm not expert. If there were 2 grades
of it, they guy I did it for probably got the cheapest.

Jim

I've cut up a lot of 1/8" plastic (the type from HomeDepot/Lowes) by
scoring and have had no problems. I've cut pieces down to 1"x3" for
box lids and haven't cracked one yet. I did 'splurge' and buy a
plastic scriber knife for a few bucks at the hardware store.

see this page
http://www.cyro.com/Internet/SiteContent.nsf/LiteraturePage2!OpenPage#techsheet

On 27 Mar 2005 03:42:03 -0800, "Jim" wrote:

You can get away with that with 1/4", but the 1/8" is so flimsy that it
busts up when I've tried it. You can cut all the way through with a
sharp utility knife & a few passes. Just be careful to have a fully
suported surface & don't press too hard. Just pressing hard with the
knife blade seems to crack it back. I've only had to use it a couple
of times & really hated it, so I'm not expert. If there were 2 grades
of it, they guy I did it for probably got the cheapest.

Jim

Thanks for the tips. I think I'll just be able to scribe and break the
material since I'll just be wanting straight cuts in thin stock.

Joe

"Jim" wrote
You can get away with that with 1/4", but the 1/8" is so flimsy that it
busts up when I've tried it. You can cut all the way through with a
sharp utility knife & a few passes. Just be careful to have a fully
suported surface & don't press too hard. Just pressing hard with the
knife blade seems to crack it back. I've only had to use it a couple
of times & really hated it, so I'm not expert. If there were 2 grades
of it, they guy I did it for probably got the cheapest.

I used to rent the 2nd floor over a glass shop and watched them snap lexan
and plexi and such many times. They had a machinists brake machine that they
put the plexi in, clamped down after scoring and then *snap*. They had
special knives, sort of like utility knives, with thick somewhat blunt
blades. I never saw then cut acrylics with a saw.

Personally I prefer to bandsaw it - smaller teeth.

The "rapidly spinning blade" is a good point. Many people use a jigsaw
to cut plastics and this places all the load onto maybe 1/2" of teeth -
these do have melting problems. If you can use a longer length of teeth
and share the heating between them, then the problem pretty much
disappears. A couple of linear feet of circular saw teeth is enough to
solve it, and eight foot of bandsaw blade is even better.

I've cut up several sheets for my brother in law. I use a 100 tooth blade
which works great. $20 at Big Lots.
Mark
"joe smigiel" wrote in message
...
Can anyone recommend the type of 10" tablesaw blade that might be best
for cutting 1/8" and 1/4" acrylic sheets? I need to make several
acrylic boxes/tanks approximately 10x10x1 1/2.

Also, What sort of adhesive would you recommend for gluing the sheets
together? I'll be putting some photographic chemicals in the tanks.
(Separate tanks for silver nitrate, potassium cyanide, and sodium
thiosulphate solutions if any of that matters as far as the adhesive.)

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.