Looking For A Second Opinion - Cutting Acrylic...

[Macattack64]

Right now I'm having a hell of a time cutting this:

This is how it turned out and it's sloppy.
Plus I don't feel safe when I'm doing it.

It may look like a clean cut but it's not.



Does anyone have any pointers.

I have consulted with link. I'm just looking for second opinions.

Also I figured this may help if other people are using acrylic/plexiglass.

Thanks
~Mac

 

[tlither]

Did you tape both sides of where you wanted to cut? That should help some. What type of cutting wheel were you using? There is a tool made for scoring plexi but it would be a lot of work - more than you'd like - it would help for the longer straight lines but the short cuts would be too much of a pain with it.

 

[Macattack64]

Well I may pick up a diamond cutting wheel, but what is the scoring tool? there are a lot of straight lines

 

[tlither]

It's a metal blade with a handle. Takes many passes to score the plexi. Should be able to find on at Lowes or a hardware store. The one I had was a Red Devil brand.

 

[smilie120]

Well I may pick up a diamond cutting wheel, but what is the scoring tool? there are a lot of straight lines

What are you cutting with Mac? A dremel? I'd use a fiberglass cutting wheel. Or.. A grinding wheel. Try sanding the edge's when you'r done. I remember making salad tong's in school before.. Whe had to hand cut it.. Not fun..

 

[shagga]

Not done much work cutting acrylic since school but back then we used a bench jigsaw and obviously taped the edges of each cut. Once thats done you just buff it up with a polishing wheel on the dremel. I think if you clamped the acrylic to a bench then you could do it freehand with a jigsaw too. For the fine cuts inside the pieces the dremel might be the best way. Sorry I can't help more, you can always try my suggestions on the pieces you've cut that you don't plan on using further.

 

[Macattack64]

At the moment I'm not liking how it is coming out. And I wouldn't want to spend tons of money on tools that I don't know if they will work or not. I'm going into further research and also am looking into it getting professionally laser cut.

 

[tlither]

You can get an acrylic scriber (the hand tool) for less than 5 bucks. Let me know what you find out about getting it done. Might have to make it an order for two!

 

[rube]

I'd look into the laser or waterjet. Cutting thick plastic by hand is an exercise in frustration. If you insist on trying by hand, I'd try some of this instead of acrylic:

PVC Foamboard