Cutting acrylic in place

[Eric]

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=92t 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 =A330 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=85.

Eric

[BigWallop]

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

.

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

:-)

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Sounds like a job for - tara - MultiMaster.

[BigWallop]

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. :-)

[The Natural Philosopher]

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

[Dave Plowman (News)]

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

[Dave Plowman (News)]

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.

[meow2222]

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