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
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
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
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.
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
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.
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