I need to make lots of small cuts in nylon and polyethylene sheet that is 2mm thick. The cuts are between 5mm and 22mm long and 2mm wide
Would a Dremel be able to do this?
Or should I be looking at a mini/micro band saw if such a thing exists
Hopefully someone else will be along shortly with a more helpful answer but, in my experience of those sorts of materials, high speed cutters just melt the plastic and small tooth saws get clogged very quickly. A band saw, or similar can only realistically cut from the edge: do all these slots emanate from the edge of the material or is some piercing going to be involved?
Nick snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.ca
The cuts are all from the edge. So maybe the Dremel fret saw attachment, or similar, might give a cleaner cut.
Sounds like the sort of thing a grinding disc on a dremel could do. Yes, it will mostly melt its way through & the result won't be accurate or clean. If you want those attributes you need a slower saw with very fine teeth.
I don't have a fret saw attachment for my not-a-Dremel but unless there is a lot of gearing down I think the blade will run too fast and melt everything in front of it. My not-a-Dremel has a minimum speed of 6,000rpm! Do you have some spare plastic to practice on? Unless there are thousands or even hundreds of slots required, I think I would experiment with a hand saw such as a fine toothed dovetail saw to cut each side of the slot then a hand-made 2mm chisel to chop the end out neatly. (I have a hundred-year-old 1/16" chisel in my workshop but I think it would be quicker to grind something up for yourself than to try and find another one.) Another thought: Will your material pop back into shape if it is distorted during cutting with shears if so, try tin snips or jeweller's snips?
Nick snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.ca
I've cut ABS (I think) successfully with a thin grinding disc on a Dremel - it's a good way to get into items which are glued/welded shut. It makes dust but doesn't melt.
I'm not sure about PE, since it's softer and has a lower melting point. But maybe it would work.
In general grinding has a controlled contact area compared with sawing, so the amount of energy you transfer to the plastic is less. I've tried jigsawing 7mm PVC and that didn't go well because it melted - but that's also because PVC is flexible whereas ABS and PE sheet aren't.
Theo
It is common for acrylic and other plastic sheet materials to be cut on a routing bed with a high speed cutter. Usually carbide and also sharp.
As long as a saw is sharp, it should cut without melting the plastic.
I think I'd use a jig saw, mounted upside down. The speed can be low and
2mm wide blades are available (although it's not easy to find info about blade kerf) for a range of materials. This page some useful info about the Bosch range:
Use a sharp set of chisels
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