gghrt900
New Member
I got like 7$ scoring knife from lowes however, it does not seem to be donig good job or i must be doing wrongly. Is there a more advanced acrylic tool aavailable?
Anything better than scoring knife to cut acrylic
- Thread starter gghrt900
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Help Support House Repair Talk:
Acrylic cuts easily.
I have used table saw, bandsaw, jig saw, scroll saw.
Table saw with a finer blade probably works best, because the blade is a little thicker.
With the others I mentioned, the blade is pretty thin, and the problem you will find is that the plastic melts as you are cutting it and the chips re-weld the cut you just made. If that happens, either snap off the cut piece, or make the cut again.
Don't run the material through the blade too slow. The only problem you encounter is the heat generated trying to melt and re-weld the plastic.
This is a table saw vacuum shroud I am working on.
I have used table saw, bandsaw, jig saw, scroll saw.
Table saw with a finer blade probably works best, because the blade is a little thicker.
With the others I mentioned, the blade is pretty thin, and the problem you will find is that the plastic melts as you are cutting it and the chips re-weld the cut you just made. If that happens, either snap off the cut piece, or make the cut again.
Don't run the material through the blade too slow. The only problem you encounter is the heat generated trying to melt and re-weld the plastic.
This is a table saw vacuum shroud I am working on.
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PJB12
Well-Known Member
Hi Gghrt900,
After scoring, lay a rod under the score line so that the piece teeter-totters. Then it will snap easier when you push on each side of the rod. (I use a 1/8" dowel rod. A wooden dowel will work.) But, this is for thin sheets. At about 3/16" and up, sawing is more reliable. When I score, I use a sharp utility knife or the corner of a machine lathe tool bit, having never had luck with scoring tools. The fabricators at work do have success with them.
Acrylic blades are available for table and circular saws. Often, instead I use a relatively fine tooth, flat top grind blade I and then flatten the tooth hook angle close to zero. Flat top grind runs cooler than other geometries for zero chip welding.
You can also use a fine tooth hand saw with the hook angle flattened. Japanese style work very well. (Cuts on the pull stroke.) Acrylic blades are available for jig & scroll saws, too. Rod saws work OK if you flood the cut with water while sawing.
A couple of hints-
Leaving the paper mask on, or using masking tape on the cut line will greatly reduce edge chipping.
Dragging a sharp metal tool, such as a piece of keystock or a machine lathe bit across the cut edge cleans it up beautifully for an invisible glue line.
Polishing scratches is quick with the Novus polishes. They come in #1, #2 & #3. Number one is for disasters. Usually #'s 2 & 3 are sufficient.
Happy Creating!
Paul
After scoring, lay a rod under the score line so that the piece teeter-totters. Then it will snap easier when you push on each side of the rod. (I use a 1/8" dowel rod. A wooden dowel will work.) But, this is for thin sheets. At about 3/16" and up, sawing is more reliable. When I score, I use a sharp utility knife or the corner of a machine lathe tool bit, having never had luck with scoring tools. The fabricators at work do have success with them.
Acrylic blades are available for table and circular saws. Often, instead I use a relatively fine tooth, flat top grind blade I and then flatten the tooth hook angle close to zero. Flat top grind runs cooler than other geometries for zero chip welding.
You can also use a fine tooth hand saw with the hook angle flattened. Japanese style work very well. (Cuts on the pull stroke.) Acrylic blades are available for jig & scroll saws, too. Rod saws work OK if you flood the cut with water while sawing.
A couple of hints-
Leaving the paper mask on, or using masking tape on the cut line will greatly reduce edge chipping.
Dragging a sharp metal tool, such as a piece of keystock or a machine lathe bit across the cut edge cleans it up beautifully for an invisible glue line.
Polishing scratches is quick with the Novus polishes. They come in #1, #2 & #3. Number one is for disasters. Usually #'s 2 & 3 are sufficient.
Happy Creating!
Paul
