can I cut 3/16 acrylic with a jigsaw or other saw? I just need to rip the material down by eight inches...if so what blade works best?
Thanks
Posted by Tony McDonald (Member # 1158) on :
I'd like to know too. I've tried using a jigsaw with a fine tooth blade. Behind the blade it was like a "boat wake" and fused itself back together. I've been using a hand scoring tool which scratches the surface and then break it ove the edge of the bench. It does a nice clean job...but it's a real pain.
Posted by KARYN BUSH (Member # 1948) on :
i've cut it on my panel saw which has a 40 tooth freud blade...go really slow so it doesn't chip.
Posted by pierre (Member # 1462) on :
Karyn got it, but................ Add a 2" wide strip of masking tape and cut down the middle of it. Stops small chips. Clamp a staight edge if you're using a Skill say. Track against the side of it. A carbide blade makes a big difference.
Posted by Brian (Member # 39) on :
Carbide tip fine tooth blade and the tape is the way to go for sure. One step better which I usually skip is to give it a quick score on the cut line. There are spendy set ups for table saws that will do the pre-score but for small amounts - go slow, carbide, and tape.
Posted by Curtis hammond (Member # 2170) on :
When using a skill saw ,, Get a fine toothed paneling saw blade and reverse the blade so it faces the wrong way. Very forgiving. It will not grab the material but will cut great. And as mentioned above put on some masking tape.
Posted by David Harding (Member # 108) on :
The masking tape Pierre mentioned makes a huge difference. If your sabre saw has an orbital option, use that as well. The orbital action helps clear the kerf of the hot fragments that tend to fuse together.
Posted by Ray Rheaume (Member # 3794) on :
Just an after thought...
After making the cut, you can lightly sand down the edge and, to really tweak it, run a small torch along the cut edge, moving fairly quickly. It will round the edge and smooth it out so as to look like a factory edge. You can test it on the peice you cut off to get the feel of how to do it.
Rapid
Edited fer spellin'
[ December 16, 2003, 03:09 PM: Message edited by: Ray Rheaume ]
Posted by Greg McRoberts (Member # 3501) on :
Has anyone tried a RotoZip on acrylic? Just curious.
Posted by Dave Johnson (Member # 2535) on :
I use an 80 tooth non-ferrous metal blade on a 10" table saw. Works great. The blade has very little set and produces a smooth cut if you don’t feed the material to fast.
