Cutting Acrillic?

[TylerMoore]

Okay... I'm working on making a 20 gallon sump for my new 75 gallon tank. I have all of my plans drawn out and all my materials, but i'm having so much problems cutting the acrillic. I first tried the plastic cutter/break teqnique and i just kept breaking and cracking pieces. I then went to a jigsaw to try and melt-cut it but i've been having troubles with it cooling back together right behind my saw. Sometimes with the saw it will just break chunks off too instead of melting a strip through it.


Any tips for cutting this stuff? hah.. i'm stumped. I'm really ready to have this all set up, but this is my last obstacle.


thanks guys

 

[woz9683]

How thick is the material? Is it cast or extruded? And, material aside, it's going to be very difficult to get a good joint with either of those cutting methods.

 

[tkeracer619]

You need a good strong table saw with a specialty blade or a good strong router.

For weldon 3 or 4 to bond the two panels together you are going to need a much better surface to work with than either of those you mentioned can provide.

 

[jagwire]

a table saw with a regular wood blade will work just fine ive done it many times. also after using weld on 3 or 4 go over the inside jionts with weldon 16 and u will have no problems

 

[CMcNeil]

wood blade will most likely chip the acrylic.24 tooth blades are made for wood not plexyglass.get either a good 60 tooth or 80 tooth blade for a tablesaw.you can use a jigsaw but it sounds like you had a real fine tooth blade and melted the plext instead of cutting it.try a blade with 8-10 teeth per inch to cut it the use a router with a flush trim bit to finish off the edges.

 

[TylerMoore]

thanks guys, i ended up changing the blade on my jigsaw and i got some pieces cut out. they arn't perfect, but a sump doesn't have to be cosmetically beautiful.

i'll post some pictures when i'm done just so you guys can brag and say "yah, i totally helped this guy out" hah