for you acrylic guys
- Thread starter 535freak
- Start date
uncleof6
Active member
Sanding is the least preferable way to do this. Too often the edge will become slightly rounded. Scraping is preferred. If I mention his name he will probably show up, so James 'Acrylics' will have the solution, I believe a spiral upcut bit will improve the results. But been a while since I had an interest in acrylic.
Jim
Jim
nsamouroux
Member
When I was building the overflow box for my new tank, I actually used a wet tile saw because I didn't have the proper router bits or a table to mount it on. I didn't want to go buy a $100 blade for my table saw, so the wet tile saw was the next thing I tried... I tested it on a few scrap pieces first of course, but it came out almost perfect. The edges were straight, smooth, and best of all it didn't leak when I put water in it 
I was using Weld-on 16 however, not the thinner #4, just in case I had any gaps that I didn't notice.
I was using Weld-on 16 however, not the thinner #4, just in case I had any gaps that I didn't notice.
troylee
In Memoriam
You wanna use a flush cut or spiral upcut as jim mentioned....it sounds like your taking to much material off on the final cut, resulting in the ridges...you wanna cut everything within a 1/16th on a table saw before finishing the edges with a router...the less you take off the smoother it will be...a 32nd around the piece is nice...
before any suggestions can be made, IMO we need to know how you are doing it now and what the issue(s) is/are. Just going to a 1/2" shank will do little if the rest of your set-up isn't working.
You really don't want to sand, scrape, or do anything else to smooth the edges other than machining.
James
You really don't want to sand, scrape, or do anything else to smooth the edges other than machining.
James
Table mounted? handheld? Are you using a fence as a guide for the router bearing or the router base? How big are the pieces? What thickness?
What are the size of the ridges? Can they be felt by hand? Are the ridges actually bumps from the router/bearing coming away from the fence?
All are important, differing answers to any one of the questions above changes the way things are done
James
What are the size of the ridges? Can they be felt by hand? Are the ridges actually bumps from the router/bearing coming away from the fence?
All are important, differing answers to any one of the questions above changes the way things are done
James
Often times it is nerf (shavings) getting between the base and the fence. If this is the deal, have someone blow compressed air just in front of the base as you're routing, this will blow the shavings out of the way allowing the base to glide smoothly against the fence.
I commonly route 2" acrylic this way and works well.
If this isn't the ticket, write back and we'll go to the next step
HTH,
James
Sounds like you have AR or SAR acrylic (abrasion resistant or super abrasion resistant) in which case the solvent will not get through the abrasion resistant coating. If you are going to use that material, the coating must be sanded or machined off.
If it's not AR/SAR material, please lemme know
James
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