Skate Plate H2O

Crit21

Crit21

Active member
It looks like this item has been around for a little while, but I thought I'd bring it up for discussion. I have a lot of large acrylic panels I want to cut up, but they're too big for me to cut on a table saw by myself, and would still be an issue for two people. I'll be using a circular saw with a guide for the cuts. From experience, I know that, even with the correct blade, I can overheat the blade and melt acrylic if I go too slow, or chip the acrylic if I go too fast. Water cooling seems to be the way to go, but again, difficult with just two hands, and I don't want someone accidentally spraying the motor.

I ran across something called the Skate Plate H20, which is a roller plate for the saw, and a water nozzle attachment to cool the blade and material. It seems counterintuitive to use water with an electric saw, but it does come with a GFCI cord, and I've seen it used on YouTube with a massive amount of water flow (flow is adjustable).

Just wondering if anyone has ever used one of these? What's your opinion based on your use of it?
 
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I'd love to use this, but the thought of standing in a puddle of runoff water, putting my life in the hands of a GFCI plug, seems sketchy. It's been on the market for a while, and I can't find any reviews referring to shock, it "must" be ok, right?
 
Lowes, Home Depot have no reviews for the H2O add-on. Amazon has just one review (5 stars). The two videos I've linked to show it in use with a ton of water. It comes with a GFCI cord. I'll just take additional precautions, like long rubber gloves, rubber boots, tilting the surface away from me enough to get most of the runoff to flow away from me, and slowing the water flow to just enough to cool the blade and acrylic.

Maybe "Acrylics" can chime in.
 
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WAAAY overkill for acrylic. Get cast not extruded and it wont melt as easy. Keep the saw speed and feed slow and if you have a dull old blade use that.

Keep the paper on it or use masking tape to keep the saw from scratching the acrylic. If your worried about the edges, dont. Cut it bigger than you need and use the table saw or router to trim it down to size.
 
I should have given more details. The panels were cut from an old 14 foot by 4 foot aquarium. There's no paper. It's cast.
 
EnderG60 said:
WAAAY overkill for acrylic. Get cast not extruded and it wont melt as easy. Keep the saw speed and feed slow and if you have a dull old blade use that.

Keep the paper on it or use masking tape to keep the saw from scratching the acrylic. If your worried about the edges, dont. Cut it bigger than you need and use the table saw or router to trim it down to size.
Click to expand...

Did you just tell me that buying more tools is WAAAY overkill??!! Seriously? There's no such thing as too many tools!

I do like the roller idea on the skateplate. No scratches and it's known for a nice straight track. I'll be using a steel straightedge along with it.
 
Crit21 said:
Did you just tell me that buying more tools is WAAAY overkill??!! Seriously? There's no such thing as too many tools!

I do like the roller idea on the skateplate. No scratches and it's known for a nice straight track. I'll be using a steel straightedge along with it.
Click to expand...

If thats the case get a track saw. No worry of scratches, thin kerf and perfectly straight cuts.
 
Get your router out. Or call a local plastic shop or fabricator. Lotsa big distributors and fabricators have horizontal panel saws. Slide sheet off pallet, measure & cut, back on skid. $200 done

HTH,
James
 
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