What do you guys use to cut acrylic?

S

sinful

New member
Nothing fancy, just bought a skimmer stand that is a bit to small and tall and would like to cut it down in addition to adding a bigger peice on top. Usually use a dremel but it will be a tough cut to keep straight.
 
skill saw with finishing blade. high tooth count helps but you need to be able to clear molten material. I used Dewalt multi use blade. i had best luck stacking two peices per cut.
 
No kidding, I woulda thought a table saw would break it. What about a skimmer stand that is to tall and already made? If I wanted to take half inch off it?
 
We recently built a fish trap with scrap acrylic and didnt want to change the blade on the table saw so we just used some low tooth count wood blade, probably not suggested but it worked. Just make sure you smooth the edges down if bonding.
 
sinful said:
No kidding, I woulda thought a table saw would break it. What about a skimmer stand that is to tall and already made? If I wanted to take half inch off it?
Click to expand...

Matt I've been working with plastic for over 17 years and a table saw will give you the best cut as long as you use a high tooth count blade.post a picture of the stand and I should be able to tell you the safest way to cut it.

Chris
 
I have a table saw, router table, all kinds of blades up to an 80 tooth. I just thought it would crack it for some reason. Router would probably make easy work I guess. I just want to take a 1/2" off this stand and add a bigger top. Can I get the right acrylic from lowes? Silicone it on?

 
To me that's a tough spot your not gonna get a router to fit in there and to use a table saw safely that's not gonna work either maybe a jigsaw to rip it ½".....the top to make it bigger I don't think silicone will stick to acrylic if you have a piece that's big enough for what you need and you want to glue it to the existing I have the right glue or maybe someone close to you has some... you want a Weldon product like #4 or #16 I have both if you need
 
That's true. I'm not sure how I'm going to do it. I have a jigsaw, only issue would be keeping it straight because if it wobbles I will OCD out.
 
If you have some kind of straight edge and some clamps ...(level or piece of metal ),you could use to make the edge nice and straight to run the jig saw against
 
You know I might just find someone to make one the Size I need rather than mess this one up. Find another use for this one. Sit a reactor or something on it.
 
What's the height you need I have one ....its 10¾" x 7¾" top surface area and 3" tall for an old skimmer I don't need let me know if this will work
 
Here are some pics
 

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Size wise that is perfect actually. Height needs to be 2.5" though. Same problem I'm having with this one unfortunately.
 
To safely cut that on a table saw measure the distance from the outside of the legs to the outer edge of the stands top.say that number is 3/4" for instance then you could tape 3/4" shims on the legs to fill the gap and make the part sit level for cutting on the table saw.the acrylic from Lowes and HD is crap.there is a place on us 19 just south of Bryan dairy rd called farco plastic's and they sell drop pieces of quality acrylic.if I had the acrylic I'd make you one for free.it just three pieces and two glue joints. About 15 minutes work with the right tools.
 
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