Cutting and routing plastics

I do a little side work with plastics... my experience is not vast by any means, started as a DIY thing about three years ago...

Well, I work with Acrylic and ABS plastics. (FYI: "Plexi-glass" is a brand name of Acrylic, by the way, not a type. I prefere Lucite, myself.) I use a pretty cheap table saw, but with a carbide blade; Frued Diablo brand, triple chip tooth type, 0 degree rake (with as many teeth as you can get). I set the blade height at about 1/8th inch above the top of the material. Keeping the blade waxed up good helps.

This method gives me cuts clean enough to be water tight (without any finishing with a router). I build saltwater aquarium accesories... and nothing I have fabricated (using this method) has leaked.

I do not use the rip fence that came with my saw (a $100 Ryobi bench-top model)... I use a home-made fence that I clamp to a home-made table top; just a few "terraced" slab-like pieces made of real straight poplar planks. I use a piece of taugt wire (like a guitar string) instead of any other straight-edge to make sure the planks are straight enough.

For drilling, the plastic must be clamped tight against another piece of material (just a block of wood or something) to prevent cracking when the bit breaks through. For bits, I have a cheap-o set to use for plastic only, and I actually dull the cutting edges with a file (also helps prevent cracking). Go slow cutting or drilling - heat is your #1 enemy

Also, on drilling, you'll know you have it right when the waste material is being pulled out of the hole in two continueuos little strings.

I use Weld-on brand solvent cement (#4 and #16) for assembly.

Note: My experience is with Acrylic and ABS plastics ONLY!

Hope this helps, H.

I've done a little work with Acrylic (which I tend to call Plexiglass). It seems to work well with carbide router bits. I use Amana bits by the way at a fairly high rpm, and just any high speed drill bit that comes to hand. Do keep the tool moving. They will get hot enough to do damage to the work if you let it dwell in one place.

Amazing! I have had the opposite experince with the speed of the tool. I've been woodworking for over 20 years, but not much with plastics, only occasionally.

Carbide router bits work best, but if your router has speed control, I would try the slowest speed and move across the material at an appropriate pace for the cutting speed.

Drill bits the same. Sharp is good but speed should be slow. Heat is the enemy! For thin material, try using a plywood blade installed backwards. This cuts without chipping the thin material, like vinyl siding or acrylic.

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