Cutting sheet acrylic?

[JLNorthGA]

Need knock-out panes for a window.

I am not having any joy cutting the window panes from sheet acrylic.

I am using a fine metal cutting blade on a sabre saw. I tried scoring it and snapping it - but I ended up cracking it.

Any other suggestions on how to cut sheet acrylic (aka Plexiglas).

 

[Amiers]

60 tooth on a table saw or panel saw. You can circ saw but if your not steady it might end up just as crooked as using a sawzall. I generally stay away from using a saber saw for anything except door jams and demo work.

 

[AudJ]

I do this all the time on a table saw. Most good blades work. You can also square up edges with a router if you want to use some of the rough pieces you have. There are a lot of YouTube videos on how to work with plastics.

 

[JD]

The trick with plastics and a table saw is to put the blade on backwards! Sounds weird, but the teeth shatter it when in the normal way. For some reason, the backs of the teeth do a much better job.

 

[kicknargel]

Wow, never heard of the backwards blade trick! Interesting.

Along those lines, you might try a jigsaw w/ a reverse-tooth blade that cuts on the upstroke. That way it's not rattling the material away from you. And/or put the plastic on a sheet of styrofoam thick enough to swallow the throw of the blade so you can work on a table rather than hanging out in space. Also helps to put painter's tape on the plastic and cut through that.

How thick is you material?

 

[ruinexplorer]

I never put the tablesaw blade on backwards. When I was building exhibits for a museum, needing a lot of acrylic work, I either used the table saw or a router (depending on the cut). When you are cutting it, you need to make sure that there is little vibration and flex, which is probably why you are having difficulty with the saber saw. On the table saw, make sure that the blade height is just barely greater (~ 1/4") than the thickness of the acrylic. Then you want to slowly feed the acrylic through so that it gets a clean cut, but not too slow as you don't want to be melting the material. Try to pick a fine tooth blade, the more teeth the better, and sharp! Make sure that you have plenty of ventilation and use a vacuum system if available (at least wear a good dust mask) as there may be a risk of toxicity.