I haven't done a ton of work with acrylic beside the usual glass replacement so please tell me more tips and tricks, they are appreciated.
Laminating acrylic
- Thread startergafftapegreenia
- Start date
It will spiderweb crack. I don't know the mechcanics or Chemistry but it will get you in lots....LOTS of trouble if you destroy a perfectly good thing by wiping it down with alcohol.... "And that's all I'm gonna say 'bout that..."
@Van I guess we don't need to ask how you came by this knowledge. I'll assume you learned it from "A usually reliable source."It will spiderweb crack. I don't know the mechcanics or Chemistry but it will get you in lots....LOTS of trouble if you destroy a perfectly good thing by wiping it down with alcohol.... "And that's all I'm gonna say 'bout that..."
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.
bobgaggle
Well-Known Member
I haven't done any research on it, but my understanding is that the cracking or "crazing" is from thermal stress. The evaporating alcohol will cool the surface it was on, but not the rest of the piece, so it relieves the tension created by the temperature difference by cracking...
for the same reason that glass needs to be cooled overnight in temperature regulated ovens.
for the same reason that glass needs to be cooled overnight in temperature regulated ovens.
You can use regular woodworking blades and bits to cut acrylic plastics - fine table saw blade or router bits.
Woodworkers I know say the plastics dull the blade too much to do woodworking, and acrylic plastic workers say wood dulls the blade too much to use for plastics. All I can figure is nobody likes anyone else messing with his/her tools.
@AudJ Your post reminds me of cutting / machining aluminum extrusions and flat stock using fine-toothed carbide blades and twin-flute router bits. Beeswax, either in block form or in tubes designed for caulking guns but merely being held tightly-gripped in your palm and pressed against the spinning blade is a great, and practical, lubricant to keep on hand to utilize on table and / or chop saw blades when cross-cutting or ripping. It's also workable for router bits but the biggest caution with router bits is to watch LIKE A HAWK for the least indication of their flutes becoming plugged solid with aluminium. If you are using an 1/8th inch twin-flute bit and a straight edge to mill a series of parallel slots to receive the actuators for linear travel "slide pots" you need to pay STRICT attention as the little 1/8" bits can clog and snap in less than the blink of an eye. You can likely guess how I know this and I'll freely admit I have neither a horizontal nor vertical mill in my basement. If your shop purchases extruded aluminum angles and other cross-sections in 16' lengths, your 10, 12 or 14" General table saw and Biesemeyer gate is an extremely convenient way to rip 16' lengths a mile a minute. The bees wax in solid form earns its keep far more efficiently than any of the liquid or spray on lubes with far more of the lube working for you and far less of it running across the saw tables. You can fly along ripping aluminum extrusions as quickly as, if not quicker than, clear or #1 pine.
Toodleoo!
Ron Hebbard.
JonCarter
Well-Known Member
@RonHebbard -- Thanks for the beeswax tip. I'll remember it.
Has anybody tried these UV-curing glues?
http://www.acrifix.com/product/acri...-adhesives/acrifix-1r-9019/pages/default.aspx
http://www.acrifix.com/product/acri...-adhesives/acrifix-1r-0192/pages/default.aspx
Seems like there are some potential advantages of this type of glue, but I've never tried them.
http://www.acrifix.com/product/acri...-adhesives/acrifix-1r-9019/pages/default.aspx
http://www.acrifix.com/product/acri...-adhesives/acrifix-1r-0192/pages/default.aspx
Seems like there are some potential advantages of this type of glue, but I've never tried them.
Similar threads
