MBridges Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 In my introduction thread Kevin mention there had been some questions about cutting acrylic. Personally I love to cut it as it's easy to cut and, to me, it seem to go thru less blades. Also, when you're done just peel the paper off and that's it. No staining, no finishing, ect. The first and most important tip is Duct Tape! Yea yea i know, here come the jokes about duct tape fixes everything, but in this case it really works. I'm not sure if it's the lubricant of the glue melting with the heat from friction or what exactly but keeps your kerf from fusing back together behind your cut. Put a layer of duct tape on top of the paper that covers the acrylic and then attach your pattern to that. The nice thing is when you're done you just peel off the paper and the whole lot comes off. The second tip is use double tooth blades. I personally use the Olsen Doubth Tooth blades. You don't want anything that has reverse teeth as they will put the dust back in the kerf causing it to fuse together. You can turn really easily in acrylic so I've never used anything smaller than a 3D blade and if the holes are large enough I'll use a 5D. The wider the kerf the less any of the dust getting back in there can cause any problems. Tip #3 is that you can stack cut it. I've cut 2 pieces of 1/8" acrylic with no problems. The only thing to keep in mind is once a while your colors may "bleed" a little bit on the edges. If you're cutting the same color you won't have any problems at all. Cutting 1 piece all by itself can be hard to control if you are doing very intricate cuts. I would recommend using a piece of 1/8" baltic birch or something similar as an extra later if you only want 1 copy of the piece in acrylic. When stack cutting, you only need to use the duct tape tip above on the top layer. NOTE: I do NOT recommend the duct tape tip if the wood layer is your top layer LOL No I haven't done this, I just couldn't resist a little sarcasm. The last tip is to use Weld Bond glue. You used to be able to find it in some Home Depot's. If you can't find it there Sloan's Woodshop carries it and you can order it from them. It dries quickly, is the only glue I've found that will attach acrylic to wood, and dries completely clear. I use it all the time now including wood to wood. Hope this helps and if you have any other question feel free to ask away Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntter2022 Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 Matt thanks for the tips I have use the weld bond glue before and found it is good for wood Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amazingkevin Posted August 23, 2010 Report Share Posted August 23, 2010 MATT ,I've never heard it said better,you need to stand up and take a bow.What a great comentary on acrylics and you covered all bases.you've earned your first star now.Your really movin along here at ssv!Don't be surprised if apples arrive at your door unexpectidly,teacher!Your acrylic cuttings look so smooooooth, i can't wait to try cutting some.You can also post your work and get the most benifit for yourself and members is in the user gallery.Plus at anytime we can refer to your work and you will have your own libray to refer to.It's easy to set up,hope you try it you'll like it.Plus things will be in catagories,acrylics,intarsia,fretwork,puzzles what ever catagorys you want to name them.Practice makes perfect and once you know how to do it it's a breeze.thanks again for joining and enjoy your welcome stay! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBridges Posted August 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Thanks for the compliments, Kevin I will check out the user galleries. I haven't got that far yet, but am definitely enjoying my time looking a round and reading posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Great tips! Thanks for putting that together for us. I'll have to try my hand at that. I bet they'd create very unique projects. They'd make awesome ornaments too. Nicely done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodworker13403A Posted August 24, 2010 Report Share Posted August 24, 2010 Great tips! I will have to give them a try out real soon. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBridges Posted August 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2010 Y'all are very welcome. Glad I could contribute and help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kepy Posted August 25, 2010 Report Share Posted August 25, 2010 I recently cut some quilting templates for a lady and found that if I used masking tape on the plexi, it didn't fuse back and I was using reverse blades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBridges Posted August 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2010 Good to know Kepy and thanks for the update! Maybe it depends on the kind of acrylic being used? I've never tried the reverse tooth blades as I was warned against it the first time I cut it and have only used the Double Tooth blades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susieq4131 Posted August 26, 2010 Report Share Posted August 26, 2010 Wonderful tips on cutting acrylic. I use Weldbond glue for all my bowls. I love this glue! Tacks up quickly, non-toxic, and dries clear. Ace Hardware is the only place I know of that carries it. They will even even do special orders on the larger bottles of Weldbond. I usually order the 21 oz size as I go through a lot of glue. SQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toolbeltman Posted August 27, 2010 Report Share Posted August 27, 2010 Thanks for adding these tips Matt.... I think I will have to try cutting Acrylic again! Regards... Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBridges Posted August 27, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2010 Susie, I don't know what Ace sells it for, but Sloan's Woodshop is another source you can use for comparison or if Ace is out Doug, Glad I could help and contribute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susieq4131 Posted August 28, 2010 Report Share Posted August 28, 2010 Doug, Thanks for info about Sloan's and Weldbond. I will have to compare prices. I can't remember right off hand what I paid for the glue either. SQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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