Best tool to cut plexiglass

[Arlin Eastman]

Dave

I had to cut it all the time in the military and we just used a 14 to 18tpi blade and left the wrapping on both sides to keep it from shattering or chipping.

We did use the sheet metal brake a few times but it always left chips on the ends.

[Steve N]

Jigsaw using the following blades as your guide. Most won't be readily available locally, but the world gets smaller when you shop online. Bosch has good jigsaw blades


If you do use a saw, vibration can cause chips, and edge problems, if you lay it on a piece of scrap ply the vibration goes away, so do the chips. If you have no spare ply scrap, at least use painters tape on the line you will cut, both sides is best.


Straight edge and a good quality cutting knife. A utility knife is so so, there are blades just for this that don't break the bank

[Jack in omaha]

I used the table saw leave plastic on the stuff I used to cut was over 1/4 inch
if it was not still in protective wrap fut masking tape on line you wish to cut. It sometimes melts a bit but usually it does fine.

[museumguy]

Send me a PM with your address and I'll send you a pack of Bosch T shank jigsaw blades for acrylic. A couple of years ago, I bought several for 50¢ a pack. They work great, has to do with the set in the teeth.

[Routerman]

If the stock is to be shaped/sized after the rough cut, I'd band saw it.

Then screw or clamp it to the the sizer/template and rout it with a new carbide cutter.

[joe1086]

I just did this last weekend on a couple sheets of 18x24 1/4" material got from Lowes. Bought and tried the scribing knife and after about 10 passes, well, that was a joke.

In the end I sandwiched the plastic between two sheets of 1/4" scrap plywood. Concerned about melting/cracking I secured the ply to the plastic with what seemed like a half mile of double sided masking tape and ran it through the tablesaw. Worked out nicely.

[Hank Knight]

I've cut acrylic and polycarbonate on my table saw uaing a Freud 10" TK combination blade. I've also cut it on my bandsaw with whatever blade happened to be on it at the time. A steady, fairly fast feed rate is important. The only time I've had a melting problem was trying to rout dados in poly on my router table. It's a messy job no matter how you cut it. Those little chips go everywhere! You can get a nice finish on the edge of polycarbonate (and probably acrylic too - never tried acrylic) by first sanding the worst of the saw marks away with some 150 - 230 grit sandpaper on a sanding block. Then gently stroke the edge with the flame from a butane torch - move the torch quickly or it will melt or burn the plastic. Leaves a really nice polished edge.

[Steve N]

Not only do the chips fly everywhere, but I have found after cutting plastics, everything in the shop, including any sawdust is electrically charged. All I can say is static, and sawdust make a weird combination.

[wood2woodknot]

Another tip --- cover both sdes of your cut line with clear packaging tape. The tape acts as a lubricant. I cut plexiglass on my scroll saw this way, also using Flying Dutchman "POLAR" blades. This method was suggested specifically for this problem by Mike's Workshop (scroll saw website) years ago. Never a problem since.

[Wild Turkey]

RE: acrylic (Plexiglas) vs polycarbonate (Lexan)

Take a sharp knife or chisel and try to cut a sliver off of the edge of a piece.  Acrylic will chip and pop small pieces off; polycarbonate will cut more like wood.

If you were getting melting it was too little set, too slow a feed rate, too fine a blade or no where for chips to go.

I had a table saw blade get red hot when I tried to cut some acrylic with a zero clearance insert and the shavings jammed up against the blade where I wasn't looking.

Static:  I used a circular saw to cut a sheet of the gray stuff along a penciled line.  Had to stop after a couple of feet and clear the pencil mark so I could see it -- the shavings were attracted to it like steel to a magnet.

I've got to cut some in the near future and I'll try my Bosh orbital jigsaw for control.

good luck, and practice makes perfect!

(your supplier should have some scraps you could have for practice