How to cut an even circle in plastic

In working with each material there are some features. so to speak, the subtleties that are used by craftsmen to achieve a particular goal. Concerning the plastic panels among these aspects can be identified as follows.

• Cross cut. During its manufacture, the introduction of the angle will help to make a cut at an accurate angle of 90 degrees.
• Longitudinal cutting. The most common cut, because it is made between the internal reinforcing bars. is almost always made with a knife. First the face of the plastic is cut through, then the panel is bent and the back side is cut through.
• Another great thing about cutting plastic panels lengthwise. it is possible to cover the inner and outer corners without using special fasteners. If the panel is cut through from the back, it can simply be bent, thus forming an inner corner. And if you remove the strip between the ribs on the back of the plastic, the panel can be bent in the other direction, thus forming an outside corner. The only thing to keep in mind here is the fragility of plastic. with sharp movements the narrow material can break. Before the workplace it is better to warm up a little bit with a hair dryer. you can even use a household warmer.

And the last point concerns the straight longitudinal cutting of plastic PVC panels. If you want to cut it right along, then it is ideal to cut between the internal bulkheads panel. first you can cut as you get, and later trim the bulkhead. In principle you don’t have to make such precise and accurate cuts. unless you have to hide the last strip in the starter profile. Precise trimming without any burrs is fundamental here.

I will say a few words about the cutting properties of plastic panels. Do not underestimate the importance of an even cut during installation of plastic panels. do not count on the fact that the edges will hide behind the starting profile. The fact is that a crooked cut is the first inconsistency in the installation of the panel. Even easier to stick an evenly cut strip of plastic. Not much more, inserting crooked-cut panel, you run a great risk of damaging the other elements of the trim tool that will be used to stick the strip in the profile.

How to make a hole in a plastic panel: a tool for cutting holes

Virtually every time we are talking about finishing the walls or ceiling with plastic panels, we have to deal with the issue of cutting holes in the panel for the lamps or outlets. for them to use separate tools, although in some cases can be used, and some of those described above. We will leave them for later, but meanwhile deal with more appropriate variations.

Circular saw. The best option, but only at hand it is not always. Most suit a set of crown on drywall, which by changing the nozzles can cut holes of different cross-section. you can pick up a saw for sockets, and for recessed ceiling fixtures. This tool cuts very carefully, but at the end of drilling must be circumspect. when the tool plummeted through the plastic, the main panel can be damaged. At this point, the pressure on the tool should be significantly reduced.

That is how to solve the question of how to make a hole in the PVC panel for a light fixture or socket with the main tools. not counting them, as mentioned above, you can use the above. For example, a knife. that the hole was flat, it should be previously drawn with a marker or pen (unfortunately, a pencil on plastic leaves a slightly noticeable trace). Exactly on the same principle, the previously drawn scythe line, the hole can be cut and a blade from a hacksaw on metal, and an electronic jigsaw with a saw with a small tooth.

How to cut a circle with a jigsaw

If, without thinking to grasp the case, it is unlikely anything will come out of it.

• It heats up quickly and contributes to tool breakage;
• If it is roughly handled, it can crack;
• not to break the jigsaw strings you need to not force the jigsaw;

All of these properties suggest that it is not easy to cut a circle out of this plexiglass. Before starting the cutting process it is necessary to treat the material.

It can be machined with a diamond stone or angle grinder, with a metal file and with other tools. This is to ensure that the plexiglass is easy to handle and does not cause discomfort.

These methods of processing come for plexiglass, whose thickness is about four millimeters, but no more. There are also ready-made knives for acrylic. They will help a person in the marks and in the difficult areas help to solve various problems.

Cutting acrylic can also be done using electrical equipment. For example, on a special cutting tool, a triangular saw blade that is designed for sawing Plexiglas.

Up to one centimeter of plastic can be cut with this saw. It also saves a great deal of time and allows large quantities of material to be cut.

It is important not to develop too high speed, otherwise the disk can overheat and just break, and this can cause injury

With an electric jigsaw, you can also do a lot of work, only in this case it will be more convenient. Saw blades for wood can be used. Just don’t go too fast, or the device might break down.

Before you start work, it is a good idea to moisten the surface with water, to reduce friction and to keep it cool

But it is necessary to remember that if the teeth are large, then such saws are not good enough. Very fine teeth are needed, and the cutting speed should be the lowest.

Note that in order to do the job without defects, the Plexiglas needs to be heated with a fire (gas torch, lighter, etc.)

Direct cutting out with a hand jigsaw

As mentioned earlier, if you need to keep the strings on the jigsaw, then you can wet the workpiece, this will reduce friction and the process will cool. And if you want to work quickly and without effects on the plexiglass, then it needs to be well heated with an open source of fire.

In order to cut a circle, you need to draw a circle shape on the fake. Then begin to cut in the desired shape.

How to cut a circle out of glass

In the home the need for round glass can be very different: for example, to replace the cracked glass in an appliance, make a round mirror, make a disk for the sharpener, glazed fragment of a window frame, cut a table top for a coffee table, etc. д. There are special tools to perform this operation, but in order not to spend money, you can make them with your own hands and do not need high skills and expensive materials.

We will need

The compasses will mainly be made from wooden bars with a square cross section. First of all we drill from one side of the block.

On the end of the block, which will be dressed on the axis, we glue the second (shorter) block with “Moment” glue, to compensate the flight of the head of the glass cutter. The axis is a wooden bar in the shape of a square, in the center of which a nail is hammered in.

We make a notch in the longest block with a file, a hacksaw, a chisel and a planer for installation of the tool.

The distance from the axis of rotation to the attachment point of the glass cutter must correspond exactly to the radius of the circle to be cut. On top of a cutting tool clamping a small bar also with a notch and fasten with screws, pre-drilled holes of smaller diameter, so that the bars do not crack.

With the help of sandpaper fixed on the holder, remove burrs from the circular saw and round off the edges, so as not to hurt your hands while cutting a circle of glass. We put the holder of the glass cutter on the axle and our home-made device is fully ready for work, for which it was designed.

Fix the glass workpiece with a double-sided adhesive tape on a flat surface so that it does not move in the process of cutting out a circle. Fix the center of rotation of the disk also with a double-sided adhesive tape in the center of the glass workpiece.

Wear safety glasses, hold the glass cutter with one hand and, holding the axis of rotation with the other hand, draw the cutting tool in a closed circle over the glass workpiece.

To make it easier for the outside of the workpiece to separate from the circle, draw lines from the edge of the workpiece to the circular line with the glass cutter and also tap them.

Work the outer edges of the cut disc with sandpaper to blunt them and make them safe for further use.

Cutting plexiglass at home

Cutting Plexiglas at home is not difficult, as it is malleable and easy to work with the material. In spite of external resemblance to the common glass, organic glass has different performance properties and can be processed by different methods: turning, planing, sawing etc., which makes it easy to cut plexiglass. It is possible to cut Plexiglas using a large number of tools.

Plexiglas is machined using the following tools:

With a nichrome thread

Cutting by the fusion method is done with a nichrome wire. Up to 24 V voltage is applied to the wire via step-down transformer, which heats it strongly. Curved and shaped cuts are made with a nichrome thread, which have a good surface quality and do not require further grinding.

To perform fusion cutting a screwdriver with a straight slot is used by do-it-yourselfers. Use an electric soldering iron to heat the metal part of the screwdriver, with the end pressed against the plexiglass surface. Then, holding the tool by the edge of the handle, with the heated blade of the screwdriver, draw the fishing line for the trimmer cut. For straight lines it is more convenient to use a metal ruler or the smooth side of a hacksaw. Plexiglas is easy to break along the traced stripe. Read more at

Use a circular saw or a metal mill

A circular saw or metal mill is also a good option for working with organic glass. The metal cutter for cutting plexiglass must not be thicker than 1 mm. Keep in mind that during cutting, the saw or cutter strongly heats up the material to be cut, so it melts and foams in the place of cutting. In order not to spoil the workpiece, it is necessary to provide cooling. Water poured into a bottle is used for this purpose. The vessel is clamped to the cutting tool in some way and water is fed into the work area with a thin hose.

The circular saw should be run at high RPM. Some tools have a special mode for processing plexiglass. In works that do not require a high quality of cut, you can use a saw. But a cutter is good for making thinner and cleaner cuts. Using a water cooling system produces a smooth and even surface, and the cut will be clean and neat.

Cutter

Small-thickness Plexiglas is excellent with a construction cutter. A home-made tool made of a hacksaw blade or even a utility knife will work for this purpose.

It is possible to make only straight cuts with a cutter. For this purpose a ruler (preferably a metal one) is pressed to the sheet of material along the line of the supposed cut, then several times with pressing move the cutting instrument along the surface of plexiglass along the ruler. When the cut has reached the middle of the Plexiglas layer, it can easily be broken. The place of the cut will be uneven and rough, so you need additional grinding.

Metal saw

The easiest way to cut Plexiglas with your hands is with a metal saw. The cut lines must be pre-drawn with a pencil or felt-tip pen. During work, the jigsaw must be held straight, trying not to tilt it sideways. It is preferable to clamp the workpiece firmly. Cutting surface will not be smooth. All irregularities and burrs are removed with a file and sandpaper.

Electric jigsaw

An electric jigsaw with special files for organic glass is used for cutting polymethylmethacrylate. Jigsaws for plexiglass are specially marked. the letters of the Latin alphabet MP.S.

For cutting plexiglass at home you often use an electric jigsaw with saws marked MP.S

When sawing the blade you must control the working speed of the tool. The higher the RPM, the faster the jigsaw speed. Synthetic polymer melts at high cutting speed. The cut area becomes white and sealed, so the material is not usable.

Feed rate and the number of revolutions of the file is chosen experimentally. It is recommended to practice on unwanted fragments of polymethylmethacrylate before starting to cut the working blade.

An electric jigsaw is used to create straight and curved cut lines.

Circle-cutting with a jigsaw

Circle-cutting diagram with jigsaw.

Sawing plywood should be only in dry form, so that the material does not crumble, and the saw does not break.

When transferring the ornaments to the finished base, you should capture the places where there are visible defects in the form of knots, stains, chips. After that, the cut part is discarded, and the base gets rid of these kinds of flaws.

• Templates with patterns, ornaments should be transferred to the fabric with tracing paper.
• Small holes are drilled in the through sections using a drill.
• A saw or a blade is inserted into the finished opening. The unoccupied tip of the saw is secured with clamps or screws.
• Pressing on the workpiece, the outline of the circle is cut according to the previously drawn line.
• As you saw out the arc-shaped elements redundant areas are removed, the edges of the circumference is processed with a sandpaper or file.

To ensure smooth lines the jigsaw is turned slowly to the left and right side. At the time of such work, you should control the level of tension of the saw, weak performance of which will lead to poor-quality performance of the work. Excessive tensioning can break this part. screws should be driven in such a way that the sawing part cannot slip out and the threads should be retained.

Round the corners of furniture

You might even injure yourself on a sharp table corner. Therefore we recommend cutting corners wherever possible. In homemade furniture, they must be rounded from the beginning.

Sawing out circles and curves is no more difficult than making a completely straight cut on a workpiece, but on one condition: you have the right tool in your hands and are good at it.

Mark the dropouts

It may happen that the holes that you drilled for the insertion of a narrow blade of a hand or electric hacksaw, will be in useful areas To avoid such errors, you should mark all the falling out parts of the workpiece with a hatch.

What’s good for the template?

It is not only possible to make a circle on the workpiece with a compass. Any similarly shaped object will do. It can be a pot, a plate, a cup or a bowl. However, when taking on work related to the repair of furniture or some piece of furniture, calculate in advance the need for details of rounded contours or with round holes. It may be enough to make only minor changes in the design.

Making a paper disc

The paper becomes wavy.This is not the case with discs. After they have dried, we move on to the next step. cut a hole in the center for the angle grinder.

Cutting plastic, wood, drywall with paper disc for angle grinder

Of course such a paper disc is not durable, but it can be useful. It can also be planted not only on a high-speed angle grinder, but also on an ordinary dremel, drill, and even on an electric screwdriver, clamping it with a bolt and nut.When working even with a paper disc, be sure to take all safety precautions when working with power tools.

Cutting plexiglass or plastic sheet at home

Organic glass has good qualities: when heated it becomes soft and pliable, easy to press, well processed by machines and all locksmith tools, so it is widely used in manufacturing and in the manufacture of decorative-artistic articles of plexiglas.

Sometimes you have to work with plexiglass or plastic. You need to bend plexiglass or cut it, cut out parts or whatever.

Cutting plexiglass, as well as plastic, at home can be done in different ways.

If you need to cut small shaped parts with internal patterns, you can do it with a regular jigsaw, which is used to cut plywood, or with a nichrome wire connected to a transformer (see “The Cunning Cutter”). Sawing with Nichrome wire and cutting Styrofoam using the same technique).

If Plexiglas needs to be cut in a straight line and a long cut must be made, a fine-toothed metal or wood hacksaw can be used.

But it is better to make a scraper from a knife or from a broken piece of metal saw blade or just from a metal plate.

You have to cut with a ruler to get a straight cut.

With this simple device you can cut plexiglass much faster than with a hacksaw.

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There is another “tricky” thing about this kind of cutting. with the cutter.

If the plexiglass is thick, say millimeters of four or thicker, you can cut it in half, then insert a nichrome wire, heat it until the smoke goes, quickly take out and bend the workpiece to the side of the cut.

Edges of Plexiglas are fused and a perfect bend is obtained without gluing.

We used to have a lot of nichrome, so we didn’t take the wire out, we just bent it while it was hot and then cut it.

Vinyl plastic and other fusible plastics are also processed.

I cut plexiglass the underside of the office knife, there is a notch on the blade, scratched a deep groove and then lamal at the flat edge of the table sharp movement, the main thing that this groove was of equal depth along the entire length, especially on the edges

Needed:

• a drill and a bit;
• Locksmith’s vise;
• An angle grinder with a cutting wheel;
• Pliers, a hammer and a core;
• welding equipment;
• Phillips screwdriver and flat screwdriver.

We took out the old speaker, shook off the dust and cleaned it with a metal brush.

Clamp it by the flanges and magnet in a vise and drill out the heads of the screws with which the basket is screwed to the upper flange. Separate the basket with the upper flange from the permanent ring magnet and the lower flange with a steel cylinder (core). Clamp the basket with the upper flange in a vice again and knock the flange out of the basket with a hammer and an arbor.

We don’t need the basket, and the permanent ring magnet, the upper flange and the bottom flange with the core will be useful for the making of the self-made piece. Clamp the lower flange in a vice and cut off the core at the base with an angle grinder.

Then we turn the part, nock it in the center and drill a hole, lubricating and cooling the working area, respectively, with oil and water. The surface of the bottom flange from the side of the remnant of the core and the ring magnet glue, and the flange flank downward put on the magnet and after centering fix them.

Grind the top weld angular grinder. Weld vertically in the center of the joint angles extended hex nut, screwing it into the top of the bolt to secure the nut when it welds.

Grind the seam with an angle grinder. Unscrew the auxiliary bolt from the nut welded to the corners.We clamp the construction of two angles and a nut in a vice and on the shelves at the bottom close to the side, drill holes opposite each other, cooling the place of drilling with water.

Prepare a metal strip with a characteristic curve that bends the ends of the strip along two vertical planes.Place it over and longitudinally to the welding seam of the corners without resting in the extended nut and weld the handle strip in this position.

Return to the ring magnet with the flange and the nut glued to the bottom of the core spur. Screw in the bolt with the washer and nut on the face of the flange.

To the stud, screwed into the extended nut on the head of the bolt, at the other end, weld the same nut, but of a smaller diameter.

The units of the two welded angles, the extended nut and shaped handle, as well as the permanent magnet, the flange, the bolt with nut and washer and the welded extended nut to the bolt head are painted with black spray paint from a spray can.

We put the first knot on the angle grinder so that the holes in the shelves of the angle grinder coincided with the holes on the angle grinder, and the knot handle was directed along the body of the tool from above.

Practical test

By rotating the permanent magnet assembly around the stud, you can increase or decrease the distance between the center of the nut (axis of rotation) and the wheel of the angle grinder.

It will be equal to the radius of the circle which we are going to cut in sheet metal, if the knot with a magnet set in the center of the cut circle, and the angle grinder with a disk to move the handle at a given radius, pressing the tool to the metal.

After the circle is cut, turn off the angle grinder and the circle lift together with the angle grinder at the expense of its retention by the force of a permanent magnet homemade device.