How to Saw Plexiglass at Home

How and what to cut Plexiglas: 6 Suitable Tools

We tell you how to cut acrylic glass with an angle grinder, hacksaw, cutter, and other tools.

The home handyman has to deal with different materials. It is good when there are special tools for processing each. But that’s not always the case, more often than not, you use an already-available multipurpose kit. Let’s find out how and what to cut plexiglass at home in order to get an accurate cut and not to spoil the workpiece.

Ways to cut with your own hands

But with what to cut plexiglass at home, which tool would be preferable?? It largely depends on the type and thickness of the material.

Some craftsmen prefer to use a torch or knife-cutter, which are sold in construction stores. You will need a flat surface and a metal ruler. After measuring it, you need to run the cutter across the edge a few times. The ruler will act as a stopper. If the sheet has been cut by more than half, then all that remains is to break off the material along the mowing line of the cut. After that, you need to proceed to clean up the edges and use a joinery planer. If it is not at hand, it is quite suitable file or sandpaper.

Not bad proved itself nichrome thread, which is able to make not just a cut, but to create a certain notch or a complex shaped shape. To make it work, you usually use the simplest 24 volt transformer. When the thread is heated, the plexiglass begins to melt, and even a complex pattern can be made in a matter of minutes.

Do not forget about the simplest and most accessible method. Cutting glass with their own hands in the home or garage conditions usually involves using such a tool as a hacksaw for metal. Of course, the cut will be a little rough, but this is not difficult to fix with a file, file or fine sandpaper.

A flathead screwdriver can also help in a dead end situation. It is enough to heat its blade with a soldering iron with power more than 25 W, and then press the end part to the plexiglass and draw a straight line. The organic glass begins to melt and a groove appears. The operation will not take much time, and a steel ruler will serve as a guide.

Metal hacksaw

One of the most affordable options is to use a hacksaw. A good alternative to cut plexiglass at home.

Plexiglas can be compared to beech in its hardness. So you can imagine how difficult and time-consuming it is to re-saw the material. In addition you need to make sure that the glass does not heat up. So you have to work very slowly.

Marking is convenient to do with a marker, it leaves a bright and visible mark. The cutting line is well applied by a knife, a nail.

That said, a hacksaw is an option for how to cut plexiglass at home, only if you have to cut in a straight line. You will not be able to make well shaped cuts.

Useful to know. When the blade gets stuck during work, pour some water. In this way it will be possible to cool the cutting line.

Milling cut

Edges are processed by milling method after previous mechanical operations: drilling, chopping on guillotine scissors or cutting. The design of roundings and curvilinear contours is also performed with the help of milling. Any milling machines are used as equipment. Cutters are chosen end mills, one- or two-blade, small diameters.

To perform artistic engraving works are used engraving, top or back cutters. They can be operated either manually or electronically.

Hand work, materials and tools

What to cut plexiglass, if you need to take a sheet of acrylic to work already, and there are no power tools at hand? To begin with, you can try cutting with an ordinary metal saw.

In terms of hardness plexiglass can be compared to beech, and to saw beech with a hacksaw for metal is quite a long job. Saw slowly so it doesn’t get hot. On the surface of the acrylic you can clearly see the mark of the marker. Use any sharp object, such as a nail, knife, etc. п.This blade cuts metal, and organic glass even more so With a metal hacksaw you can only cut straight lines. Curved surfaces are difficult to cut with this tool.

Tips: To prevent the blade from sticking, pour a little water on the cutting line to cool it down.

For one-off jobs, make a cutter out of a hacksaw blade.

Hand carving acrylic

Manual cutter in the form of a tooth is realistic to make yourself at home. You have to have at least that:

How to make a homemade hand torch look at this

All of the above methods are time-consuming and are suitable only for one-time small jobs of thin acrylic sheets with a thickness of 2-3 mm.

The home handyman for all hands industry makes ready-made knives for acrylic. They are easy to buy in an online store.Plexiglas can easily be cut with this knife To cut the workpiece in two, you do not need to cut it all the way through. It is enough to make a few cuts and break off the necessary piece.

If a do-it-yourselfer needs to cut a lot of sheets, he’ll have to mechanize the cutting process. Meet the three-toothed disc for wood and Plexiglas.

How To Cut Plexiglass The Easy Way

Plexiglass: what to cut it with?

In some cases it is allowed to use a saw. It can be band or disk. The last type of saw is designed for straight cuts. The seam is neat and tidy in this case. As for the band saw, it is suitable for making blanks. It is unlikely that you can cut sharp edges with such a tool. To make the surface smoother, it is recommended to use a router.

It is worth noting that this method of cutting plexiglass can be used not only in production, but also at home.

How and what to cut plexiglass

Cut plexiglass hardly any of us have to very often, rather this process is familiar to a narrow circle of craftsmen working in specialized firms and workshops. But sometimes even in everyday life this skill can come in handy. when making a lamp, a photo frame or a small aquarium. Plexiglas is a rather specific material that combines the transparency of ordinary glass and the performance properties of plastic. The feature of plexiglas that makes it popular for various kinds of work is that it does not break. This property allows it to be used in cases where conventional glass is dangerous to use.

Plexiglas is also often called plexiglass, acrylex, acrylite. these are not all types of Plexiglas, but its brand.

It is easy to work with this material because it lends itself to almost all methods of processing: sawing, turning, planing, laser cutting. Plexiglas can be used for making both massive containers and tiny delicate things.

Production methods of cutting plexiglass:

• The most convenient, but unfortunately not applicable at home cutting plexiglass is laser cutting from https://www.raiderpro.com/lazernaya-porezka-i-gravirovka/. This method uses a laser beam, which provides a high precision cut, high quality cuts and little waste. But it is worth remembering that this method of cutting causes high internal stress on the material, so these parts are not suitable for further gluing. Many companies now offer laser cutting, so if you choose this method, you need to prepare a part drawing and choose a workshop. Often in such places you can also buy plexiglass itself in different types and thicknesses.

• Also in production, and sometimes at home, use such tools as a circular saw (for straight cuts) and a band saw (for curved cuts). The latter tool is more suitable for cutting out workpieces, because in this processing there is no need for clear cuts. To obtain clear and smooth surfaces it is better to use a cutter, and circular saws are used for straight cuts with a clear cut.
• For better cutting, high-speed equipment with a tool rotation speed of about 4000 rpm is used. Cast Plexiglas can be machined, but it is worth remembering about the low thermal conductivity of this material (it quickly heats up in the cutting zone). This results in higher cutting speeds but at shallower depths of cut.

Methods of cutting Plexiglas at home:

• At home, the easiest method to cut plexiglass. is to use a hacksaw for metal. Since the cut will turn out rough and ragged, then it will be necessary to grind the place of the cut with a file or file.
• You can also use a cutter to cut glass, which is essentially a single-toothed saw. This method looks like this: they put a metal ruler on a sheet of plexiglass and run the cutter along its edge several times. When the sheet will be cut through half the thickness, it is finished breaking in a careful motion, and then clean the edges of the cut with a joiner or file. Even an ordinary knife-cutter can be used as a cutter, which can be bought at construction stores or made from a hacksaw blade. In an extreme case, it is possible to adapt a piece of ordinary glass for cutting plexiglass, but you must take care to protect your hands.

• Suitable for cutting plexiglass and a circular saw. Metal cutters with a thickness of 0.5-1 mm are also used. Since the cutters work quickly, the procedure is accompanied by smoke emissions, and the surface of the material becomes rough and foaming in places because of the high temperature. To eliminate this disadvantage it is necessary to cool the saw. You can place a water bottle on one side of the cutter and use a plastic hose to supply water from there. If you take the diameter of the hose 2.5 mm, then about a liter of water is consumed in an hour. This way of cooling produces a smooth and transparent cut.
• Also use heated nichrome thread for cutting plexiglass, which is connected to a transformer with 24V or less. When heated, the thread cuts the plexiglass, or rather melts it. Not only straight but also curved cuts can be obtained with this method.
• Some craftsmen adapt for cutting plexiglass and very simple tools. For example, a slotted screwdriver is pressed against a sheet of material, which I hold by the edge of the handle, so as not to burn. The screwdriver blade is heated with a soldering iron at 25W, and when the plexiglass begins to melt, the screwdriver sting conducts a straight line. As a guide use a metal ruler or a hacksaw blade, or rather its side opposite the teeth. After running the line, the plexiglass is broken along the line, and this is done very easily and quickly.

Ways to cut with your own hands

But with what to cut plexiglass at home, which tool would be preferable?? It largely depends on the selected type and thickness of the material.

Some craftsmen prefer to use a cutter or a knife-cutter, which is sold in construction stores. We need a flat surface and a metal ruler. After measuring, it is necessary to spend a few times on the edge with the cutter. The ruler will act as a stopper. If the sheet has been cut by more than half, then all that remains is to break off the material along the mowing line of the cut. After that, you need to proceed to clean up the edges and use a joinery planer. If it is not handy, it is quite suitable file or sandpaper.

Not bad proved itself nichrome thread, which is able to make not just a cut, but to create a certain notch or a complex shaped shape. It usually uses the simplest 24-volt transformer. When the thread is heated, the plexiglass begins to melt, and even a complex pattern can be made in a matter of minutes.

Do not forget about the simplest and most accessible method. Cutting glass with their own hands in the home or garage conditions usually involves using such a tool as a hacksaw for metal. Of course, the cut will be a little rough, but it is not difficult to fix it with a file, file or fine sandpaper.

A screwdriver can also help in a dead-end situation. Its blade is enough to heat with a soldering iron over 25 watts, and then press the end part to the plexiglass and draw a straight line. Organic glass begins to melt and a groove appears. The operation does not take long, and a steel ruler serves as a guide.

How to cut plexiglass or acrylic at home?

In small shops usually solid equipment is not available, so home masters do with improvised tools. This can be an ordinary jigsaw or a cutter. If a jigsaw is used, a wood saw is used. The trimmed edge is rough and needs to be sanded down further. It is advisable to use a jigsaw in those cases where you need to cut a complex contour from a thin sheet.

Cutter (sharply sharpened, with a sharpened end of the blade knife) for cutting plexiglass gives a clean cut, it is not necessary to refine it, but the process itself takes a long time: a ruler is laid along the cutting line, and then along it carefully, with a little effort spend the tool. And so on until the Plexiglas is cut through to its full thickness. It is especially important to make the first cut correctly: the ruler should be pressed very firmly against the sheet and, running the knife over it, make sure that the blade does not slip from the marked mowing line.