Cutting 3/4" cell cast acrylic for tank

[alexw]

I picked up some cell cast acrylic sheets on craigslist. The tank I'm building is going to be 48"x36"x24"H.

The two giant acrylic sheets (4'x9') need to be cut down to size. I am considering using either a jigsaw or circular saw.

Does anyone have experience with cutting 3/4" cast acrylic? What type of blade would you recommend that I buy from home depot?

Any recommendations for which weld-on I should use would also be appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[fizzy]

use weld on 16 to bond it with, as for cutting, use a very fine tooth blade on a circular saw, dont use a jig saw as the cut will not be straight.

 

[marrone]

I think you need to use a circular blade saw, and get steel blades that are made for cutting acrylic. While cutting it you need to make sure you can keep the blade cool, otherwise you can crack the acrylic. Before you start I suggest you look at a number of videos on You Tube, as not only do you need to cut it but buff out the edges, otherwise it will be really sharp.

You may be able to bring it down to one of the plastic places on Canal street and ask them if they'll cut it for you. It will cost you but it maybe cheaper than buying the blades and trying to do it yourself.

 

[fizzy]

yes sand down the edges after cutting

 

[edd]

you need a nice straight cut, it should be cut on a table saw.
take marrones advice and see if you locate a place to cut it.
i don't think weldon will fill voids, it melts the 2 pieces together, thats why you need a good even edge.

 

[cmantis]

Pretty sure you need an edger and believe me thats not in the budget. Better to take it somewhere.

 

[dacaptain78]

I know nothing about building tanks, but I did watch a YouTube video by a guy named The DIY King, or King of DIY, or something like that. He has a set of videos that details his process of building acrylic tanks, start to finish. I found the videos pretty informative. Check them out if you can find them.

 

[alexw]

Thanks guys for the tips. I cut the two sheets down using a circular saw with a 2x4 guide to run it against.

I purchased a 60 tooth 7.5" diablo non-stick high-density carbide blade which ended up working perfectly. The pieces of saw dusts did not clump together or smell burnt. Previously I had tried a plywood blade, but it started to smell when I was testing it on scrap.

If I were to do more acrylic projects, I would look for a tripple-chip tooth design, but home depot didn't have one when I went.

I cut the pieces 1/4-1/2" larger than I needed because I was worried about drift from the circular saw. Good thing, because a couple of the large cuts had one or two small 1/64" jumps.

I plan to route the edges I intend to weld by using a 2-flute top-bearing routing bit with the bearing run against a guide. For the non-weld edges, I will just flush cut route them after welding.

Is routing the edges before welding enough? Or do I also need to scrape them with an acrylic scraper?

 

[ravi197699]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/251288514966?_trksid=p2060778.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

this idea might be able to help you cut...

 

[Pax-Bellum LLC]

I know the post is a little old but thought this may help.

Home Depot carries a 10" and possibly a 12" table saw blade made by Freud for cutting plastic. It works great on acrylic I believe its 84 tooth for the 10". It has a triple chip carbide tipped teeth. I use them all the time for acrylic work. Works better than the Forest blade I used previously at less than half the price.

After cutting scrape the edge. I use a high speed steel (HSS) cuttoff blade from a lathe. Then hit it with 300-400 grit wet sandpaper. Then clean the edge with denatured alcohol before using solvent cement. For 3/4" If you're looking for a bubble free edge or no visible bond I'd consider using weld-on 40 two part.

Tristan