Acrylic Cover

[iamnothim]

My daughter's cats are crawling on and sleeping on my homemade tube amp.  I have a pair of 1959 Amprex Bugle Boy tubes hat I am real partial to.  Fur against glass can produce a very destructive static charge.  Since I can't kill em' I am building a "simple" cover from 1/4" Lexan polycarbonate sheet.

I watched a couple YouTube videos and it looked straight forward.  Jigsaw, tables, bandsaw, and smooth with a flush cut router bit.  Still I had some trepidation about this.  I could see the sheet cracking up.  Since I don't have a very fine bandsaw blade I decided to use my TS55 REQ.  I have a Tenryu 52T thin kerf blade.

I dialed the 55 down to a speed of "1".  Guess what?  Worked like a champ.  Very clean cuts.  This material is a lot more pliable than I expected.  Tomorrow I fire up the OF1500

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[tjbnwi]

Flame polish the edges. Use a propane torches low and gently fan across the edge, practice on scrape.

Tom

 

[iamnothim]

Flame polish the edges. Use a propane torches low and gently fan across the edge, practice on scrape.

Tom

I'm glad you brought that up Tom.
The video said to use MAP Gas.  I'm not at that stage yet I wondered if you can get MAP cylinders that fit a standard torch head

 

[rst]

tjbnwi's comment about flaming is correct, however, I machine plastics for super market fixtures as part of my business and I would not flame a raw cut edge.  The easiest way to get a very clear finish is to scrape (there are dedicated plastics scrapers, but you can use scraping cards for wood also) first or sand, stepping to 320 grit and then flame.  I pre heat the edges by running along them quickly a few times and then flame with a light source that will allow me to see the sheen, much like you would to check a sprayed finish or buffing.  If you linger too long or get the edge too hot too quickly,it will bubble, just sand again and re-flame.

 

[tjbnwi]

Flame polish the edges. Use a propane torches low and gently fan across the edge, practice on scrape.

Tom

I'm glad you brought that up Tom.
The video said to use MAP Gas.  I'm not at that stage yet I wondered if you can get MAP cylinders that fit a standard torch head

Yes.

Tom

 

[tjbnwi]

tjbnwi's comment about flaming is correct, however, I machine plastics for super market fixtures as part of my business and I would not flame a raw cut edge.  The easiest way to get a very clear finish is to scrape (there are dedicated plastics scrapers, but you can use scraping cards for wood also) first or sand, stepping to 320 grit and then flame.  I pre heat the edges by running along them quickly a few times and then flame with a light source that will allow me to see the sheen, much like you would to check a sprayed finish or buffing.  If you linger too long or get the edge too hot too quickly,it will bubble, just sand again and re-flame.

[member=25351]rst[/member],

Thank you for explaining it more clearly than I did. Sometimes I forget others have never done certain things.

Tom

 

[rst]

Mapp gas is actually no longer avilable in the US.  What is being sold now is actually a propane mixture "Current products labeled "MAPP" are, in fact, MAPP substitutes. These versions are stabilized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) with high levels of propylene.". 
The big shops use hydrogen, I use propane because I am usually not making large quantities and the set up tariff is steep.  I also do not have a commercial scraping/router as the cheap ones start around $10,000 and go up drastically from there.

 

[Cheese]

Mapp gas is actually no longer avilable in the US.  What is being sold now is actually a propane mixture.

Ya I've been looking for Mapp for the last 4-5 years for sweat soldering copper. It's extinct unfortunately. The current MAPP is nothing like the real deal.

 

[Arvid]

I've cut it with a marathon framing blade

 

[Kodi Crescent]

Thanks for posting this.  I had been considering something like this to cover my Saw Stop's cast iron tables.  It's just too easy for my kids and I to accidentally place something wet on top and...oh look!  A rust bloom!

 

[iamnothim]

Thanks for posting this.  I had been considering something like this to cover my Saw Stop's cast iron tables.  It's just too easy for my kids and I to accidentally place something wet on top and...oh look!  A rust bloom!

Cool. A great application.

Mine is finito
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[Stephen B]

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Mapp gas is actually no longer avilable in the US.  What is being sold now is actually a propane mixture "Current products labeled "MAPP" are, in fact, MAPP substitutes. These versions are stabilized liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) with high levels of propylene.". 
The big shops use hydrogen, I use propane because I am usually not making large quantities and the set up tariff is steep.  I also do not have a commercial scraping/router as the cheap ones start around $10,000 and go up drastically from there.

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[member=25351]rst[/member]
Just wondering?

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Great result [member=28483]iamnothim[/member] .

 

[Cheese]

This can be very confusing, but there is a significant difference in flame temperatures between the old Mapp and the new Map Pro. The new Map Pro is based more on a propylene mixture and produces approximately 10% more BTU's than propylene gas, but it also produces 15% less BTU output than the old style Mapp. Mapp is still the best for small projects, if you can find it.