Acrylic Glass

[Lbob131]

Has  anyone  experience  of  this  stuff.
Can I saw  it  with my TS55?

Also  anyone  ever  try  any projects  with  acrylic glass  and  LED  coloured  light strips?
Many  thanks.

 

[AlexThePalex]

Yes you can cut acrylic glas with the TS55. The finer the blade the better, best blade is the special laminate blade, but the TS' standard blade wil do it also. Keep the speed of the blade low or the acrylic will melt back in the blade's track.

No experience with the leds here.

 

[afish]

What alex said usually a TC blade with a low hook angle is best and run slower to avoid melting.  Filtered bacon fat makes a good lube for cutting/drilling acrylic also.

 

[Peter_C]

Negative hook angle blade is what you want. They do make special blades for cutting plastics, and non ferrous metals. I use an Oshlun blade on my TS55 for cutting aluminum and plastic. Oshlun SBFT-160056A Festool has a negative hook blade too.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Do some test cuts with the blade you have.
If the result is poor, it will improve if you sandwich the acrylic between two pieces of scrap wood.

 

[mkasdin]

Years ago I cut some plexiglass or lexan on a table saw. I think it was finish side down and I used some painters tape to reduce splintering. I may have made an initial pass to score the plastic first? Try a test piece, they might have some scraps you can try?

 

[rst]

As a forty year plastic fabricator, another important point is to have firm solid support under your stock when drilling or cutting.  To avoid chipout when drilling, plastic drills have a different geometry than regular drills similar to thru drills for wood.  I have zero clearance UHMW inserts for cutting on my table saws and chop saws.