PVC or HDPE sheet material: Best blade, other pointers?

[LaserGecko]

More investigations into the "latest" in reptile cage technology...

Has anyone here worked with PVC or HDPE sheets of material with their Festools? Any pointers would be greatly appreciated. I've talked a bit with a local plastics dealer, but he's recommending gluing everything together.

I assume the #439686 Special sawblade for hard plastics and melamine would be the best blade for the task (and I need to get it anyway for the melamine), but it would be nice to hear of someone else's experience.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Michael Kellough]

These are not hard plastics so the regular fine tooth blade should do well,
as long as you reduce the speed so you don't melt the stuff.

 

[ScooterX]

ditto -- use the regular fine-tooth blade that comes with the saw. My understanding is that the other blades are for "hard" plastics such as fiberglass and polycarbonate. I have used 1/4" and 1/2" (6mm and 12mm) PVC sheets for my sign work.

Glues work great for PVC in most applications. Mechanical fasteners (screws and bolts) need wiggle room and washers. One thing to be aware of is that soft plastics shrink and expand more in temperature changes than wood, metal or brick does. So, if you're using large sheets or long lengths, you need to allow some wiggle room if your plastic is attacted to a wall, etc.

 

[LaserGecko]

Thanks for the pointers, guys. If I use this, I will be building a few reptile cages out of it. I can see some of the benefits of it for shipping and waterproof applications, but it's so darned expensive compared to that pretty white glued together sawdust.

Any ideas about screwing it together into various box-type shapes?

I learned my lesson about the speed of the saw when I was cutting some of that plastic closet hanger rod! It was one of those "oh yeah, THAT's what I forgot" moments. Definitely going to hit them up for some scraps on which to practice first.

 

[Brice Burrell]

Laser, you may want to look into products like Azek or other PVC trim boards, Azek is cellular PVC, it's a little less dense than most sheet PVC. Azek comes in trim boards 3/4 x 4 through 12 and sheets. You can use all of your woodworking tools on this stuff. www.azek.com

 

[LaserGecko]

Thanks for the link. I've been talking with some of the guys at work about using Sintra. It's a cellular PVC, as well. The salesman said you could screw into the edges of it with a coarse threaded screw (drywall) and hand power, that it would handle it. I'm thinking glued threaded inserts and machine screws would be more durable and easier to assemble and disassemble.

Of course, McMaster-Carr has a plethora of options for this route. Does this sound like a good idea or overkill?

I hate to keep pointing this thread more towards a "How-To" direction, but at $100-$120 a sheet (white or black) I'd like to know as much as possible before making an expensive mistake.

 

[ScooterX]

if you can give me an idea of the size of the cage/box you're wanting to make, I might be able to help with some suggestions.

one thing to consider, is that Sintra may offgas (I don't know if its really designed for animal cages) and snake fangs might ding it.

 

[Eli]

I know I'm a bit late responding, but I have worked with a lot of Sintra in the last ten years. You really don't even need to cut it with a saw if you don't want to. Four or five passes with a mat knife and it'll snap clean, but only in straight lines. It does indeed hold well with drywall screws, but will sometimes mushroom under the screw head. If it is exposed to any direct heat or sunlight, it will bow like the fiddler on the roof, no matter how many screws hold it down to a substrate. Watch your cut edges, they are sometimes sharp enough to open up your hand. I had a pile of it left over from a job that I ripped into two by four footers and kept stacked just inside the crawlspace of my last house. I would deal them out in front of me like a deck of cards to get where I was going and then pull them back to the opening when I left. Worked real good.

 

[Ned]

... benefits of it for shipping and waterproof applications...

Any ideas about screwing it together into various box-type shapes?

If you're after waterproof, how about bending a sheet to form the bottom and 2 of the 4 sides?  Or doing that twice and having a top-and-2-sides and a bottom-and-2-sides.  Will the stuff heat weld?

Ned

 

[Eli]

Also, I'm pretty sure we used the white sintra and that it wasn't another material, but it seemed more stable in terms of temp affecting it than the black. I think because of the color, the formula is a bit different.