Cutting Plexiglass EDITED to include tin finding...

[julierealtor]

DH & I spent the day yesterday cleaning out the garage. I found a good size piece of plexiglass that I would like to cut into some ATC's and covers for books. Anyone have any ideas on how to cut this? DH says he cuts it with a band saw...I would just as soon cut it myself on a smaller scale...any ideas on what to cut it with?

[Debbie J]

Is it too thick for tin snips? I cut some of that plastic that comes on packages of toys etc, that is thicker than most stuff and be careful cuz it gets really sharp on the edges.

[tichwoli]

I use a dremel and submerge the whole piece in water to cut so that the dust does not go anywhere.

[pbp908]

If your DH has a band saw, ask him to cut them for you. It's relatively simple to cut small shapes with one. It would be better if he has a scroll saw, though. That would really be the bomb for cutting small plexiglass shapes and would not create a ton of dust.

[mpizzazz]

I asked my DH who uses a lot of clear plastic in his amplifier building and who cuts it on our dining table but I don't pay any attention!
This is his response:
I use polycarbonate rather than acrylic (plexiglass) because it is much easier to cut or machine. Acrylic tends to shatter.

You can get polycarbonate sheets at Home Depot that are about 1/8" thick. If you want very thin or much thicker, search for polycarbonate at McMaster http://www.mcmaster.com/

Take a look at the following web site.
http://www.ehow.com/how_2056832_cut-plexiglass.html

Hope this helps.

[julierealtor]

Okay...I must have the thicker plexiglass...score on each side with heavy craft knife and break at the line...clean as butter...no edge shatter...BUT my latest garage cleaning find was tin flashing...ummm cut with tin snips run thru the cuttlebug...wha la:

DSCN0376 (Medium).JPG (96.17 KiB) Viewed 221 times

I'm thinking alcohol inks...perhaps book covers...gonna have to check on ten two studios for other metal related projects without having to buy all the tools...any other ideas? I have a huge roll of this stuff...

[Holly]

Terrific Julie-- oh so clever you are.