Thick Acrylic

[Questors]

Looking for sound advice for cutting 3/8" acrylic. I have a variable speed jigsaw, that's about it.
Tried making a few cuts with some 1/8" acrylic and it didn't come out great. Possibly wrong speed or blade type. Dunno.
At any rate, this is the material for a reservoir being used in a new build. I can search the Net, but honestly, would rather get advice from people who have worked with it.

 

[Choidebu]

9.5 mm? What sort of cut? If it's just a straight line all I do is mark and tape both sides, score with an industrial scoring knife to about 2 mm depth on both sides (so we end up with half its thickness), then snap at the straight edge of a table.

Sand the edges, done.

Other than straight lines, laser cut. No other cleaner way.

Edit: something like this.

 

[Questors]

9.5 mm? What sort of cut? If it's just a straight line all I do is mark and tape both sides, score with an industrial scoring knife to about 2 mm depth on both sides (so we end up with half its thickness), then snap at the straight edge of a table.

Sand the edges, done.

Other than straight lines, laser cut. No other cleaner way.

Edit: something like this.

Straight cuts. I have a scoring knife. It didn't work well on the 1/8" thick acrylic I have. That's why I asked here. Perhaps I did something incorrectly or the knife I have isn't good enough.

 

[Choidebu]

The thickest I did was 1.5cm, and came out alright. What didn't work exactly? The scoring knife is nice to have, but really it can be done with a regular cutter if you're patient enough.

 

[Questors]

The thickest I did was 1.5cm, and came out alright. What didn't work exactly? The scoring knife is nice to have, but really it can be done with a regular cutter if you're patient enough.

The scoring knife was difficult to keep on the same track, even with the tape as a guide. When I finally did get a cut line and tried snapping the piece off, it broke leaving jagged edges on both sides. This was a practice session to see how well things would turn out. The result wasn't great.

 

[Choidebu]

The scoring knife was difficult to keep on the same track, even with the tape as a guide.

The tape isn't a guide, just to protect edges.. did you use something like a steel ruler of sorts?

 

[Questors]

The tape isn't a guide, just to protect edges.. did you use something like a steel ruler of sorts?

Yes. I used a stainless straight edge. A person I talked to today told me I can use a jigsaw with a metal cutting blade at medium low speed or table saw with a 180 to 200 tooth blade. Push slow and steady through the cut. Interesting. I am going to give both a try tomorrow on practice pieces.

 

[Choidebu]

All the best!

 

[owliwar]

I think the table saw will work best. if possible cut in steps, try some shallow cuts first.
one problem I see is that the acrylic can melt when you cut it if it gets too hot. hope that helps. the low speed cut is advisable for the same reason, less friction means less heat