Beware that the plastic is very floppy - I've had to bond some aluminium "u" channel to the underside to stiffen it up.
Hello all, I've just fitted an MSA roll bar to my Westfield, I now need to make a boot panel
I'm looking at purchasing a sheet of carbon effect plastic, I have a dremmel with a cutting disc attached, but can't see me keeping to a
straight edge with that , what would be the best tool to ' try ' and get a straight edge ? As its nearly £40 a sheet, I really only want to
take one attempt at it !
Thanks in advance
What type of plastic? For something like ABS a long straight edge and a stanley knife should be fine. For thicker plastics go at it from each side.
Acrylics and polycarbonates maybe not.
Cheers
Stot
It's 4mm thick ABS plastic sheet
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=260898332504
I'm just doing exactly this. I've used a sheet metal saw, though I'm not sure you can get them anymore? A fine bladed tennon saw
would do it though.
Beware that the plastic is very floppy - I've had to bond some aluminium "u" channel to the underside to stiffen it up.
4mm is thick you know...
I used the 2.5mm thick carbon effect from here, http://www.plays-kool.co.uk/acatalog/molding_plastic_sheeting.html
was more than adequate for my boot lid
I think i used a jigsaw for cutting mine and some sand paper for the edges, Just clamp a straight edge to run the jigsaw along to keep it straight
a stanley knife is good for cutting it but tricky on bends i find
if you can't get a good straight cut with the dremmel or hacksaw, you can clean it up with a file
I used 4mm smoked for my boat windows and 8mm for the washboard and used several methods including a jigsaw which worked well for rounded corners but I often ended up with melted plastic around the fine cutting blade. It was finished off with a belt sander to smooth the edge off and make it straight with a very fine sanding disc to get the final finish. The trick was not to spend too long in the same place so you don't build too much heat in one area. Another way I used for longer straight runs was to use a 1mm thick cutting disc on an angle grinder which also worked well but still needed finishing as before.
As said a tennon saw works well, take care when getting towards the end of the cut. Also a finely set wood plane will true-up the cuts. When cutting keep both sides of the cut well supported.
Find a mate with a bandsaw. We cut loads of abs perspex and polycarbonate at work and actually buy special band saw blades for the material but for
your purposes that is best route
Atb
Mike
There is a Spear and Jackson saw designed for cutting PVC and the like- I've just bought one for my soffits and fascias. 14PPI I think.
Cheers,
James
Ordinary angle grinder with a metal cutting disc does it nicely. It kind of melts its way through but doesn't do a bad job
Masking tape, draw a line on it, cut as close as possible to the line. Then straighten up / clean up the edge with a file / sanding block
I'd try an angry grinder first
[Edited on 20/1/15 by Ben_Copeland]
There's a Tile Cutting bit from Dremel - Tile Cutting Bit Ref: 562.
Line up and clamp suitable straight edge to the plastic.
Makes short work of plastic, GRP etc.
Simples.
Cheers, Pewe10
I used a straight edge and Stanley knife, just score it, not all the way through then bend it and it snaps!
quote:
Originally posted by Smoking Frog
As said a tennon saw works well, take care when getting towards the end of the cut. Also a finely set wood plane will true-up the cuts. When cutting keep both sides of the cut well supported.