Mog72
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| posted on 20/1/15 at 01:10 PM |
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Suitable tool for cutting 4mm plastic sheet
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
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Stot
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| posted on 20/1/15 at 01:18 PM |
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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
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Mog72
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| posted on 20/1/15 at 01:25 PM |
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It's 4mm thick ABS plastic sheet
http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=260898332504
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The Black Flash
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| posted on 20/1/15 at 01:39 PM |
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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.
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Matt21
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| posted on 20/1/15 at 01:41 PM |
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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
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gremlin1234
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| posted on 20/1/15 at 01:42 PM |
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if you can't get a good straight cut with the dremmel or hacksaw, you can clean it up with a file
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ianhurley20
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| posted on 20/1/15 at 02:35 PM |
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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.
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Smoking Frog
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| posted on 20/1/15 at 03:10 PM |
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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.
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trextr7monkey
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| posted on 20/1/15 at 03:34 PM |
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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
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Our most recent pics are here:
http://s129.photobucket.com/albums/p211/trextr7monkey/
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James
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| posted on 20/1/15 at 03:46 PM |
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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
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luke2152
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| posted on 20/1/15 at 08:11 PM |
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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
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Ben_Copeland
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| posted on 20/1/15 at 08:15 PM |
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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]
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pewe
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| posted on 21/1/15 at 12:21 PM |
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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
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coozer
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| posted on 21/1/15 at 02:18 PM |
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I used a straight edge and Stanley knife, just score it, not all the way through then bend it and it snaps!
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1980 Z750
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The Black Flash
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| posted on 21/1/15 at 08:13 PM |
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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.
I had to cut up an offcut today to test something, so I tried an ordinary wood saw on it - I can report it worked fine, obviously the finer tooth ones
will be better.
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