Cutting 1/4" polycarbonate

[Cr2348455]

Hi Everyone,
What is an easy and accurate way to cut 1/4"
thick polycarbonate?
Thanks

 

[Ulma Doctor]

A table saw with fine teeth or a circular saw
Or a jigsaw

 

[homebrewed]

I've used a 4" battery powered Makita saw with a carbide-tipped blade to cut plastics with some success but had problems with the plastic shattering when the saw's effective depth of cut was significantly deeper than the sheet thickness. Hand-feeding too fast likely was the problem, but it can be hard to control: and one mistake and you've got scrap. When things are set up correctly, I get very smooth cut edges.

Cutting thinner plastic has proved to be more challenging so 1/4" thick material may not be so problematic. That's my experience, anyway.

This particular saw actually was sold with a diamond blade and an attached water bottle for a water drip. It turns at a relatively low speed and that, in combination with a carbide blade and the water drip, works very well for cutting plastic. When it's set up right. I bought mine over 20 years ago but it looks like Makita still sells something like it.

 

[Cr2348455]

Thank you all!

 

[Firstram]

Bosch jigsaw blade T-101B will do a great job. It is all set and no rake so it really clears the chips while leaving a descent edge. Fairly low blade speed and midway on the oscillation setting is a good place to start. The trick to cutting plastic is blade speed, fast enough to cut but slow enough to not melt.

If you are on a table saw use a SHARP triple chip blade reserved for plastic. Once it's too dull for plastic replace it and use the old one in your normal rotation. I worked in a plastic fab shop for a few years and we used to use Forrest No Melt plastic blades. It is really amazing how well a $250 blade works.

 

[Martin W]

If you have curves to cut. A plywood template cut and sanded to the shape and then using a pattern router bit with a rub bearing to follow the template works fine also.
Cheers
Martin

 

[Winegrower]

I have had excellent results on 1/2” polycarbonate using my table saw and a Freud glue line ripping blade. The table saw and a good fence makes it easy to get straight and smooth edges. If I need better, for a truly perfect edge or exact dimension control, a light climb milling pass does the trick.

 

[C-Bag]

I found this on YT. For cutting on a table saw a fine cabinet blade mounted backwards with the teeth facing backwards. Worked great. I couldn't cut it without messing it up until then.

 

[Timwalker]

I have a good bit of experience cutting both acrylic and polycarbonate. Like mentioned above, a sharp triple chip blade on a tablesaw is the most ideal. I also like to use beeswax to lubricate the blade, particularly with anything thick (I routinely cut ~1.25 thick polycarb). Also, with polycarbonate, I find pushing a decent feed rate of cut to help in avoiding heat/melt. With acrylic you're better off not pushing the feed to high to avoid the brittleness of acrylic to come into play.

 

[Bob Korves]

An often issue when cutting thin sheets is not having enough teeth in the cut, which leads to chatter in the sheet and a rough finish. Choose a blade that keeps at least three teeth in the material at all times and the cut will be a lot smoother and easier, though not faster.