Plexiglass again.

[thequintessentialman]

We need a forum for stuff that does not fit in other forums.

I'm fairly adept at cutting flat plexiglass sheets; worked in a hardware store in my youth and refit plexiglass into storm windows and other frames. I got fairly good at cutting straight lines on flat surfaces. The present issue is my wife is constantly dragging stuff home to challenge my skill set. She found a 6" diameter plexiglass tube with walls about the thickness of a single pane plexiglass that she wants me to cut. If I could support it internally, I would consider trying the band saw slowly; all the other ideas I come up with don't get past the thought stage. Even the band saw idea, I can't decide what blade. I know form experience that plexiglass does not like fast moving toothed blades. I know this is not really a machinist question but there is such a wealth of knowledge here, I was hoping someone has successfully done this. I considering making a hot wire cutter like for shaping Styrofoam but didn;t wan to put that much into it, else she may drag home more. Any ideas?

 

[SLK001]

I've always cut plexiglass on my table saw. I don't see any problem cutting some on a bandsaw.

 

[darkzero]

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[mmcmdl]

Plexiglass cuts like butter on a band saw . Too fast , it melts but otherwise no issues . Sounds like a future bird feeder ???

 

[GrifterGuru]

With Plexiglass and plycarbonate, I have always cut it with a jigsaw with a metal blade at low speed. never failed yet, it is more akin to a 24TPI hacksaw blade.

 

[woodchucker]

I understand the problem you are worried about.
being a tube it's not supported on the high side.
if you have a metal cutting saw, and a fine blade, you will have slow speed, and small teeth that don't pull the top side of the tube down toward the table as much so it won't crack.
I would rotate the tube so you are cutting the outside first, and then continue to cut through, but try to avoid anymore than going through , keep rotating. this is not like pvc .. it cracks more easily.

I have plexi tubes that I cut, but they were thick walled. avoid letting the band saw spin the tube, rotate opposite if you can, if not control the rotation to a slow roll.

Also you could just use a 24 tooth hack saw. use tape to set your line, join the tape around so you have a straight line, or use an index card taped around, then mark it.

 

[darkzero]

At work I worked on a vehicle where I had to cut a section out of a plexiglass divider. I used a jigsaw & it cut nicely. The plexiglass was like 3/16-1/4" thick though

She found a 6" diameter plexiglass tube with walls about the thickness of a single pane plexiglass that she wants me to cut. If I could support it internally, I would consider trying the band saw slowly;

I needed to cut down a thin plastic tube, I could of just cut it with scissors but I always have to do things the hard way.

I used a breath mint case to support the inside, chucked it up in the 6 jaw. Used a Dremel mounted on the toolpost with a slitting saw blade to cut it. Then used a sanding drum to clean it up. Yeah yeah, I know.... but it worked!

 

[ChazzC]

I've used my PortaBand (in SWAG Stand) rolling the tube as described by @woodchucker and flat pieces on my baby table saw: sharp carbide-tooth blades (table saw; I use 10–14 pitch bimetal blades in the bandsaw), slow even feed and holding the material securely are key. Using tape across the cut line also helps.

 

[tq60]

I have used saw with blade backwards so it scrapes instead of bites.

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[TimHarrison]

I usually cut any of the plexiglass, Perspex, Lexan type materials with an angle grinder and a thin cutoff disc, unless very thin when I would use a dremel and abrasive cutoff disc.