Acrylic saw cutting

[Dave West]

I've got some 3/4 cell cast acrylic I need to cut to size. I was told to use a 80 tooth thin kerf blade for best results. Does it have to be a blade specifically for acrylic (pricey), or will any 80 tooth do?

thanks,

Dave

[Thad Nickoley]

Hi Dave,

If you are not going to do it all the time any 80 tooth will do. Just dont go to fast or to slow. You dont want it to burn to much and there will be a heavy oder.

[Richard Rumancik]

The Cyro site has a useful technical brief regartding sawing of Acrylite FF. FF is extruded, not cast, but I'll guess that sawing cast would be similar.

It can be a bit difficult navigating the Cyro site. I have a paper copy from my dealer but I found a pdf here:
www.cyro.com/methacrylates/us/products/sheet_products/downloadinformation/technicaldownloads/

If this link is too long try this one:

http://www.cyro.com/methacrylates/us/

then click Products -> Sheet Products -> Download information -> Technical Downloads then select Fabrication Tech Brief #2.

There are also other Tech briefs re: laser cutting, painting, drilling, bending, cementing, etc. that may be of interest to members.

[Dave West]

Very informative pdf. Thanks.

Dave

[Mike Null]

I use a Freud 80 tooth plastic laminate blade with pretty good results. Use a zero clearance insert. I think it was about $60 at Rockler.

The rake angle is important. It should be minimal.

Cast is much easier to cut than extruded as it is not nearly as brittle.

The PDF is well done and more detailed than other recommendations I've found.

[Bill Morrison]

I second Mike's response. Use a blade designed to cut acrylic. I tried an 80 tooth blade made for wood and there was a big difference when I bought a blade just for acrylic.

Bill

[Michael Kowalczyk]

There are several blades that you can use but ask your blade supplier to see what they carry. There are ATB(alternating bevel) and Triple chip that we use but if I remember correctly a negative hook blade is also a key factor. Make sure your saw has enough HP and the speed in which you push your material is very important. Make sure you have some cleaner ready also and a brass wire brush.
A clean blade is a happy blade.

[Kevin L. Waldron]

Old time trick is to reverse the blade so that it is cutting backwards.

A metal cutting carbide blade will also work well

Kevin