Can I cut plexiglass with a saw

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Hybridfish7

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Hand saw to be specific. I am kinda tired of cutting plexiglass with that weird carving tool only for it to not break the right way anyway.
 
Yes, as said above circular saw with guides is a great option. Use a quality blade with high tooth count for neatest cuts. Make sure to move the saw very slowly to avoid melting the plastic. A corded saw works best here as most battery powered saws will only last a few cuts.

When ive cut thicker acrylic(3/4"+), i doused the blade with water while cutting to avoid the melting issue, but a lot of the acrylic guys here say you dont need to wet cut. I found it helpful in maintaining expensive saw blades and it helps the shavings collect in piles rather than flying off in every direction.
 
Agreed, the more teeth the better the cut. I have cut up to 1.25" without wetting no problem, but sure do like the idea of the shavings not going all over and sticking to everything! Probably try that next time. :thumbsup:
 
Agreed, the more teeth the better the cut. I have cut up to 1.25" without wetting no problem, but sure do like the idea of the shavings not going all over and sticking to everything! Probably try that next time. :thumbsup:

Oh its still messy....in my case i just needed to stop the cloud of shavings from covering both my neighbors yards though lol.
 
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Oh its still messy....in my case i just needed to stop the cloud of shavings from covering both my neighbors yards though lol.
maybe im a giant static ball. but 95% of the shavings endup stuck to my body and they literally static stick. i cant seem to find any reliable information about what kind of cfm i would require for acrylic shavings.
 
maybe im a giant static ball. but 95% of the shavings endup stuck to my body and they literally static stick. i cant seem to find any reliable information about what kind of cfm i would require for acrylic shavings.

Oh yeah. I work for the railroad and can testify that cutting acrylic is more painful than cutting steel lol. It seems to create even finer needles and shards and they seem to irritate the skin more than steel. I dont mind going short sleeve at work but i break out the long denim and face shield when i go to cutting on plastics lol.
 
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Oh yeah. I work for the railroad and can testify that cutting acrylic is more painful than cutting steel lol. It seems to create even finer needles and shards and they seem to irritate the skin more than steel. I dont mind going short sleeve at work but i break out the long denim and face shield when i go to cutting on plastics lol.
yea lol try routering it. its 10x worse then cutting it with a saw blade.. im pretty well over the point of having to deal with the shavings from routering as the co2 laser is up a and running now. but i still want a vacuum for the panel saw. its insane how little information there is regarding dust collection in regards to acrylic.
 
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