Cutting Acrylic Sheet With A Router

All you need is a thin acrylic sheet a straight edge that is longer than your cut clamps and a scoring knife.

Cutting acrylic sheet with a router. If you don t have one of several types of power saws available to use if you have a router it is possible to cut plexiglass with it provided you have the correct blade designed to make a flush cut a variable speed router when done right will cut plexiglass the heat generated by both power saws and router bits is enough to melt some of the plastic polymer material that comprises plexiglass. Templates can be made from plywood fiberboard or rigid plastic. Here a few tool options for cutting acrylic. Clamps may also be used to hold the template to the material and moved when necessary.

Cutting acrylic by hand is the easiest way to go for a beginner who isn t familiar with power tools. For best results use another tool like. If it s not it can vibrate or flex ruining your cut. Once you ve fixed acrylic into place it s time to cut to the chase so to speak.

When cutting acrylic you won t get the best result using wood cutting bits as cutting and chip removal. First of all use a similar rpm. The router is guided around a precut template pattern that is fastened to the acrylic sheet. How to cut acrylic by hand.

The majority of acrylic blanks are milled. Cutting acrylic with your industrial cnc router step 1. Routers can be used to cut acrylic for both curved and straight cuts. The template is typically held to the sheet using vacuum or two sided adhesive tape.

Pull the blade towards you along the line. Score the line in the acrylic with a plastic scoring blade. Using your ruler as a guide run a plastic scoring blade along the cutting line trying to make one continuous line with gentle even pressure. Clamp down the straight edge on the cut line.

Insert the acrylic cutting bit into the router and lock it into place. The actual machining of acrylic on a cnc router is in many ways similar to machining polycarbonate. Place the router base onto the plexiglass. Make sure that the acrylic is held down securely.

Adjust the length of the router bit so that it cuts completely through the thickness of the plexiglass sheet. This is the most common method and since saw blades are easy to find it s a great option for everyone.