Cutting Acrylic Sheets With Jig Saw

Mark the area of sheet you want to cut.

Cutting acrylic sheets with jig saw. Apply a strip of painter s tape to the cut line to prevent cracking. Jigsaws ability to cut straight at angles and in a circular or another shape motion makes them versatile tools for cutting plexiglass along with a lot of your other woodworking needs. How to cut plexiglass with a jigsaw. However the process requires following steps.

Clamp the sheet if. If you get stuck at an angle pull the jigsaw out the way you came and cut from the other edge. Most saws can be used t. Depending on the type of blade you use you will find that running the tool a t medium to low speeds is usually the best bet even though blades will be more important than speed overall.

The advantage of using a jigsaw is the ability to cut shapes with rounded corners however cutting too slowly can melt the acrylic and applying too much pressure can cause the edges to chip. Use scoring knife to cut a narrow groove in the acrylic sheeting scoring preferably works on sheets less than 6 35mm in thickness. Set up the acrylic glass on 2 beams so that you can cut through it with the jigsaw. If you cut too fast the acrylic will melt from the heat the friction creates and your project will be a mess.

To cut acrylic sheets with a jigsaw you will want a jigsaw with a good range of speed control and a variable speed control will help out a little. Lay the sheet on a flat surface and using a yardstick and a permanent marker or a grease marker measure and draw the. Place the sheet over hard edge with groove side up. The key to cutting acrylic with a jigsaw is to keep the speed low.

Score again and again as many as 10 or 12 times. This is done by drilling a hole in the plexiglass then placing the jigsaw blade in the hole. Use a yard stick or ruler to roughly measure the length of plexiglas you wish to cut. Mark your cut line with a grease pen.

This video shows how to easily cut acrylic sheet such as perspex lucite plexiglas optix oroglas acrylite sumipex cryolite etc. Next hold the yardstick to the marked line and run the dull side of a utility knife along the yardstick to score the. Using lubricating oil can help prevent friction from building to a point where the acrylic begins to melt but take care to avoid flammable lubricants or. Place the plexiglas sheet on an even work bench or table.