cutting lexan with ???

stevenf · Oct 28, 2005

Nope its really Lexan I had it in my store front for years because the kids kept throwing rocks thru the glass windows on the weekend. It was supposedly bullet proof but in the size sheets we had I doubt it would have stopped much. It did however relieve the glass breakage but they quickly learned that they could graffitti it by scratching it with might near anything and it took hours to try and polish it out and never was clear enough afterwards. After an especially hard hit weekend we had the gang unit out to take pictures and the policeman took one look and said Lexan huh! Did you know there has been a rash of breakins at the banks that use lexan they just take a can of ronsonol lighter fluid and squirt a door size shape on the surface and light it burns right thru. I got rid of it after that and went back to safety glass but have held onto the Lexan in case I had to board one up for the night I could just reinstall the whole pane until the glassiers could get out to put new glass in the next day.
Steve

Freds · Oct 28, 2005

I made a small aquarium out of lexan, actually it was a 15 gal sump for my reef tank, and used a circular saw with whatever blade was in it that I use for cutting wood. No chipping, no melting back together. The most I had to do was rub the edge a little to flake the "slag" off. If you really want to dress up the edge, pass a torch over it a few times. I used a jigsaw on the smaller pieces.

stevenf · Oct 28, 2005

Thanks Freds, I figured surely somebody would respond with aqaurium building experience with Lexan. I'm gonna give the circular a shot probably need to take off the carbide, I read in a government article that it was a no no because it can catch the teeth and seperate them from the blade and since I've already had surgery to remove a carbide tip from one of my eyes I believe I'll heed their warning.
Steve

Wood_Butcher_Dav · Oct 28, 2005

I'll add another tip and that is to put 2 inch clear tape down the cut line. The tape acts as a blade lubricant. This works real well for scroll sawing and band sawing tight curves. I would set up a straight edge by the cut line and use a variable speed jig saw with metal blade.

Dave

RedRocker · Oct 28, 2005

You can cut lexan with a table or circle saw, you can also bend it in a sheetmetal brake. A regular drill or a Uni-bit will work for the holes. You can also shear it in a sheet metal sheer if you have one of those available.

LarryD · Oct 28, 2005

I was going to say use masking tape to reduce edge chipping. It has worked for me on thin veneered wood.

stevenf · Oct 28, 2005

So many great ideas, Thanks to everybody that posted, I'll let you know what ends up working the best.
Steve

Freds · Oct 28, 2005

( You can also shear it in a sheet metal sheer if you have one of those available. )

That's how I originally tried to cut the sheet of lexan I had and the shear chipped the heck out of it. It cut it, but it didn't leave an edge you could work with and several cracks were also started. This was on a hydraulic shear that had rake and material thickness adjustments and after ruining the first piece I played around a little because I couldn't believe the shear didn't give me a nice cut. It never did.

There might be different grades of lexan, though. Any lexan I had to make into a sneeze guard and break (bend) was already precut. I never tried to break the material I had. I just sawed it and "welded" it.

I'm only saying this because I know the lexan I had couldn't be cut in a shear.... Not saying that you haven't cut it this way, Sammy... I mean RedRocker /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

bczoom · Oct 28, 2005

( you can also bend it in a sheetmetal brake.)
Check before attempting. The lexan I have cannot be bent without going through an extensive drying process first.

I have Lexan with mar-guard. Unlike other grades, it's guaranteed not to scratch, yellow or otherwise loose clarity for 10 years.

AL_Josh · Oct 28, 2005

When I worked at a shipyard we cut it with a circular saw and a jig saw. We would use the circular saw to cut the straight peices and use the jig saw to radius the corners. We used them for wheel house windows. I would tape the base of the saw with a good layer of masking tape so it would not scratch the lexan. I had no problem with chipping or cracking.

Good Luck!