cutting lexan with ???

[stevenf]

Hi folks, I'm building a club house/deer blind with my son this weekend and have aquired some 1/4" thick used Lexan for the windows. They are great big storefront sheets and I need to cut some very long runs like 4 foot long by 20" tall slider windows out of them. What would you use to cut it. I have a few different circular saws, a dremel with cutoff wheels, a jigsaw with a plastic cutting blade or the trusty old hand saw or I could stop by HD and get a plastic cutting knife and score it but its so thick I figured I'd be better with a powered device if I can keep it from getting to hot and melting.
Steve

 

[mikim]

I never had any luck using a power tool for that stuff ... I'd just score the devil out of it both sides - like 25% each side ... those plastic cutting knives & a straight edge can work quite well - just don't push so hard you dull it quick. Slow & easy - just so you get a nice small plastic curly coming from the knife.

 

[hunterridgefarm]

I have traced out the outline then drilled several holes about 1/2" apart then used a jigsaw with course blade and slow speed to cut it. That way it is not one continous cut which tends to heat up the blade.This may not work good for long straight cuts though.

 

[EddieWalker]

I'd try puting my saw blade in my saw backwards and see what happens. It works good on metal and other odd materials, maybe on lexan to.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[stevenf]

I spent a summer with a circular saw blade backwards building a corrugated steel barn that has got to be the worst sound in the universe.
Steve

 

[hazmat]

My former job was at a company that built ambulances. We would use lexan for sliding doors in the cabinets.

Lexan was cut on a table saw with a high tooth count carbide blade. Edge was smoothed on a router table.

I would use a table saw or circ saw with the above mentioned blade.

We only ever seemed to crack it when drilling it by hand (the flutes would catch, pulling the bit thru faster than it was cutting. Hole saws work nice for making a "pull" to open the window. If you want to put a small hole in it, use a drill press if possible (better control). There are some specialty drill bits out for cutting plastic w/o the cracking...

<font color="red"> EDIT </font> Saw blade should be used "forwards"...

 

[JerryG]

The key is a lot of teeth per inch and a slow ctting speed. Anything else and it will get to hot and fracture and / or remelt back together.

 

[ronjhall]

Bosch makes a blade for Lexan and Plexiglass that does a great job of cutting. Part # T101A. It's only available in Boschs T-Shank for their saws. Check it out HERE.
I have used this blade to cut up to 1/2" Lexan.

 

[getut]

Are you guys talking about plexiglass instead of lexan?

Plexiglass, clear like untinted glass but distinct blue color if looked at from the edge. Very easy to chip, but can be scored and broken just like glass.

Lexan, in my experience, is usually ever so slightly more rubbery in texture than plexiglass, and lots more difficult to chip. I've never seen true Lexan that was completely clear. Most of the time it has a translucent milky look to it and sometimes it is almost completely white. It can also be scored and broken like glass, but has to be scored very deeply. You can easily run lexan through a standard table saw without fear of chipping.

I've seen lots of people mix the two up. It really does sound like you guys are talking about plexiglass instead (with the exception of Hazmats post where he mentions cutting it with a table saw).

 

[BB_TX]

Check out this <font color="blue"> project with thick lexan </font> .
It says <font color="red"> Cutting ......can be done with the jigsaw or circular saw, ................ Again, this saw should be fitted with a non-ferrous metal-cutting blade (which is usually also good for plastics)., as described in Chapter 5.

</font>

 

[stevenf]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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

 

[stevenf]

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

 

[Freds]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( You can also shear it in a sheet metal sheer if you have one of those available. )</font>

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]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( you can also bend it in a sheetmetal brake.)</font>
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]

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!