Re: Working with Plexiglas

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Mike Harrison by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <mike-at-whitewing.co.uk>

On Tue, 26 Jun 2001 21:21:20 -0600, you wrote:

>Original poster: "Gregory Hunter by way of Terry Fritz
<twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <ghunter31014-at-yahoo-dot-com>
>
>Dear List,
>
>I sometimes use Plexiglas for Tesla coil components,
>but I still haven't figured out how to work the stuff.
> When I saw it with an electric jigsaw, the cut tends
>to fuse back together after the blade has passed. 
>When I finally do get the stuff cut, I have a rough
>edge that defies my best efforts to smooth & polish
>it.  What's the secret to cutting Plexiglas sheet? 
>How do I get a professional-looking finish on the
>edges?  What's the best glue to use with it?  How do I
>use power tools on it without melting it?
>
>If the explanations get really long, or get into
>subjects not of general interest to TC builders,
>kindly reply off-list.
I don't have extensive experience, but have found that coarse,
_SHARP_, wood-cutting blades are more sucessful than metal blades,
although edge chipping can be a problem. I've even used a coarse TCT
circular saw, which is very scary, but works for hacking up large
sheets - eye protection utterly essential - sharp chips of hard
plastic are not nice. 
I was told by the guy at a sign shop that they use circular saw blades
designed for aluminium cutting - his saw produced an excellent cut
without chipping. Bandsaws are also good as the long blade length
conducts the heat away, preventing melting.

For clean, straight cuts, a good old  hand hacksaw is the best, used
at a very shallow angle to keep the cut straight. Use a new, coarse
blade, with a lot of tension. 

For bonding, I use Cyanoacrylate ('super glue') - this dissolves the
surface and provides a very strong bond with acrylics (unlike just
about anything else you try to stick with cyano, apart of course from
fingers!)

For polishing, abrasive paper, used wet, is a good start, followed by
a polishing wheel with metal polishing compound. This can make edges
slightly rounded - I'd love to know an easy way to get dead square,
clear edges.