Thread: Working With Acrylic

Hey guys, I've been browsing around a bit through the wiki and workshop section but being that there is so much to sort through I may have missed what I'm looking for.

When working with acrylic, specifically transparent acrylic, to make scales, am I correct to assume I should use the same process as I would with wood? (wood seems to be the primary example in scale making threads)

I read on one post that someone used an Xacto knife to cut their acrylic into shape, will this work or do I still need to make use of a band saw, etc.?

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

Adam

I've been using a scroll saw, but the band should also do the job.
,

Working with acrylic is similar to wood in a lot of ways. You can use any saw to cut your roughs, and any means of sanding, basically. If you use powertools, use low speed so as not to damage the acrylic from heat buildup. I just use a small thin bladed hand saw, takes only a few blinks-of-the-eye anyways. For sanding, I just use a sanding mandrel on a hand drill, can go real slow but at the same time a lot faster than hand sanding, in my experience. Altho I never tried, I do not think an exacto knife would be the best tool to cut your acrylic, if it is of common thickness (1/8 or so).
Best of luck.

I've never tried an x-acto knife, but on harder acrylics, I've used a glass cutting wheel to score and cut it.

I use a variable speed scroll saw to rough cut my acrylic, and then move to a belt sander for rough and final shaping (two different grit belts), and then hand sand to smooth things out. I can't really see using an exacto knife to cut acrylic, but I suppose it could be done.

Before I had the scroll saw I used a coping saw, which is totally doable. I found it harder to cut as precisely with the coping saw, and it took more time, of course. As always, the decision on how much money to invest for a faster tool depends on how much you value your time (compared to the investment) and how many sets you see yourself making.

You may find, if you try acrylics from different sources, that some melt more easily, some are harder or softer, etc. Like razor steel, not all acrylics are the same.

Thanks for all of the help! I'm going to give scale making a shot and haven't done so yet with any material. Acrylic is what I'll need for the job I want to do and I thought it may be "easiest." I think I may have to pick up some novus polish also

Originally Posted by ats200

Thanks for all of the help! I'm going to give scale making a shot and haven't done so yet with any material. Acrylic is what I'll need for the job I want to do and I thought it may be "easiest." I think I may have to pick up some novus polish also

Depending upon the particular acrylic you can heat polish it. Don't forget to leave the plastic protective stuff on till the absolute last minute either. Heat polishing is a bit tricky but if you practice it can be effective. All you have to do is pass either a heat gun or torch over it (be careful not to let it linger in any one place for too long or it will burn/melt through)

Originally Posted by bharner

Depending upon the particular acrylic you can heat polish it. Don't forget to leave the plastic protective stuff on till the absolute last minute either. Heat polishing is a bit tricky but if you practice it can be effective. All you have to do is pass either a heat gun or torch over it (be careful not to let it linger in any one place for too long or it will burn/melt through)

Be careful of heat in buffing or "heat polishing" acrylic. The heat will drive out the plasticizer/volatiles. What that means is that part of the surface becomes more brittle and may/will crack sooner..pinning..or later; not good. The finer the buffing compound,the more quickly the heat builds.
respectfully
~Richard

think everyone here answered all the cutting/buffing questions rather well already. I don't know that I would use a xacto knife to shape it, I just use a coping saw and a sand paper (but I've only worked on one set of acrylic scales so far). One thing that didn't occur to me at first but helped when I found the info online later is...

Sanding with wet paper instead of dry seemed to work better for me, dunno if that is already obvious to the rest of you.

Originally Posted by TheBaron

think everyone here answered all the cutting/buffing questions rather well already. I don't know that I would use a xacto knife to shape it, I just use a coping saw and a sand paper (but I've only worked on one set of acrylic scales so far). One thing that didn't occur to me at first but helped when I found the info online later is...

Sanding with wet paper instead of dry seemed to work better for me, dunno if that is already obvious to the rest of you.

Thanks for the info, I'm going to start with my scale making next week most likely. I most likely would have used dry sandpaper but thinking about it, it probably makes more sense to go with wet. Thanks a ton