How to Work With Acrylic Plexiglass
Acrylic plastic or plexiglass, also known by the brand name Plexiglas, is a rigid, scratch resistant plastic. It gets used for windows, skylights, aquariums and even indoor turtle tables. It is lighter than glass, can take some hits and never bleaches or corrodes in the sun or near the ocean. With the proper tools, it is not hard to work with acrylic plastic and following a few simple guidelines, the results look great.
Things You'll Need
- Saw
- Blades for acrylic plastic
- Clamps
- Router
- Router bits for acrylic plastic
- Drill
- Drill bits for acrylic plastic
- Cotton gloves
- Strip heater
- Solvent or acrylic cement
- Hacksaw
- Fine grit sandpaper
- Heavy grit sandpaper
- Buffing wheel drill attachment
- Soap
- Lukewarm water
- Kerosene
Instructions
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Cut the largest pieces of acrylic plastic you need for your project first. If you use a saw, make sure the blade is designed for cutting acrylic sheets. Clamp the sheet in place, if you use a handsaw, to avoid letting the sheet flex. If you use a router, make sure you use bits designed for acrylic plastic and clamp the sheet to avoid vibrations which can cause cracking.
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Drill any acrylic sheets of plastic for your project. Use drill bits that are designed for acrylic plastic. You can use regular drill bits if you have the tools to grind flats along the cutting edges of the bit so it scrapes the plastic out of the hole. The result you want is spiraling ribbons of plastic coming out of the hole as you drill.
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Place clamps on either side of an area in the plastic sheet you want to bend or form. Clamp it to two stable surfaces on either side of a gap in a well-ventilated area. Wear cotton gloves and heat the area in the gap with a strip heater so it sags into the shape you want. If the sheet is more than 3/16 of an inch thick, you may need to heat both sides as you allow it to sag. You need specialized tools and forms to do anything more than straight bends in the plastic.
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Lay one side of a joint on a flat horizontal surface and clamp the other side above the joint at 90-degree angle. Pour the solvent cement or acrylic cement into a needle-nosed applicator bottle and apply it to the inside of the entire length of the joint. Let it set for two days before removing the clamps. You can also use viscous cement for joints at other angles, imperfections or gaps. Make your own by mixing ground chips of acrylic plastic into the solvent cement.
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Remove the masking film from the acrylic sheets. Use a file, or scrape any edges with the back of a hacksaw blade until they are smooth. Use a sanding block with wet four-hundred to six-hundred grit sandpaper on any scratched surface. For deep grooves, use a heavier grit dry and move to a wet fine grit. Polish the surface with a buffing wheel attachment on a drill.
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Wash the acrylic plastic surfaces with soap and lukewarm water. Use Kerosene for tougher stains.
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Tips & Warnings
For sheets 3/16 of an inch thick, you can score them with a knife or a scriber along the line you want as your edge and then clamp the larger side down and let the other side hang off the table or counter. Hit the side hanging off hard with a sharp force, and the sheet breaks on the scored lines. Sand any sharp edges.
Do not heat acrylic plastic sheets in the oven. Some fumes from the heating are combustible.
Avoid other traditional cleaning substances, unless they specify use with Plexiglas, or acrylic plastic because they may cause damage to the sheets or dissolve the cement in the joints. Follow manufacturer instructions.
