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Tools for working with acrylic?

Lucille

Lucille

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I am going to make some cages out of acrylic, several for my reptiles and one large one for one of my birds. What sorts of special tools do I need to cut and drill? This is going to be, for me, a big project, any website links to working with acrylic would be appreciated, thank you!:D
 
There are cutters made to score acrylic. You can get cheaper ones fo ras little as $2 but there are heavier ones available for a little more and some have replacable blades.

To cut it just make several score marks along the line you want to break. Pull the score line over the edge of the table and bend it down until it snaps.
If you're using 1/4" acrylic I advise to make a fairly deep score line. Make it too shallow and you risk the break running off on longer pieces.

For drilling, I just use a regular metal cutting bit. Use a scrap piece of wood under where you are drilling and keep the acrylic pressed against it as the bit goes through. This will prevent a chunk being gouged out.
Do not drill a pilot hole first. If you do the larger bit will bite too hard and thread itself through and likely crack the acrylic.
If you need a starter hole for the bit use a smaller bit to make a dimple in the acrylic for the larger bit to start in.
Don't use much pressure when drilling either. Let the bit take itself in and press only enough to keep it going.
 
Thank you Clay. I was thinking that since I am working with 3/8 acrylic, I may need to do more than score and break: do you think a variable scroll saw can take care of the cuts?
 
What I know of as a scroll saw is a table unit used to cut intricate designs in woodworking using a continuous band blade. You may be referring to a jig saw, a hand held unit with a recriprocating blade that goes up and down.
I probably wouldn't use a jig saw, but it might work with a fine blade. The concern would be the up and down motion of the blade jerking chunks out of the acrylic.

I have cut it on a table saw. It does leave a rough edge that will need to be sanded, but it works.
When I cut it this way I leave the paper on until it's cut.
Saftey glases are a must too if not a face shield. Using any power saw on acrylic is somewhat dangerous. It can jerk chunks out and seriously injure you if you aren't protected. Old acrylic is worse for that.

I've never worked with anything thicker than 1/4" so I don't know how difficult it is to cut with the score and break method. You would definately have to make a very deep score line.
 
What I know of as a scroll saw is a table unit used to cut intricate designs in woodworking using a continuous band blade. You may be referring to a jig saw, a hand held unit with a recriprocating blade that goes up and down.
I probably wouldn't use a jig saw, but it might work with a fine blade. The concern would be the up and down motion of the blade jerking chunks out of the acrylic.
Click to expand...

And power issues in general... There's a physical limit to the amount of power a jigsaw (or scroll saw) can exert, they're detail oriented tools as Clay noted and simply won't power through a thicker piece of dense acrylic, they're not built for it, not designed for it and I suspect all you'd get is some scorching and a lot of your blade screaming in pain before it sticks solidly about an inch, maybe an inch and a half into your first cut.

I have worked with 3/8" pieces of acrylic before (not a lot of them, but about a half dozen enclosures either built or heavily modified) and will second the idea of a table saw... Or a powerful (not battery operated) hand held circular saw... or a band saw, although this last option limits the avaliable cuts a bit. A table mounted miter saw, a drill press and careful application of a router aren't bad ideas either depending on how intricate you're trying to get with the design.

Drilling is a bit easier if you're careful about which bits you use, your standard woodworking bits are just asking to have splinters and fractured chunks... Glass drilling bits, metal work bits, stone working tools or even anything with shallower threads designed for work with MDF would leave you a bit less worried about predrilling smaller holes and then widening them prior to screwing anything together.

In theory the best way to work with large, thick pieces of acrylic is to heat it slowly until it's malleable and bend it to form two ninety degree angles, then attach a top, bottom and back using chemical sealants (turn four pieces of acrylic into one) but I couldn't really explain this from experience, just from what I have read... Kinda incomplete descriptions involving expensive equipment involved in that as I understand it.
 
Clay I have been looking at your excellent plans for reptile cages. Is there a reason you chose hinged doors instead of sliding doors?
 
jig saw

i used to work at a place called bath fitter where they do acrylic overlay bathroom walls shower walls and tubs so i worked with acrylic for over a year the tubs came fitted for the tub but you had to cut all three sides of the tub that connect to the wall and the skirt that comes down the front of the tub and a jig saw works fine it cant be a cheapy thogh or wrong blade because the acrylic will just melt from the heat we used bosh jig saws and blades
as for as scoring the acrylic that works aswell just get a nice razor knife and a straight edge thats what we used to cut the walls they were about 1/4 inch thick the tubs where we made our cuts wer thicker so if use acrylic more than1/4 inch thick id recomend a jig saw just my insight
you can also heat and fold acrylic as well but the the tool needed is a little uncommon i can find out exactly what it is
on monday if youd like just email me [email protected]
 
Dan, I decided to take a middle ground: most of the panels do not have to be cut, I can use them the way they are. I have found a company that will do acrylic work reasonably if one purchases the acrylic from them; although I am enjoying learning how to use woodworking tools I just decided that perhaps acrylic is one of those things, except perhaps for a bit of drilling here and there, best left to people who are experienced with it. Although the acrylic I purchased was reasonable, I do not want to ruin any of it.
 
Thank you! This site has some of the best and most helpful people anywhere, I appreciate y'all.
 
Acrylic

"Ah, finally something I can help with. Hope I'm not too late. I make lots of cages out of acrylic. If there is a TAP plastic store in your area they are a great source. They usually have a scrap bin with cheap discarded ends. The best thing to cut acrylic panels with is a table saw. I use a 10 inch Dewalt saw with an 80 tooth triple chip blade, Freud is the blade mfgr. Scroll saws and band saws are not steady enough for a smooth cut. If you really want to be clean, you can run the acryloic panels through a router to remove 1/32 of an inch of material after the saw cut, this creates a really smooth edge for gluing. If you want to glue the joints, use free flowing glue in a plastic squeeze bottle with a needle tip, you will probably need some instruction, as it is a little hard to explain how to apply glue using this bottle, easy to do, hard to explain.

I cut slots in the top for ventilation, again using the table saw, although the router might do just as good of a job. I use acrylic hinges for the top and also acrylic hasps for a latch.

If you don't have the tools for this, I suggest finding a wood working store in your area, Rockler perhaps, and they can find you to some retired person that would be more than intrigued by this project and would help you, I'm sure.
 
lucille said:
Clay I have been looking at your excellent plans for reptile cages. Is there a reason you chose hinged doors instead of sliding doors?
Click to expand...

The last post brought the thread back up and I realized Lucille asked me about the doors I used. I didn't see the question when it was first asked.

I use hinged doors from a personal preference. Sliding doors are more of a hassle for me. They can only expose half of the cage at a time, making cleaning and removing the animals a little more difficult.
There's the problem with substrate getting into the tracks, which aggravates me as well.
I also don't like to use keys to access cages, and have never devised an acceptable locking method that doesn't require one.
Hinged doors are just more functional for my uses.

I am having some new plastic cages made custom (yes, I'm actually buying some commercial cages :D ) for my rattlesnakes that utilize sliding doors but they are a special case.
Each cage will actually be two cages with a permenant divider in the middle. When one door opens, it will slide in front of the other cage exposing the full opening when I need it to.
I prefer top access cages for my venomous as a personal preference, but they are very space ineffecient. Hinged doors are not acceptable to me for use with hots. They leave a point of vulnerability when opening them since you have to get them open fairly far to actually do anything, but opening them a little leaves a gap for the snake right from the start.
 
I found an online TAP store, got the hinges and hasps and some acrylic glue (Weld-on 16) from a different online store and had a local glass company cut the side pieces.
When I can find some time, I will be drilling air holes and then assembling and gluing the cages. Any tips/techniques for drilling or gluing would be appreciated; I was thinking of using a 10cc syringe to pour some glue in so it could be applied more easily (I bought a gallon of glue because it was cheaper to do that than buy several small containers).
 
Working with acrylic

Having a glass company fabricate for you might be a bit more expensive, but it might work. There materials cut best with a table saw and an 80 tooth tripple chip blade. My best suggestion is to look around and find a carpenter that will help you as a favor/experiment. You could even buy a blade and that might provide an incentive for him or her to help.

The best glue to use is a free flowing acrylic glue. This stuff is like water. TAP sells a squeeze bottle with a syringe tip specially made as an applicator. The glue won't harm the materials this bottle is made out of.

A gallon of Weldon 16 is really a lot of glue!! Also, this glue is a bit thicker, but still really runny, and makes strings that have a tendancy to get on the panels making them unsightly.

First, let's cover the gluing technique. If you get a squeeze bottle with a syringe tip you can easily apply the glue, with a little practice. I would suggest practicing with water in the bottle, when you get that right you will feel much better about gluing and you won't run as much risk in ruining any panels. Fill the bottle 2/3 full with water. Holding the bottle upright, squeeze the bottle and force some of the air out through the syringe tip. While still squeezing the bottle, turn it upside down and stop squeezing. While the vaccuum is trying to pull air into the bottle, no water will come out of the tip. In such a manner, you can move the tip into the vacinity of the joint that you want to glue without dripping glue all over the acrylic panels. Again, I would practice this technique using water and two panels until you are comforatble that you can weld a clean joint without dripping all over the acrylic panels. Replace the water with Glue and you're ready to go, make sure everything is dry before introducing glue where there was water.

To assemble the panels, you want the bottom panel to reach all of the way to the outside of the cage and the sides and back to sit on top of the bottom. If the cage is rectangular I suggest that the back and the front are as long as the top and bottom, so that the ends of the cage sit inside of the back and the front. If you draw this out with paper and pencil I think it will make sense.

Place the bottom on a level surface and place the back panel where you want it to sit. Using the squeeze bottle technique described above, run a bead of glue (practice first with water!) along the joining edge of the panels. The liquid glue should wick between the panels and fill the microscopic voids between the bottom edge of the back panel and the top of the bottom panel. Hold these panels in place for a couple of minutes and they should be strong enough to stand while you work on the cage front panel. Just don't bump them, because they really aren't strong enough to move for about 30 minutes, and then move them very carefully becsaue they aren't fully welded for 24 hours.

Finish gluing up the sides to the bottom and to themselves, and then you can work on the lid. I use a one piece lid on hinges, and I use an acrylic hasp for a latch. I use #16 glue for these items, applied with a q-tip. I put some glue, which is quite a bit thicker than the liquid free flowing glue that I use on the panels, on some aluminum foil and apply it to the surfaces that I am gluing.

Hope this helps, I have made up about a dozen of these cages and find them very useful. I also use the acrylic to make tops for aquariums and use them for larger specimens, can't beat the price of tanks at Petco and places like that.

For ventilation, I cut slots using my table saw. I place the panels over the retracted saw blade and raise the blade up into the panel, creating an interior of the panel slot. I have tried drilling, but it is very slow and doesn't produce enough air flow. Another solution is to cut a piece out the the center of the lid and silicone a piece of screen into the hole, plastic screens are available which are less abrasive.

Hope this helps!

Val Campbell
 
Thank you for the wonderful directions Val! It all helps except for the table saw which I decided not to purchase when I was thinking of cages. I do have a special acrylic bit I sent off for, to drill air holes, I will practice on some scrap I have. If it does not work well, I was thinking of gluing on a backing of that white plastic pegboard Home Depot sells although I am not sure if the acrylic glue would work on that (do you know?).
 
Working with acrylic

Purchasing a table saw to do something like this would not be very economical, but there are always people around who are willing to help with projects. You could contact them through any local lumber yard, wood working supply store, Home Depot, True Value, Ace Hardware, Lowes, etc. The Yellow pages is a good place to start.

Acrylic glue is no good for peg board. Peg board is made of wood fiber, acrylic glue is actually a sovent that melts the plastic and welds it together. I suggest a good grade of silicone or possibly some urethane caulk instead. Best to mask off the edges near the items being glued if you are using silicone or urethane, and remove the masking as soon as you are done putting the pieces together. This will make your joints neat and of good appearance, and it will make it easier for you to work with since you are not a professional caulker. Peg board will work, but that makes the cage not washable and somewhat vulnerable to moisture from critter deposits, or as we call them, feces species!
 
Home Depot has a clean whire plastic pegboard, I was asking about that.
 
Acrylic

Not sure but I am going to go check it out. I have a very large Mexican Black Kingsnake that creates a lot of humidity inside of his cage when he is soaking and that might help.

Val
 
Please if you can, find out and post. The stuff is nice looking and very sturdy, and I can cut it without a table saw; if it can be used in my cage project that would be terrific.
 
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