Special blade to cut acrylic?

[Capt_Cully]

Do I need any special saw blade to cut acrylic using a hand held circular saw?

What is the "right" type of acrylic to use for sump baffles?

thanks

[BruiseAndy]

Personally I wouldn't attempt using a skil saw to cut plexi with especially if you are going to glue it. Freud makes a couple blades for a tablesaw which are reasonably priced if you are going to be doing a lot of plexi work. TK706, LU94M010 are the part numbers on the blade. You might try a laminate blade but no guarantees. You can use extruded or cast for baffles I just prefer to work with cast as it is easier (possible) to cut and machine. Freud does make a TK703 for a 7.25" circular saw, you will have a hard time not melting edges though.

[Pyrrhus]

you will want at least an 80 tooth blade to get decently clean cuts for gluing.

[stugray]

If you are going to cut it and glue it into a glass tank with silicone, then you can cut it with a hand saw or jigsaw if you like.

Everyone who is saying finetooth blade is talking about glueing to other acrylic.

Home Depot or Lowes will cut it to size for you, and sometimes they just scribe it & snap it.

Stu

[spence15610]

extruded up to a 1/4" will scribe & snap easy, I have done it many times for baffles & such, doesn't work so well with cast

[Capt_Cully]

what type of acrylic is best?

[kentrob11]

Cast is what you want and at 1/4" or thicker is cuts just fine on a sharp wood cutting table saw blade. I also wouldn't recommend cutting it with a handheld saw- Too tough to get a nice straight cut. I had an 80tooth tripple chipped acrylic blade and discovered that it didn't cut CAST acrylic much better than a normal blade. extruded acrylic is another story- It melts and goops up while trying to cut it....

[maginter]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8474682#post8474682 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BruiseAndy
Personally I wouldn't attempt using a skil saw to cut plexi with especially if you are going to glue it. Freud makes a couple blades for a tablesaw which are reasonably priced if you are going to be doing a lot of plexi work. TK706, LU94M010 are the part numbers on the blade. You might try a laminate blade but no guarantees. You can use extruded or cast for baffles I just prefer to work with cast as it is easier (possible) to cut and machine. Freud does make a TK703 for a 7.25" circular saw, you will have a hard time not melting edges though.

I agree....You might even see if the acrylic shop will cut it for you.

[crs751]

I built my own sump and just used an 80 tooth carbide blade in a table saw. You can also smooth out the edges with a jointer or trim them with a flush trim bit in a router after your project is assembled.

[Capt_Cully]

I think I'll stick with having the supplier cut the baffle pieces for me. Thanks for the info. Cast Acrylic. Got it.