How did you guys cut plexi glass... **** what a nightmare.

I"m trying to make a panel to fill in the gap when i put in a DIN sized aftermarket radio for my FC. i really like the paint the back black plexiglass look. but this stuff is a nightmare to cut... I've broken 3 x-acto blades... and i pulled out the dremel but its impossible to cut straight with that...

what did everyone use? a jigsaw? bandsaw? router? table saw? circ saw?

 

Band saw will work if you have one available. But this can be very messy.

All I ever used was a Utility Knife. You score the line where you want the plexiglass cut and then you break the rest by bending it backwards.

You only have to cut through about 20% of the plexiglass with the knife.

 

wozzoom,

thanks for the advice... i tried to cut all the way through with the utility knifes.

 

They got a scribe especially for this, you put it on a straight edge, and work it back and forth and then bend it

Anything super thick I use a table saw with a special blade...

 

I used a circular saw and it sliced right through like wood. You'll need to wear a painters mask though caus that stuff stinks and not good for ya.

 

i feel so stupid, u should've seen me trying to widdle away at it with an x-acto knife

 

You mean like this??

I used Lexan which is a bit different from Plexi. You cannot do the score and snap trick with Lexan. To cut the interior hole was a royal pain in the ***. I used a dremel but it does not give a super clean edge. It is "clean enough" though. I drilled four holes at the corners of the cutout and then connected the dots, everything clamped down with a 1x as a guide for the dremel. Obvious hint: if you do this clamp the guide on the outside of the cutout area, so that if you slip or "drift" you drift into the cutout and not into your finished piece. Learned that one the hard way.

Good luck dude.

Right on.

 

Nah not stupid man, we all learn from each other thats why we are here.. I have tried to cut plastic and such with an exacto, wanna see a nice scar on my thumb?