Working With Acrylic

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1. Acrylic Uses
2. Cutting Acrylic
3. Drilling Acrylic
4. Finishing Acrylic
5. Bending Acrylic
6. Forming Acrylic
7. Gluing Acrylic
Working With Acrylic
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Acrylic Uses
Opaque Acrylic Dial
Transparent Acrylic Salad Servers
Acrylic is available in both transparent and
opaque forms. It is used for Baths, sinks and
fish tanks... from colourful clocks to
replacement skylights...
Menu Stands
Clear Boxes
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Acrylic Properties
Acrylic is classed as a Thermoplastic. This
means that it becomes soft and mouldable on
heating without undergoing any significant
chemical change. This process can be repeated
many times.
Acrylic is available in a wide range of colours.
Acrylic sheet is supplied with a protective film
covering attached to each side. This is to
prevent the acrylic being scratched and should be
left in place as long as possible.
Protective covering
Bending Acrylic on a strip heater
Letter Rack model
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Cutting Acrylic
Coping Saw
Cut close to the vice to reduce the risk of the
acrylic cracking
While the Coping Saw can be used to cut simple
curves in acrylic sheet it tends to leave a
coarser finish.
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Cutting Acrylic
Piercing Saw
The teeth on a Piercing saw blade should point
backwards. This will help prevent blade
breakages.
The Piercing Saw is used to cut tight curves in
thin metal and acrylic sheet
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Cutting Acrylic
Hacksaw
The Hacksaw can be used to cut straight lines in
metal and plastic.
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Cutting Acrylic
Junior Hacksaw
The Jnr Hacksaw can be used to cut straight lines
in small pieces of metal and plastic.
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Cutting Acrylic
Scroll Saw
When replacing the blade, make sure the teeth
point downward. This helps hold the work on the
table as you cut.
The quickest method of cutting intricate shapes
in acrylic is the Scroll Saw. This machine is
capable of producing an excellent finish.
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Drilling Acrylic
To obtain the best results when drilling Acrylic
it is better to use a special drill bit.
Conventional high speed drill bits do not work
well with hard plastics. They will "ride up" a
conventional drill bit and crack. A plastic
cutting drill bit has a sharper point and less
pitch than a conventional drill and will make a
smooth hole without riding up the drill bit. Slow
to medium speeds work best when working with
acrylics.
If customised plastics drill bits are unavailable
then conventional twist drill bits can be used
however great care must be taken to hold the
Acrylic securely and you must lower the drill at
a slow even rate.
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Filing Acrylic
Chipped Edge
When cutting Acrylic it is easy to chip the
edges. To remove these chips and give the edge a
good finish follow these steps.
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Stage 1 Use a course file to remove the worst
of the chips.
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Warding File
Stage 2 Switch to a finer file and repeat the
process.
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Stage 3 Hold the file at right angles to the
work piece and Draw File the edge
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Wet Dry Silicon carbide paper
Stage 4 Finish the edge with silicon carbide
paper (Make sure you remove all file marks)
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Acrylic Polish
Stage 5 Finally apply a little acrylic polish to
a soft cloth and polish the edge.
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Bending Acrylic
Strip Heater
The Strip Heater is used to bend sheet acrylic.
The acrylic is held above the heating element and
turned over every 30 seconds. After 2 to 3 min
the plastic will bend easily. Remember the Strip
Heater can get very hot
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Bending Acrylic
Wooden Former
To obtain more accurate results it is often
better making a wooden former to bend the acrylic
round.
Hot Wire Strip Heater
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Forming Acrylic
Oven
The oven can be used to heat a whole sheet of
acrylic to make it soft and flexible. This soft
acrylic can then be pressed into shape in a
mould. A typical example is this acrylic
windscreen shown on the right
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Forming an Acrylic Handle
Wooden Jig
The Plastic blank must also be finished to a high
standard. All holes drilled and edges polished
Smooth finish required
Plastic Blank
To form a plastic handle you first need to make a
Jig. Great care must be taken to obtain a good
finish on the jig as any imperfections will be
picked up on the acrylic.
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Forming an Acrylic Handle
Oven
Set the Oven to 160C
When the oven has reached the correct temperature
place the Acrylic blank inside and heat until it
becomes soft and pliable (Keep a close watch on
the plastic to prevent it overheating and burning)
Wear Gloves when handling hot Acrylic
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Forming an Acrylic Handle
Shaped Acrylic Handle
Clamp the hot acrylic blank in the jig and allow
to cool.
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Vacuum Forming Acrylic
Acrylic Sink
Vacuum Forming Machine
Acrylic can also be Vacuum Formed to produce
larger items like baths and sinks. (See Focus on
Plastics for further details)
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Tensol Cement
The adhesive used to stick Acrylic to Acrylic is
called Tensol Cement.

• Gluing Process
• Roughen the two
• surfaces to be glued with
• Emery cloth.
• 2) Apply a thin layer of
• glue.
• 3) Press two parts together
• and leave for 30 min.

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The End