hay hay, i'm thinking for my next project to take one of those $70 acrylic cases and making it look snazy . Maybe do some custom mods to it. But i was wondering, i haven't ever worked with acrylic before and if you scratch it, it there anyway to remove or smooth the scrach out? also whats a good way to cut holes, cut peices and such. I tried making my own window once and the siders look like i sent them through a saw blade
Not sure about scratchs, might be able to find a clear filler that doesn't look to out of place. As for the sides looking like you said, you just need to make sure you cut them nice and slow. I know some people actually find scaring the stuff and kind of snaping it apart, but that only works for straight lines really. And to every one who has actuall exp. with this, please correct my statement as needed.
ive been building some stuff recently with acrylic, and here are some valuable lessons ive learned: if the acrylic comes with protective covering, LEAVE IT ON. it WILL prevent scratches and make it look better in the end. DO NOT RUSH. take it all slowly: from planning, to cutting, to gluing/screwing , any mistakes will show up drastically. if you rush, youll just be dissapointed. you can always sand down the ends even if they look like they went thru a saw(because mine did). some fine grit sandpaper and theyll look much better. last of all: use something to guide those cuts if possible, crooked lines look stupid.
i have worked pretty much with acryllig... here is a few tips: 1: before you start working AT ALL, take of the protective film and tape ut the whole thing with masking tape... Also keep your workingplase tidy, so that you dont have that many things to scratch it on... 2: use proper equipment... For cutting, a jigsaw is best. The best would be to have one with adjustable speed, but that isn't neccesary. Use a new blade with not too rough teeth. and GO SLOW. to get a straight line, just mark ut a line using a pencil or something and cut by the line... go like 3mm - check - go 3mm - check... and so on... it is wery slow, but you are almost guaranteed to not destroy anything. also: don't rest the saw at the edges of the cut... this will melt the acryllic... a steady hand is good... If you have used a proper saw the edges will look pretty nice, but if you want them all clear there is a basicly two methods: 1: Flamepolishing... The edges become wery clear, but gets a littlebit rounded. It ir also wery difficult to get right, do i wouldn't recomend it. 2: sandpaper and polishing... This can take an awful lot of time, but it's pretty safe. start with a file to get the edge straight (or rounded... depend on what you are working on) then sand... start with something like 120 grit , then 300, 600,800,1200 and finish off with 2000 grit... Not it should be pretty smooth... then you get some plastic polis and polish it if you want... Just be careful not to sand on the "panel sides" of the glass... those scratches WILL show pretty well andare hard to get rid of... a sandingblock will help you here.. drilling holes: Go at medium speed with a worn out (NOT broken) drill bit and you should be fine... just drill a little bit at the time (1mm or so) and take out the drill bit... repeat to you are trough... as for scoring: it could work fine, but you need a special knofe for it... and it works only on thin acryllic... hope this helps, and sorry for typos and bad engligh... (i just got out of bed)
I prefer a table saw with a really high number blade, and spray some WD-40 on the blade first. I should have an Acrylic Guide on my site pretty soon, for bending, cutting, scoaring, etc.
