Acrylic Plastic glass??

Question

I need to know the BEST way to cut acrylic glass.
I bought a cutter to scratch it. I heard that I have to scratch it enough then bend the part off.
Well tried it, and everytime i try to cut a small piece froma big sheet the small piece cracks in da middle and the sheet ends up cracking

Please help me. It's for a project due tomorrow!!!
What is the best way to cut or get a small piece from a big piece of acrylic plastic glass??

Answer 1

There is a special scoring tool to cut sheets of acrylic (some brands are Plexiglas and Lucite) at hardware stores that cost only a few bucks, but you can also score them with the back of a utility knife blade (best to leave the paper or plastic covering on, if it's there or put down a length of masking tape over the line you'll want to cut, then score through it).

If you're using a plexiglas cutter (not a scoring tool for real *glass*), then you may just not be scoring deeply enough (can go over several times too), or you may not be supporting one side of the sheet well enough or close enough to the edge of a table/etc when you try to snap it apart, or you may not be snapping it downward quite right... or you just may not have practiced a bit to get the feel before doing your large piece. (Also, to use a scoring tool instead of a saw, the acrylic sheet should be thinner than 1/4".)
You can read various ways and tools to use for scoring then breaking acrylic sheets on these pages:
http://www.christopherlowell.com/demo.php?id=64
http://www.diyprojects.info/bb/ftopic78287.html

and many more in these links:
http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLC,GGLC:1969-53,GGLC:en&q=cutting+Plexiglas+score
(just look for the ones that talk about NOT using a saw)


Good luck!

Diane B.

Answer 2

A very fine tooth saw is the only was to cut acrylic, also known as pexi glass. If not, it will always crack like you found out.

Answer 3

Use a saw. For little parts, the whole scoring and bending thing never works very well.