Best place to find good plexiglass...best way to cut it?

SavePointVG

Member
Joined
May 31, 2012
Messages
370
Reaction score
1
Location
North Carolina
Best place to find good plexiglass...best way to cut it?

Hey gang, I have restored my simpsons arcade with new graphics and what not and to protect my investment im looking for some plexi to lay on top. where is the best place to get plexi? what thickness so most CPs use? whats the best way to cut it? any previous experience would be helpful.


THanks!
 
Look up TAP plastics. They can cut it to shape and burnish the edges for you too. I would go with .060 thickness.

M
 
I've been using Lexan lately, it is expensive but Lowe's carries it and it is great to work with. You can use a saber saw or tin snips to cut it to shape. It never cracks or shatters like the plexiglass does.
 
Best place to get it - Local rubber or plastics facility. (Lowes & Home Depot are expensive)
Best way to cut it - Router with a flush trim bit at about 4-5K rpm. Like Butter.
 
I use a router flush cut bit as well...makes a nice clean factory edge.


Dont let the guys at Lowes cut it...they will rip that dang cutter down through it and leave little chips out of the edge all the way down...
 
I agree, just did some cutting today with a brand new flush trim bit. VERY impressed at the clean edge it makes!
 
I got mine at Home Depot. I bought the "cutter" for it, it's basically a modified knife blade. I put a straight edge along where I want to make my cut with the protective plastic still on, score the edge repeatedly, and you'll see a groove being cut into the plastic. Keep going until you're almost all the way through. Grab the edge and give it a quick snap downwards and there you go. nice clean edge. You may want to run a file across the edge since it will be very sharp.

Drilling through it, I use a hole saw or dowel cutter. But I run the drill in reverse to literally melt it's way through the plastic. I noticed on the end of a hole drilling it would almost always crack when it came through the other side to finish the hole. By reversing the drill, it melts it's way through and no cracking at all.
 
Look up plastics in google maps or yellow pages.
Hell; Most major cities in TX even have a Regal Plastics store. They are generally cheaper than Lowes/HD; and will cut them into square peices you want.

The best way to cut plastic is with a laser cutter... baring that; I tend to score-n-snap.
To get curved peices; a router would proably be best.
 
I have a laser cutter and can do pieces up to 24" by 48" by 3/8" thick. Let me know guys I would do whatever you need for way cheaper than anything else you might find.
 
daaam... wish I had that big of a table.
I have an older model universal 25e with 12x24 table. I do wish I had bigger at times.
 
I use a step down bit on my drill. Pretty much eliminates all cracking since it starts at a small drill hole and gradually widens out to the size you want.
 
+1 for the step drill bit. I just bought a pair the other day after my experience of using a hole saw and drill bit cutting all the holes in a new piece of plexi and of course the last one cracks the edge off the new CP!
 
Back
Top Bottom