Need info: Cutting acrylic...

[synasp]

I'm looking to cut a bunch of different shapes from thick acrylic (1-1.5" thick). The largest piece will be about 11.5" high, 6" wide.

They will be different colors, and one part needs to be engraved. All the parts will need to be bonded together somehow. It's a fairly straight-forward project. So, who knows about cutting acrylic? More importantly, who here can do it, or who knows where it can be done (web sites very much appreciated).

Also, what's the difference between cell cast and extruded? Are there different weights to the types of acrylic?

Thanks amigos.


David

 

[Jedirick]

here is a brief intro to working acrylic
http://www.sdplastics.com/acrylic.html

They also cut to order and carry 1' to 4' thicknesses.

Not sure if you have ordered your acrylic, but with thicknesses in that range, you may or should be able to order custom cut. I'd avoid making as many cuts myself as possible. Let the other guy screw up his material.

Onlinemetal.com

has some acrylic

There is another good acrylic site someone mentioned here.

estreetplastic.com


Also just picked up some thinner color acrylic from a site that also sell BIN on ebay and an affordable 1/4 bender. Ithink I saw acrylic polish (Novus) available and maybe some capillary cement. Get the kind with a thin needle like applicator. look for the types that offer top bonding strength after 24 hours or more. Quick bonders just do not fuse as well. Weld-on makes a number of acrylic and sheet plastic cements. Most shops swear by #16 I want to say as you move toward smaller numbers the faster the cement bonds. I know I used a quick set Weld-on #3 for repairing cracks in some tanks and welds instantly but can't handle seam stress as well as #16

When I built marine tanks, I always used jigs to stabilize any glue job not matter how simple the job or how simple the jig. Those glues work best on a flat, level surface as the glue will suck right up into the seam that way.

A glass like finish can be rendered on thin cut edges by sanding edge down to 200 grit or so and then just 'wiping" the edge with a propane torch. The heat glazes the edge and makes it clear like glass.

 

[jlong]

Just about any good plastics shop can cut and laminate acrylic for you-truth
is it's not all that hard to do yourself. I usually just cut it on my bandsaw.
To laminate pieces together, I typically use Weld-On #4 which is a clear, water
thin solvent cement. It works quite well. If you go here:

http://www.saucersoverhollywood.com/scifiP.html

you can see a red acrylic space ship I had to do for a movie years ago.
Because I didn't have time to wait the 4-6 weeks it would take to special
order the thick red acrylic, I had to quickly learn how to laminate sheets of
1/4 inch acrylic to create the thick chunks I needed.
Some of the facets on that model were as many as 12 or 13 laminates thick.
The way I did it was to lay one piece on top of another and stick a thin piece of
wire under one of the corners to create a very small gap between the pieces.
The gap allows for capillary action to pull the solvent between the two sheets.
then using a small needle-tip squeeze bottle, you apply the solvent at the area
where you placed the wire. You will actually see the liquid carry through the entire
length of the pieces. Then simply remove the wire, and place some weight
on top of the parts and let cure.
Pollishing edges etc. is realatively easy to do using a pollishing wheel, and some
plastics polishing compound.

Back carving, or engraving is also relatively simple to do with your Dremel tool.
I've created TOS Phaser stands that way. Scroll to about the middle of this page:

http://www.saucersoverhollywood.com/phaserpage.html

and you can see one of my stands.
That was cut-out of 3/4 clear acrylic, then back carved to create 3-D
stars and planets. A little paint and a piece of felt, and voilla.

Hope this helps

 

[synasp]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Rick, two of those links don't work. :confused

Does anyone know of a shop that can cut and build?

 

[jlong]

I know several. Right now I'm swamped getting my Phaser kits out
to people for Christmas http://store.startrek.com/product/show/219
but if you can wait untill after the holidays I might even be able to help you.
If you're in a hurry, feel free to e-mail me with some pix or a description
of what you want to have built, and I will try to hook you up