Any advice on cutting the curved plexiglass of the leading edge landing light?
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Cutting Plexiglass
- Thread starter FlyingFwyFreeman
- Start date
Dremel with a cutoff wheel specifically for cutting plastic. Little easier to navigate than the larger wheel on a die grinder.
I found that a dremel tool with a diamond cut off wheel worked best for most of my plexiglass cutting.
You can also cut it on a band saw if you have a fine tooth metal band.
I found the same. It lasted the entire build. After using it on the canopy it was great for cutting all fibreglass. Highly recommend. Won't break like carbide wheels. Also cuts a very thin cut.
as someone mentioned, there’s lots of ways to do this. A word of caution;
Whatever wheel, bit, etc is used, make sure the torque is limited. Electric Dremel is probably fine. Any larger electric tool invites problems. If the wheel tries to bind, the resulting increased torque can easily crack the working material. IMO, pneumatic tools only if larger than a Dremel.
Be wary of any advice, “I’ve built xxx, yyy times and never had an issue.” It’s fine until it suddenly isn’t. The results can lower your bank account by varying degrees.
Whatever wheel, bit, etc is used, make sure the torque is limited. Electric Dremel is probably fine. Any larger electric tool invites problems. If the wheel tries to bind, the resulting increased torque can easily crack the working material. IMO, pneumatic tools only if larger than a Dremel.
Be wary of any advice, “I’ve built xxx, yyy times and never had an issue.” It’s fine until it suddenly isn’t. The results can lower your bank account by varying degrees.
I'll add this...Buy a chunk of the same thickness down at the local big box store and practice on that a little bit to get the feel of how the cutting goes and at what speeds you use to get good cuts.
I used a dremel ‘plastic’ cut off disk. It worked but threw molten plastic into my face! (Wear a face shield).
I need to try the diamond one next time.
I find you can get really good control if you use the dremel flexible extension. Much better than the dremel held normally.
I need to try the diamond one next time.
I find you can get really good control if you use the dremel flexible extension. Much better than the dremel held normally.
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Yep. Used a metal cutting bandsaw to trim the small windows on the RV-10. Dremel tools and cut-off wheels give me the willies. I have way too many experiences of having them get away or grab (yeah, that's on the operator, but still).
How about an oscillating multi-tool? Debris falls down versus being flung in the air. Works great on fiberglass and I imagine it would work great on plexiglass also, I’m guessing it develops less heat/melting versus a cutoff wheel, and for home projects it does plunge cuts in wood easily. And it pretty much won’t cut your skin, “design intended to remove plaster casts easily without cutting the patient”.
en.m.wikipedia.org
Oscillating multi-tool - Wikipedia
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Thank you all for the advice. I need two of them and bought 3 in case#.
Interestingly, what works best for me is to think "melt" instead of "cut" when it comes to plexiglass.
Heat seems to do a better job than teeth, for example, I recently had to cut a 3.5" hole with a hole cutter in some plexi, I ran the drill backwards so the teeth just melted through. Made a perfect hole, smooth and free of debris.
Also, when drilling, at some point someone suggested I run the bits into a brick to dull them to the point they would be useless on anything else, the result being they melt through the plexiglass smoothly (without grabbing).
Heat seems to do a better job than teeth, for example, I recently had to cut a 3.5" hole with a hole cutter in some plexi, I ran the drill backwards so the teeth just melted through. Made a perfect hole, smooth and free of debris.
Also, when drilling, at some point someone suggested I run the bits into a brick to dull them to the point they would be useless on anything else, the result being they melt through the plexiglass smoothly (without grabbing).
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