I'm just installing the RV-12 landing light in the wing and needed to trim the plexi to fit the cutout and also drill some holes in it. Not having done it before I read Section 5 which says do NOT use a saw of any kind to cut plexi. Another builder loaned me a copy of his HomebuilderHELP wing building video, and that had the same warning - don't use a band saw.
So I carefully tried a Dremel with both a diamond and normal cutting disk. The result was a pretty ragged looking cut, so off to the the EAA website to see what videos they had on the subject. The only one I could find was a Sonex canopy being trimmed on a bandsaw without any problems.
I have a band saw with a 1/4" 14 tpi blade and decided to try to trim some of the excess off the lens. Found it makes a very fine, smooth cut and I can easily and consistently shave fine slices off. Problem apparently solved!
Next step is drilling holes. I have a #40 and a #27 plexi bit. The #27 has a sharply pointed tip and cuts a neat hole. The #40 has a blunt tip and pitted surface and drills a ragged looking hole. However, I need a #30 hole, so I blunted a bit by drilling into concrete and tried it on some scrap, but it also made a ragged, untidy hole. Then decided to try a normal #30 bit (another no-no) at slow speed. Result - a row of neat holes.
So far, I seem to be getting much better results by breaking all the rules. OK, it's summer over here and pleasantly warm, but what am I doing wrong?
So I carefully tried a Dremel with both a diamond and normal cutting disk. The result was a pretty ragged looking cut, so off to the the EAA website to see what videos they had on the subject. The only one I could find was a Sonex canopy being trimmed on a bandsaw without any problems.
I have a band saw with a 1/4" 14 tpi blade and decided to try to trim some of the excess off the lens. Found it makes a very fine, smooth cut and I can easily and consistently shave fine slices off. Problem apparently solved!
Next step is drilling holes. I have a #40 and a #27 plexi bit. The #27 has a sharply pointed tip and cuts a neat hole. The #40 has a blunt tip and pitted surface and drills a ragged looking hole. However, I need a #30 hole, so I blunted a bit by drilling into concrete and tried it on some scrap, but it also made a ragged, untidy hole. Then decided to try a normal #30 bit (another no-no) at slow speed. Result - a row of neat holes.
So far, I seem to be getting much better results by breaking all the rules. OK, it's summer over here and pleasantly warm, but what am I doing wrong?
Last edited: