I HATE plexi!

[madk]

Just thought I'd let everyone know that I hate plexi.  After finally getting all my holes cut...I somehow managed to put a nice scratch right accros the top.  It was for the top of my new 4-player cab so it had about 40 holes drilled in it and the thought of me doing it again is not a good one.  I'm sad...I'm mad...and I hate plexi.  Does anyone know if there are any businesses that will custom cut plexi.  I looked in the phone book but didn't see anything.  Argggggggggggggggggggg........

[Beley]

if the scratch isent that deep you might be able get it out with a heat gun.... or you could buff it out

[PCC]

Lucite

[madk]

I left the paper on...but somehow managed to scratch right through it!  Arg...you live you learn.

[nullb0y]

try a lighter

[madk]

Are we being serious?

[nullb0y]

i dont know if it would help but fire is cool. so just like burn stuff yeah! lol i wont be pelexiglassing my cp btw. im poor. i might cover it with some kind of clear laminite...

[Xiaou2]

explain how you cut the holes... as the method used may have caused the scratch.  also, list the tools used.

[madk]

The scratch was caused by my table saw.  I got all the holes cut fine.  It was when I was actually cutting the piece to size when I got the nice scratch.  Does anyone know how succesful it would be to melt the scratches out?  I've got access to some heat guns and work and I could give that a try.  Anyone else ever do this?  Any advice...I really don't want to have to redo the whole piece.

[mw]

Don't think your going to be melting it to hide the scratch. You can bend it using a heat gun though  

You could try a plexiglass fishtank scratch remover kit. If it's a deep scratch though, your probably outta luck  

[SNAAAKE]

if the scratch is not too deep then i'd say leave it alone.it only gets worse if you try and meltin and stuff..

[Mike]

If you get it from lowes they will cut it for you for free. You'll just have to drill the holes. If you use a drill bit designed for glass it should be quick work to drill through the plexi. Also don't you a cordless drill, you need high rpms on the drill to effectively drill through glass and plexi so you'll want to use one that plugs into the wall.

[Grasshopper]

When I was at school one of the teachers used to make things out of transparent plastic sheeting. I'm not sure whether it was plexiglass, lexan, or something else.

Anyway, the point of this post is to describe the tool that he used for cutting the plastic. It was a bit like a large hacksaw except that instead of a blade it used a thin taut piece of wire that was heated by a current. He could use the wire to slice through the plastic similar to the way a cheese wire cuts through cheese.

Unfortunately I've never seen one of these tools in the shops. In fact it's possible that he built it himself.

[Xiaou2]

 Well, not sure about the melting... but if you try again... heres some tips...

 - keep the protective coating on the plexi at all times.  dont remove untill Completely ready to mount it.

 - Clean the tablesaw's surface squeaky clean to make sure there is no debree that could scratch your plexi.  I havnt tried this... but maybe a cloth under the plexi - (yet not too close to get sucked into the machine! -   That or a thin piece or material thats smooth.)

 

[Ryan]

Maybe you could cover it up with some artwork, behind it that might compliment the scratch.

[OSCAR]

 Well, not sure about the melting... but if you try again... heres some tips...

 - keep the protective coating on the plexi at all times.  dont remove untill Completely ready to mount it.

 - Clean the tablesaw's surface squeaky clean to make sure there is no debree that could scratch your plexi.  I havnt tried this... but maybe a cloth under the plexi - (yet not too close to get sucked into the machine! -   That or a thin piece or material thats smooth.)

Both are excellent suggestions.  A guy I work with used to work part time with a professional cabinet maker.  He told me that his former boss had secured strips of UHMW to the surface of the saw table to protect delicate woods from getting marred up from sliding over the table surface.  UHMW is also pretty low friction, so material glides right over it.  Although going through this much trouble would definitely be overkill for just cutting a few pieces of plexiglas...

I have tried many different methods of cutting plexiglas:  scoring w/ a razor knife, rotozip bits w/ a dremel, jigsaw, table saw, etc.  What I have found gives the absolute best results is a router with a good straight bit.  Here's an example of a small control panel that I cut out the plexi entirely with a router.  The picture of the button holes in the plexi look like they don't line up with the control panel, but it was just the angle of the camera.  They came out perfect.  The router method gives the best sharp and square edge I have come across yet, better than the factory edge which looks like is done with a band saw.

[Donor]

You could try Noss 2 Plastic wax it's used for waxing pinball playfields and it is also used for spa's (or hot tubs) anyway this may take the scratch out or hide it. You can buy Noss from Happs or your local spa shop.