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Cut Holes in Acrylic Overlay

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eyal8r:

Hey guys-
Am getting ready to cut holes in the CP. I bought some high impact acrylic at Lowes tonight ($14 OUCH!). I also bought a spade bit for the buttons and a regular hole saw for the tbs. 

Question-  I'm worried about the spade bit and hole saw splitting/chipping/breaking the acrylic overlay. It says it's high impact, but it's only 0.80" thick, and I've easily split this stuff before drilling holes. I know I can tape the holes with Duct Tape and cut the holes slow, but, I'm still worried about it. Mainly worried about the Spade bit doing it- should I go back and get the hole saw instead of the spade bit?  Or, will the spade bit be ok?  Any insights?
Thanks!
D

GGKoul:

Make sure the acrylic is sercure and there's no chatter when you drill.  Also, don't push hard when drilling.

Pacific Ripper:

The hole saw works much better than a spade bit. The spade has a higher chance of cracking the acrylic, and with a hole saw you get a somewhat cleaner cut.

eyal8r:

Hmmm- that's what I was afraid of. The hole saw was more expensive, but, cheaper than buying another piece of acrylic, that's for sure!

Also- I will tape the areas before I drill, but, should I also sandwich the plastic between boards?  Run the drill in reverse as mentioned in other posts?  Or is some of this not needed?

Thanks for the input...
D

Pacific Ripper:

Well, I sandwiched mine between boards and I used C clamps so that the acrylic wouldn't move around so much I didn't bother running the drill in reverse. You might still get a gunky build-up of melted acrylic due to the heat caused by the friction but it's easy to clean off and much better than cracking it. By the way, some places like Tap Plastics: http://www.tapplastics.com sell acrylic for a lot cheaper. I bought mine for less than $9.

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