How To Cut Plastic

[chappo12]

I'm putting in my cd player and gaugers in the rotary rolla.

 

What are some tips for cutting the gauge pannel with out splitting the plastic.

 

i had a practise on some plastic i had lying around but it kept snaping or i couldnt cut it.......

 

would also like to no what tools you used to cut i.e blade Knife.....

 

 

cheers guys

[Chief]

I'm putting in my cd player and gaugers in the rotary rolla.

 

What are some tips for cutting the gauge pannel with out splitting the plastic.

 

i had a practise on some plastic i had lying around but it kept snaping or i couldnt cut it.......

 

would also like to no what tools you used to cut i.e blade Knife.....

 

 

cheers guys

 

 

Hey man ive found that when i cut plastics for head decks and stuff i heat up a blade knife with a propane torch or a lighter will do

[styler]

soft plastics - use new scapel set.

 

hard plastics - use step drill / dremel with 1 inch disc and other attachments / quality holesaws / possibly 4 inch grinder with super thin discs,

file set, plastic deburr tool, possibly use an adjustable holecutter...

 

tools not to use on either- angle grinder with std cutting discs, std twist drill bits, cheap and nasty interchangeble holder holesaw sets,

stanley knives, jigsaws, powersaws... oh and also pliers, steak knives, screwdrivers and hammers because

iv seen people do some strange attempts at cutting stuff over the years...

 

but hey whatever works for you in the finish you are happy with, thats what counts in the end.

Edited May 15, 2010 by styler

[B.L.Z.BUB]

I scored the plastic with a sharp blade where I wanted the hole, cut most of the shit away with pliers then snapped it along the line I scored in. Bit of sandpaper to tidy it up.

[Evan G]

die grinder?

[philbey]

Yeh a dremel with one of those little slitting discs (perhaps not a Die Grinder, probably a bit cumbersome) does the trick.

[rian]

You can get little coping saw things that have a coarse cable instead of a blade, no idea what they are called but they work great. I used one to cut my dash up for a headunit. You just have to drill a whole so you have somewhere to start cutting from, and you'd be able to get them from a hardware store for pretty cheap.

 

Edit: Might be called a fret saw

Edited May 15, 2010 by rianwest

[Raven]

I've always used a coping saw.

 

Just make sure you cut a straight line or you'll stuff it up good and proper!

[towe001]

Me, i've mostly used a hacksaw blade. Have used a cut-off wheel for a dremel, drill bits etc. But from what i've found is that you've got to keep the plastic cool and not heat it up otherwise you'll end up having to use a file to get rid of the dags that have melted to the parts of the plastic you want to keep amongst other things.