best blade for cutting plexi

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Thom

Grumbler in Training
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Jan 29, 2004
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I-Town
Hey All,
Can anyone enlighten me to a blade/grind to produce the best results when sawcutting plexiglass? Our local plastics shop was vague and evasive when i asked about the type of blade to use. I remember when i was framing that a triple chip grind was ideal, but since all the plexi we used was cut for us, i never bothered to commit it to memory. Now i sawcut plexi all the time for stained glass repairs we do at the studio. I am using a 7 1/4" plywood blade/circular saw with less than ideal results.
I am continuing my search on the web, but i figured folks here would be in the know.
Thanking all in advance, Thom
 
As has been mentioned before on this BB, a "negative hook" saw blade is what you are looking for to cut plastic. Any manufacturer or source will do.

I have looked and could only find 10" and larger for this style blade.

Any one else jump in, if they found a 7 1/2" blade.
 
Nuts!, I didn't read the whole message. You're not going to cut acrylic with a circular saw; you need at least a good table saw and ideally a sliding table saw for the cross cuts. We cut a good bit of the stuff on a sliding table saw with the Freud acrylic blades and they do an excellent job. With a hand held circular saw, the blade cuts up through the acrylic and there isn't any support as the blade exits causing vibration and tear out. With a table saw, you can use a zero clearence insert. I guess you could put a piece of 1/4" plywood on top of the acrylic if you had to do the job with a skill-type saw. That would be a lot of trouble. Why not try scoring the plexi?
 
Whatever blade you get, make sure that it is a no-melt blade for plastics. Other blades just will not cut a clean edge bud give you a rough edge with a lot of melted crud from the cut.

There was a recent thread that covered alot about acrylic and included links to suppliers that sell no-melt blades at http://www.thegrumble.com/cgibin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=007747
 
Thanks everyone for the input! I should have prefaced my query with a little more info on my specific applcation. My question was answered none the less
Have a restful holiday,
Thom
 
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