What is the best way to get smooth outside cuts on acrylic to be used for sandwich type display using standoffs?
If I cut with the board cutter, about 20% of the cuts (on 36" + long pcs) scoot offline, and all cuts are not that clean.
Is the table saw the way to go?
Do you sand & polish after cutting?
Any tricks to drilling without shattering?
I have made a number of sandwich frames for acrylic with highly polished edges. Edges that are as good as what you see on glass table tops. This is how I do it.
I cut using a table saw and special no-melt blades for plastic. I have tried a number of different blades and found the Tenryu Pro Series for plastic gives me the best cuts.
http://justsawblades.com/ten/plastic_saw_blades.html
Here is a sample cut with this blade.
While this is a great cut for framing, it is no where near what you want for a sandwich frame. The edges now need to be sanded and polished.
If you look closely at the image you will see slight blade marks. You need to wet sand the edges using 200 up to 1000 grit wet sandpaper. The grit you use depends on how much the edges need cleaning up. I leave the plastic mask on the acrylic while I am doing this to protect the acrylic.
After the acrylic is as smooth as you would like, then you need to buff out the edges. I use buffing compound for plastic and a buffing wheel on a grinder.
It's an iterative process but you can get highly polished edges.
If you don't use a blade appropriate for acrylic, your cut may look like this.
This cut was made using a normal table saw blade and is beyond any help.
I have never had any luck making smooth cuts using my Fletcher. Some of the others here have, but not me.
I wouldn't try to drill acrylic using normal drill bits. They aren't made for plastic and the results will not be good. There are drill bits made for plastics that you can find by googling "drill bits for plastic". Here is one example:
http://www.rplastics.com/plasticdrill.html
The bits are fairly cheap.
