Author Topic: Have to cut through very hard plastic  (Read 21782 times)

Offline titanic3

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #15 on: August 16, 2012, 10:43:54 AM »
Yay, it worked. Used hacksaw but before, I held the plastic over a fire for a little bit to soften the plastic so I could make grooves in it in order to cut without it twitching and shaking.

  the game is concentrated on combat, not on shaking the screen.

semp

Offline DREDIOCK

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #16 on: August 16, 2012, 07:24:16 PM »
How thick is it exactly And is it flat or curved or what?

If its flat often you can score it a few times with a razor blade and then just snap it.
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Offline titanic3

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #17 on: August 16, 2012, 07:35:11 PM »
How thick is it exactly And is it flat or curved or what?

If its flat often you can score it a few times with a razor blade and then just snap it.

It basically looked like this \_ but was 2 inches thick. I wanted to keep it like \_ shape but make it less wide (it was about 6 inches across, I needed to get it down to 5 in order to fit). The shape made it very hard to hold still so I first had to make at least 50 tiny cuts with the saw in order to have the cutting line and then just started sawing away. It worked quite well but took about 20 minutes.

  the game is concentrated on combat, not on shaking the screen.

semp

Offline DREDIOCK

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #18 on: August 16, 2012, 07:45:08 PM »
Ahhh.

I'd have just used my band or chop saw
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Offline SanFranciscoFrog

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #19 on: November 18, 2017, 01:46:54 PM »
Not sure of the type of plastic,shape ect. but you can use a wire to cut through plastic by simply heating it with an electric current.

  A couple of alligator clips,some heavy "lead wire" and a thinner cutting wire and a power source are all you need. However the "hacksaw" will work and a Sawzall with a metal blade will make short work of it. Another method would involve a trim router, but, as you said, you don't have the tools.

  I worked with acrylics for awhile, and we cut it with various things depending on the thickness and what needed to be done, cutting with a heated wire let you make bandsaw-type cuts that were as smooth as the product.
  :salute

The above is an excellent posting of yours from 2012 on cutting through hard plastic with a hot wire. :banana:
 I just need clarification on two points --
(1)  what type of power supply?
 -- Obviously, 120VAC wall current is not only dangerous, but would probably be too hot and would likely trip a circuit breaker immediately unless the cutting wire was so thin as to also be easily breakable.
 -- Would a doorbell transformer (16 VAC) be a way to go?
 -- How about low AC or DC voltage from a "wall wart" transformer? -- I have lots of them, from 3V to 20V.
 -- I'm an electrician who needs to trim both sides of a plastic switchplate to fit into a narrow space with straight sides, so I would have no trouble creating or adapting whatever is needed.
(2) How do I keep the heated wire straight while cutting?
 -- Holding it stiffly in gloved hands somehow is an invitation for disaster with my inherent "gracefulness", so what kind of wire holder should I try to fabricate?


Offline The Fugitive

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #20 on: November 18, 2017, 02:43:02 PM »
You could google "DIY hot wire cutter" for a bunch of examples

Offline morfiend

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #21 on: November 18, 2017, 04:45:47 PM »
Pm sent!

  For a one off small job I would use a trim router or router table. Seems like alot of effort to trim a base plate to go to the trouble of making a wire cutter,we used industrial machines that ran on 220v IIRC. This was for cutting thickish plexi,anything thicker than 3/8ths would be a devil to cut on a saw! It could be done but you went through blades like no tomorrow. The sawed edge would be rough and you'd have to use a torch to melt the plexi to make it clear and smooth,or use a wire cutter and save a step!


 What it comes down to is how thick and how dense the plastic is,a base plate for a switch would be easy to do with just a router and high RPM.


  YMMV!


     :salute

Offline Shuffler

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #22 on: November 21, 2017, 02:59:09 PM »
Dremel is the way to go on a small switch plate.
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Offline morfiend

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #23 on: November 21, 2017, 05:40:54 PM »
Dremel is the way to go on a small switch plate.


  Yup,a dremel is just a router without the fancy base plate!



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Offline Sabre

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #24 on: November 21, 2017, 06:02:06 PM »

  Yup,a dremel is just a router without the fancy base plate!

And a better publicist. :devil
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Offline morfiend

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #25 on: November 21, 2017, 07:09:07 PM »
And a better publicist. :devil

   :rofl :rofl   True that as I have several "dremels" but I have a nice portercable trim router that has a removable base plate,variable speed and IMHO is way better for most jobs!

  Admittedly there are times when the dremel is your best bet,I have a buddy who does chainsaw carving and he uses a dremel to do a lot of the fine work! It uses a 1/3 hp motor and a flexible shaft but it's made for heavy usage!

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Offline Drano

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #26 on: November 21, 2017, 07:47:51 PM »
Heat is your enemy when cutting plastic. Be sure you're cutting it and not melting it.

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Offline mbailey

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #27 on: November 30, 2017, 03:28:15 PM »
Hand held scroll saw would do it easily
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Offline 1Cane

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Re: Have to cut through very hard plastic
« Reply #28 on: December 03, 2017, 12:29:14 PM »
 have cut plastic pipe with nylon string :banana:
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