cutting plastic?

[drache]

does anyone here have experience with cutting that thin hard clear plastic the critter keepers are made off - #6 in the US
what could I cut it with - don't want it to crack it

[Lori P]

Rhea, you don't have one of those rotozip tools do you?? It's like a drill but it spins much faster than a regular drill, so it cuts that kind of brittle plastic better. Jamie said a regular drill with a tiny bit will probably still splinter the plastic... do you just need a hole? Could you heat/melt it?

[Stefan-A]

What about a large hole, about 4" in diameter? How do you cut one of those?

[drache]

not a hole
I want to cut it to fit into an opening
thankfully I need a rectangular strip, and after some experimenting earlier, I think what will work is to score it with a sharp blade and then to pop off the unwanted pieces by supporting the main part along a ledge and giving the rest a good downward whack
I just need to take the time to set up the first few scoring cuts, so the plastic doesn't slide around under the T-square - some sticky stuff . . . hm

[infernalis]

A Dremel with a saw blade works great.

[drache]

I want a dremel - I do
and a table saw
and . . .
oh - I just figured out what to do with that leftover 2x4 - I'll make myself some saw horses
meanwhile I just wanted to fix the hinge on Mikhaila's bedroom door, and found that I needed to chip out an entire ledge of paint in the door frame - some rotten wood too
so my plastic project got put on hold
but I'm still going with the scoring and breaking approach, given the tools I have

[aSnakeLovinBabe]

hmmm... I was going to suggest a soudering iron... but that wont work to cut the plastic

[infernalis]

hmmm... I was going to suggest a soudering iron... but that wont work to cut the plastic

There is a cutting tip, it looks like an exacto blade, clamps into a soldering iron for cutting plastic.

[drache]

There is a cutting tip, it looks like an exacto blade, clamps into a soldering iron for cutting plastic.

will have to check that out

[infernalis]

Not sure where to get one, used them in art class, it holds an exacto number 11 blade in a heated handle.

We sculpted all kinds of plastics with it.