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How to cut Plexiglass
For a short time I had a small plastics fabricating shop. For thin plastics like acrylics, yes a scoring action with the back of a utility knife is okay. Lexan can be cut with a sharp carbide circular saw. What breaks thin material is vibration from the blade. Cut it slow and it will cut great. Even the 1/2" plexi should be cut with carbide cicular saw (table works best). The edges can be sanded, filed, or gound. Or flame-polished. Just keep in mind ANY heat build up on the blade or the material will cause the blade to get sticky and ruin the cut. You can drill it with regular drills with no problem, like you would wood or metal. Just go slow and keep the heat down.
IMHO 1/2" is WAY too thick to use as a window, for a couple of reasons: Weight. The aperature to which you will mount the material (roll bar) will be under great stress from wracking, torquing and general vibration. Optical distortion is the other. Even standing vertically, you will get distortion---sort of like looking through a fish tank--or the thick security windows at the local bank--the objects will not be where you think they are, especially if the material is angled (think of a prism and its effect on bending light). 1/4" is the thickest you'd need to go IMHO.
Tip: A cracked piece of plastic can be slowed from cracking more by drilling a small hole (1/8 -1/4" at the end of the crack. That hole disperses the crack to around the hole.
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How to cut Plexiglass
Terry: Lexan visually and generally speaking has a blueish or light grayish hue or tint to it, unlike the acrylics (Plexiglass is a brand) which are more clear. Acrylics generally are harder to the touch and harder to scratch (depending on the tool) or item used. Lexan tends to be more flexible and much softer but is easily scratched---even a clean finger wiped across it will scratch it. Each when burned have a certain odor. Polycarbonate is another "plexiglass"-type material. It degrades rapidly in sunlight quicker, and in some cases turns into powder when exposed to sunlight and/or heat. Poly scratches easily too, is hard to work with, and can be brittle. Poly is very hard to burn, unlike acrylics. Poly is used in welding helmets light shields for its resistance to weld spatter. It will accept a hot spatter without melting. Some watch face crystals and eyewear lenses are made of poly---and you'll know it--if you put alcohol or other solvent on them they will turn into a chalky mess.
Kenny: If the AC guy did use a sheetmetal brake chances are he applied heat from a propane torch to the edge. Otherwise, it would have cracked or went back to it's original form of being flat. Some of the newer engineered vynils used for house trim do retain their shape when formed/bent. Some of the styrenes and expanded styrenes can be bent without heat but they tend to fracture and can break. ABS is a type of styrene and is very hard to bend with out it cracking. Heat applied to the bend works well.
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