What is the best way to cut the plastic on car sides. I've been using a Dremel with a diamond dust blade and the cuts are not clean. Thanks for looking and your advise.
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https://www.micromark.com/Micr...ux-Jigsaw-Scroll-Saw
This might be worth a try.
by hand with a blade or hand saw
There is a saw tooth blade made to go in an Xacto knife handle. It’s perfect for making straight cuts in plastic.
@CoolHand posted:There is a saw tooth blade made to go in an Xacto knife handle. It’s perfect for making straight cuts in plastic.
I have one and even at slower speeds, it melts and clogs the blade making it a real hazard to use with plastics. Cutting a straight line is wishful thinking.
Get a good larger razor saw, mark well, and cut slow and easy.
Are you cutting openings, or straight lines?
If openings, google "nibbler tool" (Micro Mark and others have them) they slowly nibble away unwanted plastic. For other openings, score a box around the area to be removed with an Xacto knife, then make an "X" in the middle of it connecting the corners, then keep going over the lines gently until you break through.
Thank you for your advise.
First and most important thing to do is to use a "Straight edge" to run your lines! The chances of cutting a straight line with a straight edge is exponentially higher than doing it freehand!!!
If your sheet of plastic can be laid flat, Place the straightedge along your line, then use a Tamiya scriber or anything that is a good scriber. Be sure to keep it against the straight edge! You can either scribe entirely through the plastic or after a few passes just snap the section off.
Another way is to use an X-Acto Razor Saw (or the like). This saw is very fine tooth blade and makes a minimal kerf . AGAIN, use a straight edge!
Another must tool is a long flat "Fine Bast**d File" (that is its real name). This long flat file is used to deburr the edge of the plastic. The long length will help you keep the edge straight or flat. I can't tell you much this one tool will come in handy, even on other projects.
A way to cut holes for windows, holes and the like is to mark the inside outline, then using a small drill, drill holes all around the circumference of the outline just INSIDE of the edge. Then the piece can easily cut out with a hobby knife or even just punched out. Then get out your files and file until you get the hole to the proper size. This same method can be used in many other ways, such as, cutting out a compound curve.
Thanks for that info Jim.
There is a pretty good video online which shows how to scribe straight lines in plastic using the Tamiya II plastic scribing tool, and Dymo plastic tape (which is pretty thick) to serve as the "straight edge" for cutting the line.
Mannyrock
