Workers Of Wood

Hey all, my friend is going to use 1/2” plexiglass on the sides of his staircase . I believe it’s NOT lexan . I have to cut 45 degree angles besides the long one to shorten its height , and I figure my festool TS75 tracksaw would be the best option seeing I have to cut angles . The owner of Windsor Plywood thinks I’m overthinking it ,and says to use the factory blade . I think it’s 36 tooth 210mm diameter with a 30 mm arbor , so Freud blades will not fit , at least the ones I’ve seen .
I can change the rpm also and may try slowing it down . Steve the Windsor Plywood owner recommended setting the tracksaw to 1/8” , and do one cut across, then lower the blade and do a final deep cut .
Steve thinks if I buy the blade pictured here , that it will get plugged up having a lot of teeth , so I’m not sure if it’s worth the investment.
Festool also makes a blade for wood finishing , but super expensive.
I’ve been reading all kinds of things about different angles on the teeth that are preferred for plastics , but it’s over my head .
Just wondering what others have had for best results without chipping . I think clamping a sacrificial piece of mdf over the cut may be a nuisance.
I guess doing a test cut would be a good idea to see how it reacts.

Here’s the options I was thinking of but they’re not dedicated to acrylic, although the festool one says laminate , so maybe that would be better?

Wood blades average around 40 teeth while plastic blades have around 60. They cut through plastic, acrylic, and soft, non-ferrous metals. For Plexiglas, you’ll want a fine blade with at least 80 teeth.
Cut into plastic and soft materials slowly. If you go too quickly, the material can “catch” on the saw blade, which can damage both the blade and the project. You’ll want to cut with a smooth, pushing motion.

Go w/ a TCG toothed blade w/ a negative rake of 3~5°.... Plan "B" is a HI-ATB toothed blade

Plastic cutting tooling usually has different geometry from wood cutting. You need something with no hook angle. I've cut laminate sheet and plexi on my TS using a melamine blade and zero clearance insert. Melamine blades have little to negative hook. I have a circ saw blade for cutting vinyl siding and it looks much like an old school steel tooth plywood blade so one of those might work too.

The problem I have always had with plastic cutting is the build up of the melted sawdust on the teeth using a common wood cutting blade. One article I just read said to set the height of the cut to 1/4" higher than the material,(tablesaw), to give the tooth clearance to clean the shavings from the cut. If you can try a scrap before you make a cut.
The Track saw sounds like an excellent choice,that should keep down any scratching of the finished surface,and has the ability to suck up the sawdust flying around. I always avoided cutting plastic because of the mess it creates.
Herb

Herb Stoops wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2023 1:13 pm The problem I have always had with plastic cutting is the build up of the melted sawdust on the teeth using a common wood cutting blade. One article I just read said to set the height of the cut to 1/4" higher than the material,(tablesaw), to give the tooth clearance to clean the shavings from the cut. If you can try a scrap before you make a cut.
The Track saw sounds like an excellent choice,that should keep down any scratching of the finished surface,and has the ability to suck up the sawdust flying around. I always avoided cutting plastic because of the mess it creates.
Herb

Yes unfortunately it’s too cold now to do outside . I told my friend to take the plexi and let it sit in his heated basement for a few days to acclimate .
There’s not a lot of room ,but we’ll make do .
I told him the same thing you mentioned, seeing as we need to take a 45 degree chunk off , why not do a test cut first

Cherryville Chuck wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2023 9:33 am Plastic cutting tooling usually has different geometry from wood cutting. You need something with no hook angle. I've cut laminate sheet and plexi on my TS using a melamine blade and zero clearance insert. Melamine blades have little to negative hook. I have a circ saw blade for cutting vinyl siding and it looks much like an old school steel tooth plywood blade so one of those might work too.

That’s interesting, as I was wondering about the angle of the teeth

Stick486 wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2023 6:44 am Wood blades average around 40 teeth while plastic blades have around 60. They cut through plastic, acrylic, and soft, non-ferrous metals. For Plexiglas, you’ll want a fine blade with at least 80 teeth.
Cut into plastic and soft materials slowly. If you go too quickly, the material can “catch” on the saw blade, which can damage both the blade and the project. You’ll want to cut with a smooth, pushing motion.

Go w/ a TCG toothed blade w/ a negative rake of 3~5°.... Plan "B" is a HI-ATB toothed blade

Thanks Stick . I have a feeling sourcing a blade for a tracksaw with more than 60 teeth may be an issue .
Hey are you still up on that mountain?

Is this stair going to have panels or one piece from top to bottom ? If it has panels will the vertical joint have have an "H" piece between panels or just an air space? Is the cut edge going to be visible?
Herb

Herb Stoops wrote: ↑Tue Nov 14, 2023 8:10 pm Is this stair going to have panels or one piece from top to bottom ? If it has panels will the vertical joint have have an "H" piece between panels or just an air space? Is the cut edge going to be visible?
Herb

Yes it’s going to be an exposed edge on the sides . Unfortunately one 4x8 sheet is not long enough , so they have these metal clips that connect the sheets . Going to look kind of weird adding a small piece at the top ,but that’s their plan .
I have cut lexan and 0keci in the past but on my table saw . I used 120 grit sandpaper,then followed it with finer sandpaper to get the cut edges clear again . Actually used toothpaste as a rubbing compound to get it super clear .
I also experimented with a torch to glaze the edges after sanding . Worked well but you have to be careful not to burn and bubble it

Even hand sanding you have to be careful not to go too fast and with too much pressure. I'd heard about using toothpaste before.

I got a fairly decent cut on acrilate using an inexpensive 60T negative rake TCD that is marketed as an aluminium blade. Used my DeWalt cordless saw on an amateurish Wolfcraft track system. White swarf everywhere.

Biagio wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2023 2:36 pmnegative rake TCD

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The negative rake is the best way by far to go... VOE...

Holding the piece down firmly against the table is important too because if the sheet starts to flutter chances are it will blow up.