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Building Acrylic cases technique video


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My good friend Joe and I build wooden cases together all the time. I have great shop myself BUT I have a Shopsmith and while great for some things Acrylic cases is not one so we use his shop. 

The technique we use is just about bullet proof. You need a sharp Dado blade and the capability to measure exactly 45 degrees. We were using a piece of scrap for the video so the protective film has been removed, we usually leave it on the outside. You can also use this process on plywood. As a side note there is a  German company that sells a blade designed to do this exact cut on acrylic. Cost $650. Dado blade much cheaper.

Regards,

Jim Rogers

 

Damn the Torpedoes , Full speed ahead.   Adm David Farragut.

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1 hour ago, Bob Cleek said:

Very informative and interesting! Would a 45 degree cone-shaped router bit in a router table do the same thing as the table saw blade set at 45 degrees?

No. A router bit moves two fast and just melts the acrylic. We tried and it was a mess.

Regards,

Jim Rogers

 

Damn the Torpedoes , Full speed ahead.   Adm David Farragut.

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The other issue with a router bit is the way it ejects the chips. Ever had a dado cut with a router bit pack the chips in front of the bit? Not bad with wood because you can just use a chisel to clean it out. The 45 cone bit will do the same thing but with plastic chips it just melts in place.

Regards,

Jim Rogers

 

Damn the Torpedoes , Full speed ahead.   Adm David Farragut.

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Excellent video. Thank you for posting...Moab

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  • 2 weeks later...

Looks like a neat idea, but

 

- it seems to be rather wasteful on material, as you need a large sheet and the corner squares are waste - particularly thinking of larger boxes

- it may be difficult in practice on large thin sheets, because you may cut the groove through

- the joints should be virtually invisible - with the proper acrylic cement, which is essentially uncured acrylic glas and does have the same refractive index as the acrylic itself; the cement has a rather high viscosity, like honey, and would be difficult to infiltrate into the tight joint, there is no capillary effect.

 

Manufacturers of e.g. Plexiglas recommend to cut the sides with a very slight bevel to accomodate the glue and then fit the parts together flat. When well done, i.e. with no air bubbles trapped, the box becomes virtually seamless.

wefalck

 

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Number two is not an issue even if you cut through it still works. We are working on the clarity issue as we agree with you. We are thinking instead of 45 degrees going with 47 degrees to leave a small void that would get filled by the adhesive. In a large case the waste is not waste, it is used on other projects like small cases.

Regards,

Jim Rogers

 

Damn the Torpedoes , Full speed ahead.   Adm David Farragut.

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Jim, 

I like that informative video.

Can I order a case from you, for my Bluenose?

 

Please, visit our Facebook page!

 

Respectfully

 

Per aka Dr. Per@Therapy for Shipaholics 
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