Archived from the Tools In Action forum (Accessories). This thread is read-only.
I have to cut 1″ hdpe bathroom partition panels. Will any plastics blade work or what’s best?
My current plan is just cutting with a circular saw, will probably use a straight edge as well. The finished edge quality doesn’t need to be perfectly smooth, it won’t be exposed.
Diablos non-ferrous metal circ blade is good for plastics, if your looking for a little less expensive blade the CMT brand has a similar blade
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The best cut in plastics is achieved by rough cutting with a circular saw, then using a router with a straight bit to bring to final size. It’s an extra step, but the quality of the cut is about perfect, with zero chip out or breakage.
That’s my experience anyway…
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We use Amana blades for cutting Acrylic and Lexan on table saws and chop saws. https://www.amanatool.com/products/saw-blades/non-ferrous-saw-blades.html
I cut a bunch of 1in acrylic recently with a festool track saw, it was then finished by our CNC dept. The Track saw cuts were as straight as can be though. The sheets were 6×8, so I was cutting them to fit onto the CNC machines for the circular shape they needed for the final cuts.
I’m not familiar with HDPE though. A non ferrous blade should do the trick, just watch for heat build up.
Diablo non ferrous blades are what i use for plastics and aluminum. They work fantastic!
Thanks for the input guys.
I picked up a diablo 7 1/4″ non ferrous blade. I ended up not needing thoe.
As I got to there one of the other guys said he had a Dewalt trex decking blade. We sort of looked at it like hmm this might work. With a extra piece we made a test cut. The first cuts were good. Later in the day the blade got dull. It then got really dull an left melted plastic on the side. The last 3 panels we beveled the edges with my angle grinder an wire brush. If we didn’t remove the burr it would not of slid into the mounting channel.
I would normally like to be confident in my tools an don’t use dull blades. It was a volunteer job an the one volunteer had a extra blade laying around his garage. Didn’t see the point in spending 50 bucks on a tight budget.