Which machines are okay to cut acrylic with?

I have some 1/4" acrylic sheets that I need to work with for a project

Mostly drilling holes, routing channels, and cutting the edges at a 45 degree angle

I’m pretty sure the table saw is out due to the sawstop

Which machines am I not allowed to shape acrylic with?

Thank you!

Why would the SawStop prevent you from using the table saw? It only activates on moisture and metal. which acrylic has neither. The table saw is actually ok to cut the acrylic on as long as you are trained on it.

It’s unlikely plain acrylic would trip the sawstop (there are some weird edge cases involving static buildup, but the manual doesn’t recommend against it) but it has a nasty habit of shattering and throwing shrapnel if you’re not careful. A bandsaw would be safer, assuming your pieces fit. Or a tracksaw. Or the CNC, or a laser cutter. Or a handheld router. lots of options :slight_smile:

If you do use the tablesaw, you can reduce the risk of chip-out by cutting partway through, then flipping the sheet to finish the cut from the other side.

You definitely can’t cut mirrored or anti-static plastics on the sawstop - both of those have conductive components.

Yeah the cnc or laser would probably be the best. Also to reduce chipout you could use painters tape to place in the middle of your cut much like is done for wood.

That makes sense, thank you ya’ll!

If you go the table saw route you should change the blade to a very fine tooth say like 120 teeth and cut slowly and that should get to a very nice edge.