Curious on what are a few good tools to cut plastic with.. Looking to cut and design a 8in x 6in x.5in plastic sheet.

I was thinking of a dremel but would that get all the plastic stuck in the teeth of the grinder and ruin it?

 

I use a band saw with a want to say close to 24 teeth per inch, but im probably off. Anyways thats what I use for cutting plastic. Just make sure to put down some masking tape on the line you wanna cut makes it easier to see your line, and finishes the cut nicely so there is no chips taken out of the plastic surrounding the cut. A circular saw works to but you have to take your time and get the blade at a high rpm to make a clean cut. What ever works for you. I didn't realize it was .5 in sheet...what do you have that is that thick. If that is the case use the bandsaw method.

 

I've done alot of ABS work on my car, (door panels etc) and have found coarse blades & cut slow works. For straight lines I used my circular saw.

 

I used to do LOTS of plastic machining in my previous job. Lets define "plastic" here though?
plexiglass, ABS, teflon, delrin, UHMW, etc etc? What is it?
Dremel just needs to be kept cool, or else it'll just melt the plastic. I used a milling machine, with standard metal cutting bits. Use lots of "milky" cutting fluid (water based) to keep the bits cool. If you need to do slots, etc, use a router. Cutting it - bandsaw, circular saw, etc.

Use a jig to support it, and depending on which plastic you're talking about, I can give you other more specific tips. (and what you're doing to the plastic, ie cutting it, slots, internal cutouts, etc)

 

I believe its abs and i'm sorry it should be .25" thick. I'm making a new shifter cover, and i want to have 3 rectangular slots, 2 that are thin on the out side and a pretty wide one in the middle for the indicator. Its for a project. Just curious on how I should go about this. ABS is whats typically sold at home depot and such right?

 

ABS is the black stuff. I'm not sure if they sell sheets at home depot? I buy it from a plastic supplier.
I would HIGHLY recommend you buy a chunk that's larger then what you need. Drill Q=8 or so holes (3/16" or so) in the outer edge (outside of what you actually need). Then bolt this piece to a piece of 1/2" plywood or something like that. Mark what you want to do on the piece of material (scribe, tape, etc). Then use a router, etc, to cut your slots. The plastic will want to pull up, so i'd recommend you clamp it down really well. If possible drill into the waste areas (slots) and bolt it down there too. Then either use a router or jigsaw and cut out your material. Once it's all done, unbolt from your jig, and clamp to the edge of the wood, and cut off the outside edges with a circular saw/jigsaw.

There's no support under the center of this shifter cover (right?). I might use thicker than 1/4" then. Draw it up on solidworks or something so you know what you want.

 

I know what I want i just need the true measurements of the shift plate I currently have, i was just throwing numbers out there. Just want something that looks stock for the plastic, even if i have to spray paint it..

 

where can you buy ABS? ive only used stuff ive "acquired"

 

Ebay