Drilling acrylic

[LeslieS]

Need to drill a 1 5/8 and a 3/4 opening in my acrylic ecosystem. I bought the drill bits today. Any tips?

 

[inkblue]

:tongueani get it... anY tips

 

[LeslieS]

hahaha!

 

[House of Laughter]

Leslie, as with any TOOL, take your time and let it do the work for you - this way you don't flake the acrylic on exit of the bit.

House

 

[FRY]

i always put masking tape over the area that I'm drilling , don't drill to fast and low speed light pressure just before you go Thur the end

 

[LeslieS]

OK, good advise. I bought a piece to practice on before I do the real thing.

 

[reefman]

brush off the bit often makes it easier

 

[cali_reef]

Protect your eyes..

Hot plastic shaving in the eye is bad.

 

[loismustdie]

Do you have a grinding wheel? If you grind the bevel out of the tip of the pilot bit, you will seriously reduce the odds of creating a major crack in the acrylic. I have a specific set of drill bits set aside with the tips grinded.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

you'll be fine. protect your eyes and make sure to reduce speed and pressure when you are half way through.

 

[madhouse]

what bits you using... i have to drill a hole in acrylic soon...

 

[LeslieS]

I have decided to wait until after the weekend to work up my nerve. The bits that I bought are called bi-metal hole saws, you will also need a drill bit that goes with them. I also bought a forstner bit for the smaller hole.

Hope this helps.

 

[bad coffee]

Leslie, If you can, drill halfway through on one side, and then the rest of the way through from the other. That way you won't chip the acrylic when you go through.

If you can't get to both sides, clamp a piece of scrap wood to the back side. It will help.

Go slow and let the bit do the work.

And we would love to see before and after pics!

B

 

[FRY]

i whoudnt use a forstner bit on plastic it will bind and crack the plastic ,the whole saw comes with pilot bit

 

[LeslieS]

they didn't have a 3/4" like the picture. any other suggestions?

 

[FRY]

home depot has them were in man are you locate

 

[loismustdie]

For a 3/4 inch hole, you can use spade bits used for drilling holes in wood. As others said, don't put much pressure... let the tool and the bit do the work for you. I find that running the drill at half speed with these bits using little pressure works great.
For larger holes, I use the same bit that is shown above. The only difference is I grind the bevel out of the tips of the pilot bit. This will keep it from cracking the acrylic. Since you are drilling an already built refugium, I doubt you will have room to drill from both sides. You may also have a hard time placing a piece of wood under your work if you do not have the right clamps. If getting to Brooklyn isn't too much of a hassle for you, I can drill the holes for you and grind your pilot bits for any holes you may need in the future.
You can use the bits as is, but it is so much safer and easeir using the modified tips.

 

[LeslieS]

Thanks Chris! Can I get back to you after the 4th? I will be out of town starting today.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

do not use spade bits, forstner bits to drill acrylic!!
use the bi metalic hole saw you have HD, Lowes or local plumbing supply will have them.

I personally use a battery operated drill with clutch set on a very low release so that if the bit binds you wont crack the plastic.

take bretts advice drill 1/2 way through than drill through the other side.
let the bit do the work. no need to lubricate, just use high speed.

Again DO NOT USE SPADE OR FORSNER BITS!!! 100% you'll crack the acyrlic!!!

 

[FRY]

DO NOT use spade bits, forstner bits to drill acrylic!!

try it on a Peace of scrap plastic and see what happens