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Video: Making Plexiglas safety fence
Great video. I like this method of attaching much better than using screws.
This is a really nice method, David. I should try this out on my railroad!
I think the way David did takes way to much time and waste plesiglass Go the the Hardware store and get a fine tooth blade for your table saw and remove the protective plastic near the cut set the fence and cut and many in as many different sizes you need. A lot safer as you noticed, Davids arm came close to the broken edge.
I am glad that David didn’t get a clean break, because that is likely to happen to most of us. Kudos for keeping it realistic for us.
I have cut plexiglas both with a table saw and by scoring it. Both methods work, but I prefer the table saw. It gives more consistent size pieces which is important when making display cases. The cut edge is easy to polish with fine grit sand paper.
If you take a piece of scrap wood, 1 to 2 inches wide and longer than the cut you want to make, you can use it to distribute the force from your hands all along the scoring line. You’ll also want to clamp a similar piece on the other side of the break, with the table edge directly under the scoring line. This helps make the break-edges much cleaner. One thing I wouldn’t recommend is scoring on both sides of the plexi though; unless the scoring cuts are perfectly aligned it will make a jagged snap that much more likely. For longer breaks (more than about 10" or so), getting a second person to help push also helps.
When cutting Plexiglas use special blades designed just for that unique material. Both saber saw and skill saw blades are available.
Why would I be getting an error “This video isn’t encoded for your device” on some of the video but not all of them?
Instead of using your hand to snap the plexi, lay a board on the plexi to apply even pressure along the score line. There will be much less filing. Also when scoring the plexi it is very important to follow the exact same path at the exact same angle, thus one heavy pass is better. Never stop and start a score or change directions as that will cause breaking issues. Using a table saw tends to melt the plexi and still requires cleaning.
glad to see you published an ‘ooops’ … it helps show that not all is lost, if things don’t go as exactly planned.
I am with Kent, it is really good that you showed what happens when things dont go really good! Thank you.
Excellent video. Oops is great. Well done. Harbor Freight has cheap split top workbenches that would allow you to get close enough to clamp from the rear side and have a smooth cut across the whole sheet. You can snap the break with a hammer on a thin wood plank. And you might round the upper edges slightly
In really like the fact the Plexiglas is easily removable and you don’t have to screw it on and off every time. I will be adding this to my show modules, for quick setup and tear-down.
Polycarbonate is much tougher than acrylic. One of the well known trade names is Lexan. Lexan (polycarbonate) will bend without breaking or shattering. Broken acrylic may have sharp edges. Either material can be cut with a fine tooth crosscut saw, if the saw is angled to have several teeth in contact with the materal.
I like the lift out fence retainer, it is a clever idea. I will suggest this concept to my model railroad club. We need about 25 feet of plastic safety fencing around our New Placer Yard.
This was great. I used to cut on a bandsaw then screw the plexiglass panels to the layout. This is much better.
Thanks,
George
Another great video Mr. Popp, About how big is each pixy glass section? Also what kind of pixy glass did you use?
I’ve been using acrylic plexiglass for all of my show modules. However I use 1/4" Plexi as the many shows our club displays at each year brings many small hands trying to do pull-ups on the shields. I use a table saw with a carbide blade that works very well and makes for very few rough edges to clean. The insert slot is a great idea.
thanks david i have some places on my layout that i have to do that