How do I cut circles/curves in Lexan?

[BPM]

I have a sheet of Lexan that I need to cut a 4" circle in. The only tools I have are a Dremel and a hand drill (yay for apartment living :-/ ). Any ideas?

[toyomatt84]

Holesaw drill bit. They make them up to 8" if I'm not mistaken. The bit should look like a big bowl and have a serated edge.

[BPM]

Holesaw drill bit. They make them up to 8" if I'm not mistaken. The bit should look like a big bowl and have a serated edge.
Ok, that's what I was thinking of, but I don't ever recall seeing one that big. I'll look again! :)

[Stedeman]

A hole saw is one of the best ways but the Dremel with the spiral saw bit and hole attachment would do too.

[Me doing a Tool Man Rant]Apartment living is no excuse for not having enough tools! I live in a 900 sq ft apartment with a wife and 5yr old daughter and I have a router, table saw, Dremel, full size work bench (fits perfectly in my sliding door hall closet), 4+ tool boxes, 2 drills, torch, and a boat load more. A man for no other reason than being a man must collect tools! Where there is a man and tools there is a way! [End Tool Man Rant]

[Easybeat]

A hole saw is one of the best ways but the Dremel with the spiral saw bit and hole attachment would do too.

[Me doing a Tool Man Rant]Apartment living is no excuse for not having enough tools! I live in a 900 sq ft apartment with a wife and 5yr old daughter and I have a router, table saw, Dremel, full size work bench (fits perfectly in my sliding door hall closet), 4+ tool boxes, 2 drills, torch, and a boat load more. A man for no other reason than being a man must collect tools! Where there is a man and tools there is a way! [End Tool Man Rant]


A man after my own heart :thup:

You can never own enough tools.

[BPM]

A hole saw is one of the best ways but the Dremel with the spiral saw bit and hole attachment would do too.

[Me doing a Tool Man Rant]Apartment living is no excuse for not having enough tools! I live in a 900 sq ft apartment with a wife and 5yr old daughter and I have a router, table saw, Dremel, full size work bench (fits perfectly in my sliding door hall closet), 4+ tool boxes, 2 drills, torch, and a boat load more. A man for no other reason than being a man must collect tools! Where there is a man and tools there is a way! [End Tool Man Rant]
I looked on the Dremel site and it looks like to even use the cirlce cutter, I'd need the High Speed rotary saw instead of the regular Multi-Tool that I have now. While I'd love to own more tools, now is not the time for me to be upgrading my collection :-/

[Hexnan]

what would happen if you cut a jig in the pattern you wanted from plywood, then clamped it to the lexan and attached a dremel cutting bit to your drill. thats what i did to drill my fan holes for my case, worked like a charm and saved me 12 bucks (cost of a hole saw)


Hex

[wannaoc]

Be careful when cutting with a hole saw though. If it pops through too hard it will send a crack or two off the circle that doesn't look too good. Make sure to have some support behind it, that helps defeat this.

[cack01]

Lexan won't crack, but you do need to make sure you clamp it b/c the darn thing is going to want to take off on you.

[Captain Slug]

Does it NEED to be polycarbonate? Because you can order discs or acrylic cheaply from McMaster (http://www.mcmaster.com/) or USPlastics (http://www.usplastics.com/)

[Ramlaen]

router with a straight bit is the best way to cut lexan. Just set up guides for the router to follow.