Need help drilling acrylic

Steelerfan747 · Jul 30, 2012

Hi guys. I just picked up a custom sump over the weekend and need to drill the lids. They are made using 2 layers of quarter inch acrylic glued together. My question is can I use clamps can I drill them and should I use a 2 by 4 as a base?

schminksbro · Jul 30, 2012

Steelerfan747 said:
Hi guys. I just picked up a custom sump over the weekend and need to drill the lids. They are made using 2 layers of quarter inch acrylic glued together. My question is can I use clamps can I drill them and should I use a 2 by 4 as a base?

You will need a tightly clamped backing to prevent chipping when the bit comes through. Ideally another piece of acrylic so that it fits perfectly tight against the material with no gaps. If you have gaps it will defeat the purpose and you will get chipping.

revhtree · Jul 30, 2012

If at all possible how about videoing the drill for future resource for others.

Steelerfan747 · Jul 30, 2012

schminksbro said:
You will need a tightly clamped backing to prevent chipping when the bit comes through. Ideally another piece of acrylic so that it fits perfectly tight against the material with no gaps. If you have gaps it will defeat the purpose and you will get chipping.

thanks for the info I do have some extra acrylic laying around somewhere I will try that

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Steelerfan747 · Jul 30, 2012

revhtree said:
If at all possible how about videoing the drill for future resource for others.

no problem Rev I think I can do that

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SeahorseKeeper · Jul 30, 2012

I would be interested in seeing how this is done.

reefman88 · Jul 30, 2012

If you can..... the best way to drill is to drill halfway through from one side. Then start from the other side and go the other half. This will prevent chipping around the edges, which is the most important place to prevent it.

Steelerfan747 · Jul 31, 2012

reefman88 said:
If you can..... the best way to drill is to drill halfway through from one side. Then start from the other side and go the other half. This will prevent chipping around the edges, which is the most important place to prevent it.

Thanks for the info. I will try that. I may just try a couple of times on spare acrylic as a test run

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