About Acrylic
How To Glue Acrylic
Make sure that the borders of the acrylic you want to join are flat and free of bumps or cuts. Acrylic cement will not adhere or sink into grooves and crevices like regular glue does on wood or paper.
Make sure that any surfaces being bonded together are lightly sanded and not shiny, as a very smooth surface is tough to bond together.
Once you have sanded and smoothed the sides of your acrylic, wipe over it with a clean cloth and alcohol. Using Isopropyl alcohol will help guarantee that all dirt, dust, and other fragments have been removed.
The most common glue for acrylics is a solvent-based glue like Weld-On 4, which can be found on Amazon. This glue should also come with its own applicator bottle and needle. To use, simply fill the applicator bottle, via a funnel, until the bottle is about 75% full.
Turn the bottle upside down and place the needle above the edge where the two pieces of acrylic meet. Squeeze the bottle with mild pressure as you move along the joined edges. You want to pull the bottle towards you. The acrylic cement should run in between the joined edges and fill in any seams or spaces as you move it along.
Most acrylic cement will take around 10-15 minutes to set initially. During this time you can use your hands or a clamp to hold the edges together. Once they are secure, they should take 24-48 hours to cure to full-strength.
How To Shape Acrylic
Have a mould ready to use. Make adjustments appropriate to the specifications of your project. Measure the size of the of the overall piece you need and mark the shape with a black felt tip pen
Place the plastic sheet on a cookie sheet and place in an oven set to 250 F and wait about 10 minutes for it to warm fully. When it's ready you'll find it flexible when you try to pick it up. Put on your gloves when you work with the plastic. It's hot and will burn you if you're not careful. The first step is to cut any curves, corners, cutouts, etc.
Using the heavy shears or scissors. You'll have about 2 minutes before it cools and hardens too much to cut. If it gets too hard, put it back in the oven to warm up again.
Once it's cut to form, place back into the oven and raise the temperature to no more than 275 F. At 300 F. it will begin to stick to the cookie sheet. Above that temperature it can melt and/or begin to bubble. Pull the plastic out and quickly press onto or into the mould that's ready. use your fingers and firm pressure to press into any corners, fold, bends, etc. Continue to hold and press into shape until it begins to harden. Quickly dunk into cold water to cool and set the piece.
How To Clean Acrylic
Because acrylic is easily scratched, you don’t want to just wipe away any dirt or dust that is on the surface. Instead, use air or water to remove dirt before you begin to clean. You can use canned air to blow dirt off of the windows, or drip water onto the surface that picks up the dirt and allows you to float it off.Don’t rub the surface with the microfiber cloth as this can cause scratches in the acrylic.
Once you’ve cleaned the window, you discover scratches in the surface, you can use car wax to remove them. Apply wax to the areas that are scratched and use the buffer that comes with the wax to buff the surface
If you have very deep scratches in the acrylic, you scrape the surface of the acrylic. Hold a sharp scarping tool at a 10 degree angle and move it from side to side, evenly and gently scraping off the excess.
Sanding the surface of acrylic gives it a matte finish, which gives it a frosted look. You can perform this technique with sand paper by hand, or with sanding tools. Simply sand the acrylic surface the same way you would with a piece of wood – start with a coarser sand paper and once you’ve worked over the entire surface, move to a finer paper and repeat the process.
Brillianize cleaner, is the best option for cleaning your acrylic. It prevents scratches and won’t break down the acrylic, giving it a cloudy appearance.
How To Cut Acrylic
Set the acrylic on a flat surface. Mark your line. Begin by deciding where you want to cut the acrylic. Measure it out, and use a ruler to make a straight line. Score the line in the acrylic with a plastic scoring blade.
Using your ruler as a guide, run a plastic scoring blade along the cutting line, trying to make one continuous line with gentle, even pressure.Deepen the cut using the scoring blade. Run the blade over the line several times until you have a substantial groove.
Break the acrylic sheet. Place the line you've scored directly along the edge of the table. Using clamps to hold the sheet to the table makes the process easier. Break the sheet at the scored line by pressing down on the outer edge in a quick motion.
