TIP: Flame Polishing Acrylic

Just a quick way to polish the edges of acrylic to give your projects a nice professional look.
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[@MarkLindsayCNC]

I worked in a plastic fabrication shop for a short time, and I have a couple more tips for you. First, most pros use a hydrogen torch (or dedicated flame polishing machines that burn hydrogen) for flame polishing - hydrogen burns much hotter than even MAP gas, and polishes it much quicker and smoother. Second, use a small tip on your torch if you can - something about the size of a pencil. DO NOT flame polish an edge that you're going to apply glue, acrylic cement, polish, or any kind of solvent to. The polished edge will craze and crack if you do. The same thing will happen if you keep going over the edge with the torch to try to get it cleaner. Just sand or rout the edge smooth, pass the torch over it one time only, then leave it alone. If you sand the edge with 120 - 180 grit to get rid of tool marks, or use a router as you said, you'll get a smooth edge that will polish beautifully.

[@TabLeft]

Awesome good info!!!

[@JackbenchWoodworking]

Good info Mark, thanks!

[@remidanielle4248]

Mark Lindsay CNC thanks Mark good input ,!

[@samuelbarretochamorro8527]

Can you laser cut and apply glue or solvent? Will it craze?

[@Knossos22]

Excellent. Exactly the information I was looking for... MAP torch

[@JackbenchWoodworking]

Great tip Ray!

[@GregsGarage]

Great tip!!! Thanks for demonstrating it.

[@TabLeft]

+Greg's Garage thanks!

[@BuildiTDIYIsrael]

nice tip, thank you!

[@3DPrintingNerd]

Just saw this, thanks for the tip!

[@TabLeft]

anytime! thanks for watching =)

[@SawDustMakerRJM]

Great tip!!

[@TabLeft]

Thank you!

[@danielsolowiej]

Top trick man !

[@TabLeft]

+Daniel Solowiej thank you!

[@WoodenCreationz]

Very cool tip I have never seen before

[@TabLeft]

Thanks for watching!

[@Lazywatchsmith]

Awesome!

[@TabLeft]

Thank you!

[@AllesohneKabel]

Very cool!

[@TabLeft]

Thank you!

[@tomsdreamshopworx]

Yup, good tip to share, been doing it for years.

[@TabLeft]

+Tom's Dreamshop Worx thanks for watching :)

[@TJSWOODWORKINGSHOP]

Very good tip bro thanks :)

[@TabLeft]

Thanks!

[@TJSWOODWORKINGSHOP]

No problem bro i like it :)

[@lylekobberstad8571]

Great tip and I've not seen it before either. What TS blade do you suggest for cutting plexiglass or any of the plastics?

[@TabLeft]

Thanks! Anything carbide with lots of teeth should be fine, the more teeth the better.

[@tomsdreamshopworx]

Ideally you want a blade with 0 or negative rake tooth angle, also a TCG ( triple chip grind) is ideal if you are going to be cutting a bunch. The easiest way to get a blade is to buy one designed for nonferrous metals. I was in the saw blade business for many years.

[@TabLeft]

+Tom's Dreamshop Worx good info!

[@robsdeviceunknown]

Every time I try that, over a very short time the edge gets a ton of cracks. What am I doing wrong?

[@TabLeft]

+Rob Lambert are they actually cracks or are they tool marks that are suddenly becoming more visible? It's possible that the acrylic is getting over cooked I supposed. I tend to hold the torch fairly close and go fast. You want to melt the edge but not transfer heat to the rest of the acrylic. Also make sure you're using map gas and not propane and that its actually acrylic and not a polycarbonate which will brown and burn.