# How to cut acrylic light diffuser panels



## COLDIRON

*diffusers*

Make sure its a nice flat surface put a metal straight edge at the cut line score, score, score, score, score a lot put pressure at the metal straight edge and snap like drywall it should be good.
The heck with the rough edges as long as they are covered by the fixture trim.

Remember keep scoring maybe even score both sides.


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## Scuba_Dave

I use a blade for my skil saw for alum/plastics (marked that way too)
It has 150 teeth
I also sandwich it between boards
The problem is the plastic will chatter up & down & cause breaks
If a detail cut I will cover w/tape 1st
Go slow, might end up w/sharp edges as plastic melts


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## InPhase277

I have marked them at both ends then tightly clamped the whole stack between two 1x4's. Placed a 1x4 under the waste side so it wouldn't flop around, and cut the whole stack slowly with a fine blade in my sawzall. You have to find the best speed, but it worked fine.


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## frenchelectrican

This what I do is reverse the saw blades the reason why I say reverse it due it will just ride it instead of tearing up the panel.

That one of few items I will run the saw blade in reverse the same thing with larger and thicker plexiglass.

Merci,Marc


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## RippySkippy

try a hand saw, the Japanese type that cut on the pull stroke...with a light touch, they work very well. Sandwich the panel between 1x4 for support and cut away. I love these saws...


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## J. V.

I have always used a utility knife with new blade. Clamp a straight edge along the line and pull the knife towards you until you go almost through, or all the way through. It will snap just as a piece of drywall will snap. Takes a little elbow grease and patience.

I use this method for lexan and similar products.


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## Yellow Gaigin

*Cut arylic lighting panels*

Dremel has a new tool on the market, the mult-max which has an oscillating action. I put the panels on a plywood surface and used the drywall blade. I worked great and can cut curvy lines if you want !! Beats my old method with the carbide laminate cutter.


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## Dougs

*cut acrylic ceil panels*

Tried the razor blade approach on ice crystal diffuser panel , had trouble keeping the blade in the same groove, and cracked the edges. Pulled out the multi-function power tool from Harbor Freight and used the circular serated edge blade. Used a long thin straight edge as a guide, only a few back-and-forth moves and the panel was cut. Since the power tool occilates at 11,000 cycles, this process will melt the acrylic if the blade is moved too slowly. Worked out well, cutting the full length of a 2x4 ft panel in less than 60 seconds. Had to clean some burrs off 

Cautions:
-use gloves to clean up the burrs
-when the blade cuts through the acrylic, the cutting does not stop, so 
a smooth but does-not-matter backing board is needed. 
- did not clamp the straight edge, still got a clean straight cutline.
Other: Played around a bit with the scrapped piece, found that 
- can cut freeform, meaning curves and circles.
- can cut/remove almost any width of trim, as tried cutting 1/4 inch the length of the piece, worked pretty good.
- can remove a triangular piece say the length of the piece, the trim being removed started at 5/16", going down to 0.0"...


(p/n 67256 or http://www.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result/?category=&q=multi+function )


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## AllanJ

Don't cut too fast or the plastic may melt and become gooey and gum up the saw. It is okay to do short bursts of high speed sawing with waits to let it cool down.

When scoring with a knife, be sure the score goes through all hills and dales, not just across the high points.


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## bluene

*Cutting Acrylic diffuser*

I used a combination of techniques from this thread and it worked great. I sandwiched the plastic between 2-1x4's and screwed them together to keep the plastic held tightly. Then I turned the blade around on my table saw so it cut with the back side of the saw teeth. That resulted in nice cuts of both pieces with a small burr, probably from a little melting of the plastic. The only blade I had was a combination blade, very coarse, which caused much chipping when running forward.


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## bpage

*USE Masking Tape!*

After running into the same problems described here, like the jagged edges or big cracks, I tried masking tape. I taped the edges I wanted to cut with masking tape on both sides of the panel. I then used a utility knife along a straight edge to cut through the panels to fit my light. No clamping, just cut straight through with light cuts until your all the way through the panel. This technique worked great and was quick for me, especially if your careful. On the last few panels I was rushing it and had a few more burrs and cracks, but over all this method worked well. 

Here is what I used:

Utility knife
masking tape
plaskolite 2'x4' sheets (home depot)

Hope this helps


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## RiverPaPaw

I just had very good luck using a 1/4 straight bit in a laminate trim router


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## Hardway

_I use one of these Red Devel scoring tool, I have cut a lot plexie glass and light panels. Use a straight edge and score several times._


_Writer’s information is for discussion purpose only and should be confirmed by an independent source._
_I am not an expert and don’t claim to be, these are just my views and opinions._


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## hammerlane

Many years ago while on summer break, I helped out in a building where my uncle worked. One job they had me replacing the 2x4 diffuser panels for hundreds of light fixtures.

The one maintenance guy at the building made a contraption for easily cutting them. 

I believe he took apart a space heater with a wire filament heating element, and set it up on a table in a way where I would slide the diffuser panel under the wire, turn on power to the element which was stretched, then use the element to melt the panels where they needed to be trimmed.

I know this is a little much for doing 20 panels but the question brought back an idea.


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## fudgeIt

*Blade & a Torch*

My diffuser was way to brittle, my patience way to short, and my tool-set way too small to perform most of the suggestions already posted.

I was able to heat a blade (box cutter) with a small torch (a big torch lighter); making quick work of cutting along a line.
I metal strait edge below the diffuser helps keep the line strait.

You'll have to develop your cut-and-heat technique as you go.
I went between heating the mid-point of the blade, and plunging the blade into the line; cutting an inch with each plunge (every 3 or 4 seconds).

Edges weren't perfect, yet good enough for my purposes.

Cheers.


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## hammerlane

fudgeIt said:


> I was able to heat a blade (box cutter) with a small torch (a big torch lighter); making quick work of cutting along a line.
> I metal strait edge below the diffuser helps keep the line strait.
> 
> .


That will work


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## Scottsdale-DIY

*Finally, an effective way to cut acrylic light panels.*

Examine the edges of the factory-cut panels. They appear to have been melted. Observing this, I went to Amazon and bought a 25-watt, hot-knife (an electric soldering iron with an X-Acto style knife tip). When the knife is hot, I score on the textured side of the panel through the texture but not all the way through the panel. When the score line cools, I snap it as I would with any other scoring tool. The melted edges of the score line keeps cracks from propagating into the panel, unlike the cold scoring methods. The hot knife is cheap and can be used as a soldering iron/wood-burner. PS: I bought the Walnut Hollow Professional Hot Knife sold by SuperMart on Amazon for $15, free shipping. It comes with two X-Acto knife style blades. The Walnut Hollow Creative Hobby Tool comes with a variety of tips for cutting, soldering and wood burning.


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## Dierte

I use an angle grinder with a metal cutting blade to pretty much melt through the lens


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## bobelectric

Table saw.


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## Bob Sanders

I cut this stuff all the time with a table saw. If you have a good sharp fine tooth blade and take your time there are no issues.

No fine tooth available?
reverse the blade


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## Druidia

I tried cutting acrylic sheets once using the scoring method. I failed. My sheet was too long it was hard having to score many times to get a clean snap. 

I then tried a jig saw using a 32tpi blade and slow speed. That was easy. I didn't get any edge melting or cracking. The edge was smooth - much much smoother than the factory edge.


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## MarcusKaparcus

I had a problem with a kitchen fixture that was an 1 3/4 inch to short to fit inside the decorative kitchen fixture. and the standard panels at Lowes or Home Depot or any Hardware store are not long enough,( I could not find any) actual sizes of these standard diffuser panels are 46 1/2 x 22 and not 2 x 4 which they are advertised at. So another option I found is eplastics.com which has larger sizes and they also cut and ship. granted @ $20 to cut 1 to 9 sheets and up for more sheets plus shipping cost will increase the cost dramatically. But this is an option if you don't want to mess with it. But multiple scores and sharp blades and a straight edge are a must


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## Jim Port

Thanks,but the last activity o this was almost 4/years ago.. 

The panels you found are for 2x4 fixtures. There is a frame they fit in.


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## Oso954

> actual sizes of these standard diffuser panels are 46 1/2 x 22 and not 2 x 4


There are two standard sizes sold as 2x4.
The one you grabbed is for what is called a troffer fixture. It’s actually supposed to be 46.438 x 22.189.
The 2nd is used for drop ceilings and non-troffer fixtures. It is 47.75x23.75.

You have to watch what you are grabbing, especially at the big boxes where the two piles often get intermixed. Even most of the employees don’t realize there are two sizes.


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