Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need some acrylic tips. I am building a cage 2 x 2 x 4 feet long with an acrylic front door. I am planning on using a fairly thick sheet I bought at Home cheapo. I want to have a wood track above and below and have the door removable in the same manner you remove glass doors in a track, but have that be the entire door system. No hinges, etc. Just lift it up and out the bottom groove and down and out. So the door can be set aside, just get the thing out of the way. First I need advise on cutting it with a circular saw, do you buy a special blade or just a fine tooth type? Is it better to use a sabre saw? And how flexible is acrylic, at just under a 2 x 4 foot size, I’m planning on having those turning hold down clips on the sides, does that sound necessary, at all, or use one or two each side? Thanks and I’ll be posting some pics when I’m done. Thanks in advance to all the regulars. (I bought a gallon of Dry lock too!)

I need some acrylic tips. I am planning on using a fairly thick sheet I bought at Home cheapo. First I need advise on cutting it with a circular saw, do you buy a special blade or just a fine tooth type? Is it better to use a sabre saw?

The right answer to a lot of your questions is "it depends" because, well, it depends. The actual thickness and quality of the acrylic is important, but also what you plan to do with it once its cut is very important. Inserting a rough cut piece of acrylic into a slotted wooden frame is very different from needing two panels that are properly prepared to be solvent welded together.

I have cut acrylic with a circular saw, table saw and a jig/sabre saw. My least favorite method was the jig saw but I was using a cheap one. There is a very remarkable difference between using a $50 jig saw vs. a $150 one.

My inclination is to recommend the circular saw. I would probably not invest in a special blade because even then you won't get an edge that is ready for solvent welding, if that's what you plan to do.

How do you plan to build this into a cage? Solvent welding?

And how flexible is acrylic, at just under a 2 x 4 foot size, I’m planning on having those turning hold down clips on the sides, does that sound necessary, at all, or use one or two each side?

I don't understand the question. What are you using the thumb tabs for?

(I bought a gallon of Dry lock too!)

What is the drylok for?
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

Sorry my questions were not very easy to understand without a picture or something.

The acrylic is only for the door. The sides, back and top is pegboard, and the floor is plywood. I painted all that with the Dryloc paint. You ain’t kidding about the cement in it, or maybe it’s just coarse sand. It is very rough. I put some stick on tiles on the floor and when I flipped the cage on it’s side, all the tiles fell in a heap. The floor was too rough to stick them. Oh well. I bet the thing is pretty waterproof anyways...

I went ahead and cut my acrylic with a cheap saber saw- before I read your post! I put some blue tape right over the plastic wrap cover and just went for it. It worked just fine.

I finished it today while I was suppose to be working, and I’ll post some pics later.

I always appreciate your contributions to everybody who’s building their own racks and cages.

Okay, now I've got it. I'm glad to hear the acrylic cut well with the Sabre saw. I don't recall the circumstances of when I cut it, just that it was a pain and chipped badly.

Also, I do think it's worth it to try to get a smoother and easier to clean floor put down. Just don't relay on the adhesive back of anything, you'll need a thicker adhesive.
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Current snakes:

0.0.1 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Java locale (green)

1.2 Gonyosoma oxycephala - Jave local (green)

2.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Seleyar locale (all black)

1.2 Gonyosoma janseni - Celebes locale (Black & Tan)

Give the guy at Lowes your measurements and have them cut it, if they screw it up they pay for it not you!! They use a scoring tool, depending on how thick the acrylic is they will either score one or both sides and then break it like sheetrock.