Cutting multi-wall polycarbonate greenhouse panels.
I’m building a 6’x11′ cold-frame and covering it with 8mm, triple wall clear polycarbonate panels. The panels are 6’x10′ and pretty expensive, so I don’t want to mess one up.
Here’s what I found online:
Multi-wall polycarbonate sheet can be cut with a variety of common hand-held and tablemounted equipment. In general, sharp tooling with fine cutting teeth should be used to minimize vibration and chatter. Sheets should be properly supported along the trim line before cutting.
Circular Saws
Use a fine-tooth, hollow ground panel blade with 10-12 teeth per inch.
Saber saws equipped with a fine-tooth blade can also be used, but proper support is recommended.
Here are links to a couple of photos of the cold frame ready for paneling.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27301054@N05/4452065413/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27301054@N05/4455815616/
We’re going to panel the side walls too. Any advice from people who have experience with this stuff would be greatly appreciated.
Replies
I just cut some twinwall polycarb today for a solar collector I'm building- I've always just used my circular saw with whatever blade happens to be on it and never had any problems with damaging the material. If you're worried about it, I suppose a fine tooth blade would be a good idea.
Good luck!
Shawn
I would imagine that temperature might be an issue. Avoid working at temps below 30-40F or so.
And of course as with all plastics, make sure the blade has good set and watch your feed speed, so that friction doesn't melt/burn the plastic. Usually by the time you notice the problem the blade has become hopelessly coated with melted plastic and you need to get a new blade.
Thanks to Shawn and Dan for your input. We start cutting polcarbonate tomorrow and should complete the cold frame by Friday. When its done I’ll post a shot or two, along with comments if they're called for.
If you look at my Flickr photostream the pier job was done for the cold frame guy, who’s on the verge now of leaving for Uzbekistan to complete his back country trek of The Old Silk Road. I’ve been blessed with wonderful, eccentric clients, but I rarely know where my next job is coming from... especially lately.