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idleprocess said:
I've machined acrylic with tabletop sanders and bench grinders (probably not a good way to do it, but I was experimenting as much as I was trying to make something useful), and it does, indeed, like to melt when heated.
I have found that quick cuts with a bandsaw using a small blade (1/8", fine teeth) is allright so long as you're not expecting a finished edge.
I've done an OK job polishing edges with a sequence of 300-grit then 600-grit sandpaper followed by quite a bit of time under a bench grinder buffing wheel. It's laborious, and I'm sure there's a better way.
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after that, run it quickly over some 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 3500 grit, and then it will buff up in seconds. If you don't want to spend a little time, try 1000, 2000, 3500
I like to do mine wet. Finer grit sandpapers can be found in the autobody sections of many places, even Wal-Mart.
Also check out
http://www.astraproducts.com/i_arcoat.htm
for a Hard Coat Acrylic with dual sided Anti-Reflection coatings to enhance light transmission, much like UCL.
" Transmission 98% "