cutting acrylic

[Xiun]

Ok, heres a question, I know that you can score then break, use a table saw or dremel, or use a heated knife to cut acrylic, but how would you cut a precise enough sqaure, say for a cd drive to go through, in acrylic? a table saw isnt precise enough and a dremel... well, my cuts arent strait with a dremel. So, any suggestion? Also, unrelated, whats the advantage to having a PSU in the rear top of a case. Seems to me I have a ton of room up front, since i dont have 20 harddrives or floopys. Is there something that makes it more practical to put it in the back? besides plugging it in, of course.

[mattg2k4]

In back the PSU is exhausting into the air instead of adding heat to the air inside the case.

So you want a square cut out of a bigger piece of acrylic, right? I would use a hacksaw.

[Propain]

I used a jigsaw, if it still has its protective film then its a bonus to protect against scratching. If no film on the just use paper or something to protect the surface. to start your cut just drill a hole first with a wood bit.

[Redfallon]

anyone know if a 3in hole saw would work for adding another fan into say, a side acrylic window? would it give a smooth enough cut?

[PMich]

Xiun - A jigsaw will probably work the best. I'm going to speculate that a metal cutting blade would be better than a wood cutting blade for this.

Redfallon = Acrylic is sandable (and polishable to an extent). Use the finest tooth holesaw you can find and then finish with a find sandpaper or emory cloth and then buff with a polishing wheel on a rotary tool.

For cutting acrylic in general. Mask off the line to be cut to minimize the amount of chipping that may occur. If you go slow enough the blade is acting more like a hot knife through butter than a saw. It will stink as it melts but leaves a smoother cut IMHO. Just clean off the back side and you are good to go.

[TechSupport420]

I used a 3" holesaw to cut a fan hole in my acrylic mod works great but go slow it cracks easy when using drills.