Insert an acrylic point drill bit into the chuck of the drill and set it to a medium speed.
Drilling holes in acrylic sheets.
Or get the hole pretty close then finish with a drill bit.
The chip should break off immediately.
For example to drill a 1 2 inch hole you can make a pilot hole by beginning with a 1 4 bit drill and then moving to a 1 2 bit drill.
If this is not the case the drill is too slow.
However there are a few things to keep in mind.
Before you embark on drilling the main hole you should consider starting with a pilot hole.
On any hole much larger than 1 8 you can drill a 1 8 pilot hole then route the hole out with a dremel tool.
If your sheet is thick do peck drilling going a little at the time so that you can remove the shavings from your hole and allow the drill time to cool.
This will avoid cracking which may damage the entire sheet.
Acrylic drill bits are available for drill presses.
There are precautions that you must take to ensure that the.
Always support the acrylic sheet with a scrap piece of wood that you don t mind drilling holes into.
Zero flute countersinks work well for the countersinking and deburring of holes in acrylic sheet.
Drilling plexiglas is similar to drilling wood.
When you start the drilling process ensure that the hole is away from the edge of the plexiglass.
Standard metal drill bits will work but without extensive modification the metal drill bit will crack and chip the brittle acrylic sheet.
Place the drill perpendicular to the acrylic sheet and set the drill to medium speed immediately.
Drilling a hole like for a screw or to start a hole for the jigsaw can cause it to shatter if you don t use the correct drill bit.
You can finish the hole directly if you have a routing table.
Press only lightly on the drill the drill must sink itself through the material.
You could drill progressively larger holes but in my experience this can cause chipping around the edges of the hole.
If a countersink is unavailable use a drill of larger diameter than the hole and deburr the rough edge on the exit side of the hole side where the drill came through the sheet.
Drilling holes in acrylic requires the use of a drill bit specially designed for use with plastics.
Failing that you have 2 other options on sheet plexi besides a step bit.
Here you will discover which drill bits are suitable for p.
The pilot hole should be at least 1 2 the diameter of the final hole.
