Tools to Cut Polycarbonate

Utility Knives and Construction Snips

• Common thin polycarbonate products include patio roof panels and plastic water bottles. Manual hand tools, particularly utility knives and construction snips, are sufficient to cut through most thin polycarbonate products. Builders use heavy-duty, fixed blade utility knives to directly cut through thin polycarbonate or to cut polycarbonate via a score and snap process. Widely used to cut sheet metal, construction snips easily shear through thin polycarbonate materials.

Portable Circular Saws

• Portable circular saws cut through both thin polycarbonate, such as roofing panels, and thick, sheet-form polycarbonate. Typically powered by an electric motor, standard circular saws are available in both corded and battery-operated models. A portable circular saw's circular blades create only straight cuts. However, because of their portability, circular saws can easily cut across a polycarbonate sheet's length or width at at angle. Notably, carbide-toothed circular saw blades produce a clean, chip-free edge on polycarbonate materials.

Table Saws and Panel Saws

• Stationary and often bolted to floors or walls, table and panel saws create precisely straight cuts through all types of sheet goods, including polycarbonate panels. While a table saw's blade protrudes from a fixed position at the center of a horizontal table, a panel saw's blade slides vertically and horizontally across an upright support surface. While table saws generally create only rip cuts, or cuts across the length of a sheet, panel saws create both rip cuts and cross cuts.

Band Saws

• Like a stationary jig or saber saw, the band saw has a thin, slightly flexible blade. The band saw's narrow blade runs from the surface of a horizontal table to an arm suspended above the table's surface. Although band saws create all types of straight and angled cuts through polycarbonate materials, they are especially useful for creating curved cuts, circles and decorative scrollwork.

Routers

• Like power drills, table routers and portable routers cut through materials with a sharpened, spinning attachment called a bit. However, whereas drill bits primarily cut by penetration, router bits are sharp-sided and cut channels as they move side-to-side through work materials. Applied to polycarbonate sheets, routers can create channels for decorative and joinery purposes or they can smooth and shape sharp edges.