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How to cut plastic panels
How to cut plastic panels? 4 tools to choose from
When sheathing a PVC surface, it is necessary to determine in advance and decide how to cut plastic panels. Currently, as a finish for a bathroom or BAL-KO, this material is almost out of competition and is very, very popular.
Someone can object and recall at least tile, as one of the most traditional finishing materials for bathrooms. Yes, tile is a classic and a tradition. But PVCs are easier and faster to install, much less maintenance is required, since they do not collect soap and precipitation from the water, in case of damage they are easily replaced. In a word, the tile nevertheless gives way to the first positions to plastic panels. And if you need to quickly and efficiently sheathe services, now many choose panels.
First of all, they fell in love with the people for the availability of self-installation. It causes the only difficulty: the standard length of the plank of 3 meters for most apartments is too long. In addition, the height of the ceilings can vary. both due to the errors of the builders, and because of the flight of the designer’s thoughts. So the finishing material needs to be shortened, which means. trimmed.
How to cut plastic panels, invented for a long time. And these methods. both popular and modern technological. are diverse enough to choose: either the one that seems more convenient, or the one for which there is a suitable tool on the shelf. Let’s take a closer look at several of the most popular methods by which this process is carried out. And consider in more detail each of them.
- And absolutely economical can make such a cutter on their own.
- A piece of metal sheet 2 mm thick is taken. The width of the strip is about a centimeter.
- One of the edges is cropped at an angle of 45 degrees.
- The resulting knife is well sharpened.
- The opposite end is wrapped with electrical tape so that it does not press on the hand.
- The cutter is ready, you can start measuring the panels.
The metal tool is more convenient to use, but a hacksaw for wood is also suitable, only with small teeth for transverse sawing. over, the teeth should not be bred so that they shag less than the edge of the cut. The advantage of this method is that with a hacksaw you can cut several panels at once (if the walls are straight and everywhere the same height), stacking them in a pile.
- Planks are placed face up, with a slight slope.
- Work with a hacksaw without strong pressure, so as not to break the parts.
- PVC is a material that is light enough to cut, so no problems in sawing are foreseen.
Electric jigsaw, circular and angle grinder
Significantly speed up the process and give a fairly even cut. Almost indispensable for longitudinal separation. Like a hacksaw, they can process a stack of panels. if only its height does not exceed the length of the working surface of the tool.
There is one “but”: At high speeds, the panel begins to melt, due to which the edge turns wavy, and unpleasantly smelling and toxic substances are released into the air. So the work is carried out exclusively at low speeds.
In addition, it is necessary to accurately dose the efforts, since all three tools are quite heavy and, so to speak, aggressive. Too active use of them leads to damage to the panels. Given these shortcomings, many craftsmen recommend using a conventional, not electric, jigsaw for cutting. It separates the panels a little faster than the hacksaw, the cut is obtained without creases, convenient in longitudinal cutting and safe to use.
There is such a tool in any home! However, its application has its own subtleties.
- An ordinary kitchen knife is most unsuitable for the intended purpose. Even being well ground, it has a blade too wide for cutting plastic. It will turn out, as with Ilf and Petrov: “Saw, Shura, saw.” You can cut one bar, but if there are a lot of them, cutting time will take you more than the installation itself.
- A clerical knife is more suitable: it will not cut the panel to the end, but this is not required. A groove is pressed on the front side, after which the bar breaks easily. The remaining shallow fringe usually does not bother anyone. this edge is still hidden under the curbs and baseboards.
- Ceramic bread knife, oddly enough, proved to be quite good in cutting plastic panels. Due to the wavy cutting edge, it copes with PVC no worse than a hacksaw, while leaving a rather decent, not shaggy cut.
When using any tool, you need to fulfill some requirements. over, it is in your own interests if you seek to do without industrial injuries and unnecessary marriage.
Before cutting the panels, brought from the cold, they must be warmed up. The main mistake of inexperienced finishers: to store the skin on BAL-KOne and to enter as necessary, immediately starting to cut.
Video: How to Cut Plastic Panels At Home
How to cut plastic panels? 4 tools to choose from
PVC in the cold becomes brittle, and the cut is fragmented. Frequent and cracking almost along the entire length of the panel. So after entering the room the planks are left to mature at least night.
Cutting (again, in any way you like) can only be the wrong side down. If you place the panel incorrectly, its profile will collapse and cause installation difficulties. The panels of some manufacturers may have more significant violations: microcracks on the front surface, which also appear not immediately.
If you are cutting a stack of panels that should be the same length, stack them on 2 supports so that they do not sag or move. It is advisable to push the end that is not trimmed into something, at least against the wall. Otherwise, when the tool is exposed, the elements will move and turn out to be different sizes.
And further: when cutting, it is advisable to use safety glasses. Especially when operating a power tool: the likelihood of a fragment flying off into the face zone is quite high. And if scratches on the hands are experienced by people indifferently, then eye injury is much more dangerous. Naturally, the finisher himself has to choose how to cut plastic panels. However, before you prefer one tool to everyone else, you need to know what difficulties you may encounter when using it. We tried to cover them in full.
PVC panels lend themselves well to cutting. But this business has its own subtleties. In the article we will tell how and how to cut plastic (wall) products.
How to cut PVC panels: choosing a tool
Let’s start with the main point. plastic panels can be cut up and down. It depends on what than in a particular case it is better to cut the panel. You can do this with the following tools.
Molar knife
The easiest PVC cutting tool. But an unusual kitchen or shoe, you only need a molar knife.
His blade, while new, is very thin and sharp. And when it is dull, the blade can be replaced at the time. Biting off a piece or inserting a new one. An ordinary knife is inconvenient; it cannot be sharpened quickly. And yet, it will not be so thin.
Molar knife is limited in possibilities. You can only cut the panel along them. Of course, you can try to cut and across. But nothing good can come of it.
How to cut the panels along? This article is difficult to explain. However, the basic principle to describe will succeed.
The blade extends a short distance of 3 mm.
From the back of the panel, select the place where the cut will be made.
Then we cut a strip from edge to edge (we are talking about the inner edges of the panel). A cut is made near the rib, then another cut is made near the adjacent one. We make cuts along the entire length.
A strip of plastic falls out, a groove forms.
Then from the same back side you need to make a shallow incision near the desired rib. And break the body over it.
The molar knife has advantages: speed, noiselessness and simplicity. And its disadvantages are that the panels can be cut only along.
Jigsaw
This tool can be called the main one. Jigsaw is good for everyone has a minimum of flaws. Panels can be cut up and down. You can cut figures with ovals and other broken things.
Jigsaw has a feature. He tears the edge of the panel in places where it remains to cut through quite a bit. At this time, the panels very often burst (especially in the cold).
Therefore, it is worth using a file with a minimal tooth. For ourselves, we chose a Bosch metal blade with a 0.8 mm tooth. This file will protect you as much as possible from a ragged cut.
If the jigsaw operates at high speeds, you can cut with such a file very quickly. This file for metal, from cutting plastic products, it does not blunt.
The main advantage of a jigsaw is its versatility. PVC panels can be cut, both up and down. In any spatial position.
The minus of the jigsaw is the weight, the presence of wire. If the canvas is incorrectly selected, a ragged cut.
There is one secret
When you have to harvest a lot of sticks, frame size. For example, you need to cut off immediately 20-30 pieces.
And in order not to cut one thing each time, but to increase the speed. You can resort to one secret.
You will need clamps (presses) as we have in the photo. Take several at once, usually 5 pieces. Customize so that they do not stick out each other and clamp them with bench presses. Two pieces on each side of the panel.
And calmly cut. In this way, you can cut up to 5 panels at a time. You can cut even more, but the Bosch file does not give such an opportunity.
You will speed up the slicing process five times and make your work easier.
angle grinder (angle grinder)
Not every angle grinder is suitable for cutting panels. It should be small so that you can easily hold it with one hand. A large angle grinder cannot be used.
The thinnest disk of 0.8 mm, 1 mm or a maximum of 1.2 mm is installed in the angle grinder. The disc is used conventional for metal.
an angle grinder gives a strikingly even cut, without nicks and, as they say, among the people "snot".
Angle grinder does not tear plastic. No matter what part of the panel you cut and in what weather. In cold and hot weather. using an angle grinder, you will get an even cut.
Using an angle grinder from a wall panel, literally millimeters can be cut.
The disadvantage is the fact that it is heavier than a jigsaw and especially a knife. But the biggest minus. the angle grinder gives a lot of fine dust. She goes to all places.
Universal cutter
The universal cutter is called differently. He has many manufacturers. When we bought our tool, one of the leading manufacturers was Bosch.
The tool is not cheap. But having bought it, you will not be able to do anything else.
The cutter, unlike all other tools, oscillates.
We mainly use two main types of files: wide. 25mm40mm and narrow 10mm20mm.
Very often during installation, you need to cut the PVC panel in place. Often this can only be done with the Bosch cutter. No other tool can crawl into difficult places.
The torch greatly simplifies the work and speeds it up. You can cut wall products along and across. You can even cut the top or bottom layer of the panel.
Let’s talk about the cons. The price of the tool and consumables rolls over to him. For example, a file for a jigsaw will cost 100 rubles, and a file for a cutter will cost 800 rubles. Nail files quickly become worthless.
Plastic panels have a number of advantages, making them an indispensable material for quick and inexpensive repair of bathrooms, toilets, loggias and garden houses. The panels are impervious to moisture, are low-combustible materials, resistant to mechanical abrasion, have a long service life and are relatively cheap. They can decorate both walls and ceilings.
How to cut PVC panels?
The technology for installing plastic panels is simple and does not require preliminary preparation of surfaces.
One of the essential stages of the installation of plastic panels is their cutting to the required size. The complexity of this stage depends on the condition of the surface being trimmed: if the wall, for example, is straight and even, then you can prepare the entire volume of plastic panels required for it in advance. If the wall has a different height, complex shape or includes architectural elements (windows, doors, ledges, etc.), then you will have to cut the panels in the course of work, which, of course, significantly increases the installation time.
How to cut PVC plastic panels?
It should be noted that plastic panels are quite easy to process, and you can cut them using a wide variety of tools. Most often, hacksaws for metal or wood are used for this with a small size of cloves. The advantage of this method is that they can simultaneously saw several panels. It is necessary to saw the panel face up, at a slope, avoiding strong pressure. If you use a saw on wood, it is better if it is with teeth for transverse or mixed sawing, if possible, not bred. such a saw will leave a smooth cut without scoring. You can also use a jigsaw, but when cutting they need to strictly dose the pressure, otherwise the panels can simply be broken. Some people use “angle grinder” and circular saws to cut panels to speed up the process, however, in our opinion, these methods have several drawbacks: firstly, plastic is quite fragile and lightweight, and careless handling of it can lead to the panel will simply break; secondly, from heating during cutting with a tool with a high rotation speed, the panels heat up and begin to release toxic compounds.
When cutting panels, several rules must be observed. If you brought the panels from the cold, let them “warm up” at room temperature for several hours: the cold plastic becomes brittle. Before cutting plastic panels, mark them to the size you need. It is convenient to do this with a conventional felt-tip pen. it leaves a clearly visible mark on the panel and is easily erased. When cutting panels, safety measures must be observed. It is advisable to wear safety glasses and gloves. Remember that when breaking the panels, sharp fragments form that can cause injury.