Hey, I'm going to make a custom amp rack and need to find some plexiglass. Where should I look? What is the best tool to cut it with? Thanks.

 

Home Depot.

For a table saw, use a blade with fine, small, closely spaced teeth, like a plywood blade. Bigger teeth will cause more chipping. Same thing for any other types of saws. To polish the edges, wet sand with a succession of finer sandpaper--like 180->300->600. After it's sanded, you can get the edges really nice and smooth with a lighter (but practice on scrap first).

 

You should check a local glass/plastic shop. They have higher grade plexiglass with paper backing (easier to cut with a table saw). Homedepot will do as well. If you have the budget go for lexan instead. easier to work with and can be protected with waxing.

 

First of all, how thick of Plexi do you need? If it's over 3/8" most glass places won't carry it in stock. Also the thicker it gets, the more expensive... Also if you need large pieces, expect it to be more expensive. There are many ways to cut plexi, but it all depends on the thickness, also after you cut it, you can wet/sand and polish the edges, then lightly flame polish it.. quite a bit easier than just wet sanding and polishing. If you can't find plexi local to you, you could always order it from Select Products. They also carry it in translucent colors, solid colors, and mirror finish.

 

You can get Acrylic/Plexiglas at Home Depot.

Use Weldon 4 (water consistancy) to glue well cut pieces together.
Use Weldon 16 (thicker, like model glue) to glue pieces which don't match up so well.

There's a lot of Acrylic work done in the Marine Aquarium hobby. Try doing a search for Do It Yourself Acrylic Sump or "working with acrylic" and you'll find what you need.

For the thinner stuff you can score and snap. For thicker material use a fine toothed saw blade. Although you SHOULD use a table saw, I actually get away with using a Ryobi 18V Cordless circular saw. It's very light and nice to work with.