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I recently decided to cut a piece from an old 1/16th inch thick Arborite sheet I had hanging around in the basement to cover a 14 x 12 inch access hole that the plumber cut into the wall last week when he replaced the entire bathtub faucet-valve-spout assembly. I had forgotten how to cut this material which is very brittle and chips easily.
I tried a mitre handsaw which worked but was too slow and a strain on my recent rotator cuff injury in my right shoulder. I tried my jigsaw in a table I made for it and it chipped the Arborite twice while cutting.
(I know I could have tried using the jigsaw by hand with tape over the cutting line but I didn't.) Then I tried my Dremel rotary tool using the right angle attachment with three different cutting disk types. In the end, this little carbide cutting wheel worked the best. It cut quickly, cleanly and stayed on track. I was pleased and relieved to have found the best way to cut thin Arborite
so I thought I'd pass it along. (On the safety side, I wore my safety glasses which protected my eyes from specks of Arborite kicked onto my face during the cutting.)
I tried a mitre handsaw which worked but was too slow and a strain on my recent rotator cuff injury in my right shoulder. I tried my jigsaw in a table I made for it and it chipped the Arborite twice while cutting. (I know I could have tried using the jigsaw by hand with tape over the cutting line but I didn't.) Then I tried my Dremel rotary tool using the right angle attachment with three different cutting disk types. In the end, this little carbide cutting wheel worked the best. It cut quickly, cleanly and stayed on track. I was pleased and relieved to have found the best way to cut thin Arborite so I thought I'd pass it along. (On the safety side, I wore my safety glasses which protected my eyes from specks of Arborite kicked onto my face during the cutting.)
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