DECORATIVE PANELS & SURFACES 31 Akril Panel Manufacturing Specifications™ CUTTING for the buffing compound. Just touch the tal low stick to the spinning wheel, and then quickly apply the buffing compound. Method: Basic To polish, move the piece back and forth across the buffing 1.MARKING GAUGE – This is mainly used for score snapping wheel. Be careful not to apply too much pressure. Keep the thin materials up to 5mm. When cutting a panel, use a wheel constantly moving to prevent heat build-up. Never begin suitable ruler or straight edge and score the line two or three polishing at the edge of the sheet. The wheel could easily catch times. The groove must be uniform in depth across the panel the top edge and throw the piece across the room or at you. and be approximately 25% of the panels thickness. Position the panel so the groove faces upward and fold or snap the DRILLING & ADHESIVES panel over a suitable piece of wood which fol lows the score Drilling– A dril l press or electrical dril l may be used. A line. This method is only used over short lengths of material. standard metal or wood dril l wil l cut into the Akril panel very (Not recommended for Akril panel if edge is critical.) quickly and may cause damage through cracking or splitting. 2.CIRCULAR SAW – Cutting work using a circular saw may be You wil l need to modify the tooth edge of the dril l bit by achieved using a running saw, sliding bed panel, up-down grinding the tip angle to increase its size (flatten) so that lathe or the like. The circular saw requires a blade with super the material is scraped away rather than cut, a commercial ly hard al loy teeth and no offset. You can obtain a plastic available plastic dril l bit of a blunt dril l bit may by acceptable. cutting blade or any blade with no offset such as those 1.When dril ling Akril panel using a dril l press the revolving used for cutting aluminium would be acceptable. When speed is INCREASED if the hole diameter is smal l (0-4mm) bracing the Akril panel for fabrication ensure you take care to protect the surfaces whilst cutting. 2. I f the hole is large in diameter DECREASE the speed. A hole 3.CNC ROUTER – This is a specialist method of fabrication. saw may be used to further enlarge the opening; make sure It is used for intricate part fabrication, shapes and exact it is a metal type of hole saw with no offset cutting specifications. If you do not have a CNC router 3. You can also use a plunging type router to produce a hole machine you wil l have to seek out an industry professional in Akril panel, employ the same principles as electric dril ling to supply this method. methods Blade requirements – Blade outer diameter 255-305mm, number TIPS FOR DRILLING of teeth 80-100, tooth thickness 3.0-3.5mm, angle of relief 15-20, • Firmly secure material before dril ling hook angle 15-20, angle of sett gbad 2-3, revolution 3000- 5000rpm, feeding speed 3-6mm/min • Be extremely cautious with thinner materials as damage can easily occur, for large holes remember to reduce dril ling Ot rhe methods– Jig saws andband saws are acceptable for speed cutting Akril panels. Use blades suited for plastic or aluminium • To assist in avoiding cracking place a sheet of timber or SURFACE RESTORATION plastic of5-10mm underneath the cutting area and al low the Sanding – Depending on the severity of the scratch, a fine tool to continue into this support surface abrasion or scratch may simply polish out where a If you are having your panel fabricated by CNC Router the machine deep etched scratch wil l require a more involved process: will be able to produce the holes for you as long as you supply the 1.I f necessary, start with 120-220 grit sandpaper, used dry centres and locations. 2.Smooth with a 400 grit wet/dry paper, used wet. Grits as Adhesives – When installing Akril panel ensure the usage of fine as 600 may be used a high quality neutral cure glass and glazing silicone, inferior products may affect the specialised coating if incorrectly used. A 3.Finish with 800 Grit wet and dry used wet, you may want to product such as Fuller HBF660 high performance silicone (Nover go as fine as 1200grit code 520620) would be the ideal adhesive. When installing any 4. To obtain a gloss finish use a polishing compound that can panels to wet areas a parameter silicone seal is required to stop polish plastic, silver or brass; wash off excess residue with any water or moisture affective the specialised coating. warm water 5.Always use a wooden or rubber sanding block. When GENERAL MAINTENANCE removing scratches be sure to sand an area slightly larger CLEANING DO’S than the scratch. Sand with a circular motion, and use a Wash with mild soap detergent, with plenty of warm water light touch and plenty of water with wet/dry papers try not Dry with soft cloth or chamois to over sand. Remember to rinse the sanding residue off between the paper grades Grease, oil or tar can be removed with Hexane or Kerosene Notes on finishing – Final polishing will give Akril panels a high Solvent residue should be removed by washing immediately lustre. Power-driven buffering tools are recommended without CLEANING DO NOT’S exception. Buffing wheels are available as attachments for Avoid window cleaning sprays electric drills. A good buffing wheel for Akril consists of layers of Do not use scouring compounds 5mm carbonised felt, layers of unbleached muslin laid together to form a wheel or woollen wheels. Solidly stitched wheels Do not use steel wool should be avoided. The wheel should reach a surface speed of Avoid using harsh scrubbing brushes at least 400 metres per minute. Speeds of up to 1200 metres of Do not use the following: chloroform, acetone, benzene, minute are useful for Akril panel. tolulene, xylene, dichloromethane, amyl acetate, glacial acetate Akril panel should be polished using a commercial buffing acid, butyl alcohol, butyl acetate, cellusolve, cresols/phenols, compound of the type used for silver or brass, or you can use ethyl acetate, chlorinated solvents, halogenated solvents, a non-silicone car polish that has no cleaning solvents in it. methyl alcohol, sulphuric acid (10%), dilute acids, MEK methyl First, however, tal low should be applied to the wheel as a base ethyl ketone (PVC pipe glue) PANELS & SURFACESDECORATIVE