cutting plasticard

[toyboy]

what is the best way to cut plasticard, is it best done by hand or by some form of machine, secondly i want to cut out rectangular shapes and slots in the sheet, what would be the best way to do this, is a dremmel the answer?

[allis8550]

    use a strong craft knife or stanley knife and a steel rule to guide the cut, for thin card you can cut straight through with one or two passes of the knife , for heavier thicknesses I find it best to score along the cut line , then snap the plastic as one would if cutting tiles. To cut out slots or sqare openings I find it best to mark out the opening ,then drill a series of holes just inside the area to be removed , join the drilled holes with knife cuts then either use a knife or a file to enlarge the opening to the requred size. I hope this is of some help.

[PDH]

     use a strong craft knife or stanley knife and a steel rule to guide the cut, for thin card you can cut straight through with one or two passes of the knife , for heavier thicknesses I find it best to score along the cut line , then snap the plastic as one would if cutting tiles. To cut out slots or sqare openings I find it best to mark out the opening ,then drill a series of holes just inside the area to be removed , join the drilled holes with knife cuts then either use a knife or a file to enlarge the opening to the requred size. I hope this is of some help.

I use the same techniques as allis8550.  To score the card I use OLFA P-800 Cutting Knife.  It has a specially designed blade to score the card and you only need to pass the blade across a couple of times to get it snap easily and 99 times out of 100 perfectly.  If there is any issue then you haven't scored it deeply enough.  I believe the knife is available online.  Got mine from EMA for ?8-00.  You can get spare blades as well.

[JC]

Pretty much the same here, make sure you hold the rule down well though as it has a tendancy to drift off the line as you get near the end of the cut if not. 

[FB]

Pretty much the same here, make sure you hold the rule down well though as it has a tendancy to drift off the line as you get near the end of the cut if not. 

yeah and that is a real pain in the a$$

cutting with small knife is the better way, using a saw will leave you with rougher edges. Can you not make a template if its easier?