How to drill an acrylic sheet?

Drilling an acrylic sheet is relatively easy and safe. The only thing you should be careful about is that these sheets can be scratched easily. This is why we greatly recommend taking precautions and keeping the protective paper and film stay on the sheet while drilling.

Let’s discover the essential tools for this to work smoothly before you jump into actual work.

• Safety Goggles: You must wear safety goggles before drilling. When the drilling starts, the small swarfs or chips can fly off and cause terrible damage to your eyes.
• Drilling machine with good quality high-speed steel bit.

- Place a piece of wood or sheet beneath the acrylic to prevent chipping or damage the below surface. And make sure to use clamps or other tool to keep the sheet steady and avoid any troubles.

- Mark the drilling position. Make sure the distance between the hole and edge is at least twice the thickness of the drill. This will avoid any chipping or cracking while drilling a hole near the edges.

- Start drilling with light pressure and medium speed. Before that, you might want to try and test the speed on broken sheets to be sure. Applying heavy pressure or high speed suddenly can damage the sheet.

- If you’re working with a sheet thicker than 5mm, use water as a lubricant to avoid melting. Pull up the drill when necessary and clean the hole.

- Keep a steady and slow pace until the drill bit is gone correctly through the whole sheet.