The basic tools: solvent, a solvent applicator, scoring knife, ruler, and sand paper.

If you have some handyman skills and want to be able to build things with acrylic, you will need:

• Find a plastics company in your area. They sell a product called DP-1 (It may go by other names), available by the pint or quart. It is a clear solvent that when applied to acrylic melds (softens and binds) surfaces together.
• At the plastic's shop get a solvent applicator (little bottle with a long hypodermic like tube coming out).
• Acrylic can be found at builder supply places like Home Depot usually in the window area, available as clear in varying thickness (1/16", 1/8," 1/4"). Colored and other thickness are available at the plastics shop.
• A scoring knife (blade hooks back) at the builder supply store or plastics shop.
• Sand paper, 80 to 200 grit.
• Optionally a router and router table.

Acrylic is used in numerous products. While extremely thin and textured, fluorescent light diffusers (lighting section of builder supply store) can be cut, shaped, and melded the same as flat acrylic sheets are. The clear hard plastic food containers found in the kitchen area of stores can be used as part of a project (if you are building a box - five sides are already done!). Some toys, flashlights, storage containers, and office organizers are often made with materials compatible with the solvent, and can be used as is or modified for projects.

The plastics company you find should also have or at least know where you can get things like acrylic hinges, latches, tubing, and other components built completely in acrylic

1) Scoring a cut line. Make several passes.	2) After scoring, place the score mark over an edge.
3) Press evenly bending and eventually breaking the acrylic along the score mark.	For long scores, use something to help apply even pressure along the score mark. (I used a two foot piece of 2x4 here)

The acrylic sheets can be cut with a saw, router, and knife. I use a knife usually. Using a steel ruler or other straight edge to guide the knife, and make several passes across the plastic surface scoring the surface (1). Align the score mark over the edge of a table and press down (2-3) - the acrylic should snap directly at the score mark. For thick materials (1/4"+), one deep score mark on the top should be all that is needed.

You can also cut the acrylic with a saw or router bit. If sawing or routing, heat buildup is the biggest problem - make slow cuts. A saw blade also is bad about chipping. A router with an straight 'spiral' bit works best, but the heat still causes problems for full cuts. The spiral bit removes the shavings from the cutting area, otherwise, the shavings start melting on the router bit and edges of the acrylic. The score method simply is best, but doesn't work well for narrow pieces, or for cuts that are not straight. In those cases I often cut the piece extra wide (1/4" from where a really want to cut) using a saw or scoring. Then using a router and router table, remove 1/16" to 1/8" per pass until I reach the final cut line.

	The edge needs to be smooth and square. This is where a router and table work best - to clean the edge. Good results still can be achieved with a block and sand paper (4) - just be sure not a round the edge! When you have two parts ready to be 'glued' together. Physically attach the two parts together, keep your hands away for the joint area. Using the solvent applicator drip a few drops of DP-1 on the joint (5). The solvent will run down the joint making the joint transparent. You need to use only a few drops - the bottle of solvent above I have had for 5 years! Store it in the freezer - the solvent at room temperature will evaporate quickly otherwise. Wait a few seconds (15-30 seconds) and the parts should be able to stand on their own. If your edge was really smooth and square, you are left with a clear joint that is as strong as the plastic once the solvent have fully evaporated. You are not limited to the clear flat sheets of acrylic Most plastics will 'meld' using the solvent. In this project I needed the bottom to hold a filter pad and let water pass through, so I used a piece of eggcrate (found in the builder supply store in the lighting area). This project also had to slide around some drain pipes. I removed semicircle shaped sections from what would be the back piece to do this.
4) Sand the edges square and smooth. Keep the edge square by placing the piece on a 2x4 as shown above, and running the sanding block against the 2x4.
5) A few drops flow down the joint. Hold the joint still for 15-20 seconds.
Many types of plastic can be 'meld' . The bottom of this project uses eggcrate - sold as a office light diffuser.	Sand it, file it, route it, drill it, acrylic is extremely easy to work with. Here I remove a little material at a time with a file bit mounted in a drill press.
The finished project - a filter tray for my saltwater aquarium.