Got hold of some polypropythene sheet and going to make up my own rod drier using a 220 motor and chuck.
Just need some advice from you equipment builders out there, I'm using #6 X 1½" self tapping type screws to fit the jig together, should I drill a pilot hole or just screw on into the material?
I presume I can saw and drill the material the same as I would for timber, is that correct?
Cheers,
Phil.

Sort of. Some plastics get hot and tend to "weld" themselves together behind the point of cut. Test and see. I coarse blade might be quicker and would therefore generate less heat.

I would drill pilot holes. It's very tough stuff and while not prone to split, you might have an easier time if you had pilot holes in place.

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I would definetly drill pilot holes even with self tapers. A coarser blade would generate less heat, but give a coarser cut and great chance of chip out. I would use a 60tooth combo on a table saw and a 80 on a chop/mitre saw. Just feed the material into the blade only as fast as it easily cutting it. Too slow-melting because too long a contact in one are too fast and the it bogs down and melting occurs again for the same reason.

Phillip.
A good idea when working with any type of plastic or fiberglass is to use a sharp counter sink bit to start the holes. Drill the hole deep enough so that the top edge of the hole will be a bit larger than the final hole size.
This will insure that you get no splitting or cracking on the hole when you drill the actual hole.

Take care
Roger

Use cutting coolant or water (spray at the object) to avoid plastic melt-down while cutting.

Hope this help..

Thanks Guys,
As always, superb replies.
Phil.

Hi Phil.
Use low speeds when drilling and use a block to drill into if the holes are going right through the material. Parafin is a good lube for this. For cutting use a fine toothed blade with lube.

need to cut your material with a hollow ground blade weather you use a jig saw or a table saw