Cutting thick perspex/clear plastic with hand tools

Straight edges or curves?

If you only need to cut straight edges you can score with a straightedge & a scoring tool (can be made from an old power hacksaw blade and a bench grinder) and snap on a solid straight bench...excessive waste might be an issue though.

Or use a jigsaw with a fine blade, but pays to drill any sharp corners first.

Finish edges using a belt linisher if you have one.

James

use a fret saw which has a really thin blade, mark k

best basic hand tool is hacksaw or fret saw

I have in the past used a tenon saw (usually used for wood) to cut lengths longer than a few inches (which are better done with a hacksaw or fret saw - but for longer distances the saw frame gets in the way)

the stiff blade of the tenon saw means you can saw the perspex with several inches of blade without the upper support (that is thicker) hitting the perspex, and the blade won't flex, you can cut as far into the sheet as you want using this method.

Saw descriptions:

Other methods include scoring and snapping (i have even used a Stanley knife for this in the past) but in reality an electric jigsaw (with the proper blade) is unbeatable ! With curves in big pieces, the jigsaw is about the only pratical way. Supa cheap etc have these often from under $30

Thanks for the replies. Since it is only straight cuts atm, I used a hacksaw on 24Teeth/inch.