About that acrylic sheet - July 26, 2020

I wanted to get the acrylic sheet installed on the porch this morning so I could be done with it and move on to the next thing (whatever that was).

The sheet needed about 4" cut off one end.  We have this nifty table that folds flat but opens out to a small workbench.  I dragged it out and set it up in the yard, rounded up some clamps, and clamped the acrylic sheet to the table to hold it while I cut it.

I'd watched some videos - different techniques and tools.  The acrylic could be scored on both sides with a utility knife and snapped off.  Tried it.  Didn't work.  It could also be cut with a jig saw..  Tried it.  Splintered the shit out of the acrylic.  How about a table saw?  I set one up on the workbench.  It splintered the sheet even worse, and a dinner-plate-sized chunk fell out.

We (for by this time, The Husband had come out to help) managed to splinter off enough length to enable the screen door to open, and said EFF IT and screwed the damned thing to the porch, jagged edge and all.  I duct-taped the chunk back in (which kind of ruins the whole point of the CLEAR acrylic that was not supposed to show).

It will keep the rain out (until the tape gives and the chunk falls out), but I'm afraid it will slice up the grandchildren.  There's a glass company in town that can probably sell me the exact size I need, all neatly edged.  I should have gone that route in the first place.  I will be calling them this week.

By the time we finished, I was dripping wet with sweat and thoroughly pissed off.  Everything else fell off my to-do list, and I sat down on the back porch and practiced my mandolin for a while.

Nanny called us down for an early supper.  She served up some of the purple hull peas that I picked yesterday.  After we ate, I pulled up a few weeds in the garden and made a mental list of things I need to do out there tomorrow afternoon. 

But I'm hearing thunder this evening (though the sun is shining), so . . . .