ALTERNATIVE CANOPIES

Tips on Cutting, Drilling, & Cleaning Canopies

CUTTING

Our advice is to put a strip of tape over the intended cut area so you can easily mark it.  Sometimes, just a strip of tape alone may be draped across the intended cut line to use as a guide.  Masking tape works great and is relatively easy to get off after the cut is made.

Mark your cut lines with a water-soluble marker and a flexible straight edge for precision.  Stray marks with this marker can be easily wiped off if you get it on the plastic.

Be sure to support all of the bottom edges on the canopy when cutting.  Make sure the plastic is not bent or under any kind of stress while cutting.

Now you are ready for the nail biting task of doing the actual cut.  Don’t worry if you follow this advice.  It is recommended that you do the actual cutting in a temperature of higher than 75°F.  80°F works GREAT!  If the canopy has set outside or in an area that is a bit lower in temperature, please allow a long enough time for the canopy to warm up to cutting temperature before you attempt to do the cutting.

Use an abrasive cutoff wheel.  A wheel made to cut steel works great.  Make sure the wheel is balanced.  Most zip cut or die grinder tools cannot be adjusted low enough speed.  Our advice is to put this wheel in a pneumatically operated drill, . . and turn down the air pressure so the drill speed is slow.  About 25 to 30PSI seems to work great for our air drills.  The key is not to stress the plastic.  Keep the cut COOL!  Don't use a jigsaw or any tool that isn't smooth.

Our advice is when making the actual cut, don’t do it all at once.  There is no sin in doing it 3 to 6 times before the cut line finally breaks through the plastic.  Remember, keep the tool speed low, and keep the cut cool.  Take your time.  Heat will stress the plastic.  Keep the cut wheel perpendicular to the canopy surface.  When you cut, you want a smooth cut.

When the cut breaks through, separate the two halves.  To keep the cut line free of stress, it must be polished smooth.  Use a wet sanding method and wet/dry sandpaper.  Start with #220 grit and work your way down to #400 grit.  This should be sufficient to eliminate most of the stress in the cut area.  Again, keep it cool when you sand.  This is why we suggest wet sanding the area.   When you are done, you should have all smooth surfaces.

DRILLING

Our recommendation is to use approved plastic drill bits.  You may purchase these from most tool shop suppliers.  These bits have a zero rake on the drill bit point.  Some people make their own zero rake bits and have success drilling canopies, . . . but we do not recommend that you do this unless you are experienced at this.  A canopy crack while drilling can ruin your day! 

Even if you purchase drill bits, test your drill bits on a scrap piece of plastic before you use it on your canopy.  See if the bit grabs as it exits the hole.  If it does of course don't use it.  Don't press hard while drilling either.

If you have to drill rather large holes, we also recommend that you start with the smaller drill bits and enlarge the hole using successively larger bits.  This may be added work, but it won’t ruin your day.

CLEANING

Use products that are made for cleaning plastic.  We use Novus products.  They aren’t expensive.  Don't use household and glass cleaners.  Some of them contain chemicals that attack the plastics.  If there is a lot of dust or debris on the canopy, spraying compressed air on it works good to get most of it off.   Using a cloth to wipe off the dust may just grind it into your nice canopy.  Keep in mind, dust is an abrasive!