Cutting styrene

I finally started work on the platforms tonight. I decided on a width of 2" for the platforms, which works out perfectly to four strips per plastic sheet. I only wish they sold sheets in longer dimensions. They come in 21" lengths so I'll have to glue multiple strips together to get it long enough to span the table.

The first task was to pencil in the desired lines where I would cut the sheet. A fine pencil lead is preferred to achieve better precision since I would have to piece them together to form longer platforms. I want to minimize the amount of sanding at the edges, which will be required to ensure a consistent width between strips when they're glued together.

To cut the sheet, I first put the sheet on top of a cutting mat to prevent damage to the underlying work table. With the mat aligned to the edge of the table, I did the same with the plastic sheet. Then I took my straight edge and placed it on top of the plastic sheet with its straight edge aligned with one of the pencil lines. I clamped everything down so the straight edge wouldn't move around while I cut the sheet with the exacto knife. A heavy duty exacto knife is better suited for this. On the first strip, I ran the knife many times until it cut through the plastic sheet. However, it is better to score the plastic and then snap the plastic strips apart to get a cleaner edge. Since the sheet was 1.5" thick, I found scoring it halfway seemed to work best.