Cuting and Shaping CDs

Does anyone have any experience with cutting and shaping CDs to be
used in the making of jewellery? I’m concerned that heating one or
sawing into it will release dust or fumes that I don’t want to be in
contact with.

Thanks

Does anyone have any experience with cutting and shaping CDs to be
used in the making of jewellery? I'm concerned that heating one or
sawing into it will release dust or fumes that I don't want to be
in contact with. 

As in music CD’s? They are plastic with a thin aluminum plate on the
top or sandwiched in between - either plastic or paper for the top
layer. Heat one hot enough and you likely get toxic fumes from the
plastic. Cut it and you create dust, so wear a particulate mask and
keep it cool, with air or water. Work in a ventilated space.

my suggestion it don’t heat them especially without lots of
ventaltion and a mask, trust me tryed it without and thinking about
it makes my lungs hurt. You can however get interesting effects by
doing this but I don’t know if the risk are worth it. The other
thing is different cd’s behave differently when cut. When they get
older some of them get really fraglie and brittle, and the coating
flakes off.

Zoe Hardisty

I think there are actually two types of CDs. one is acetate, and
fairly soft and pliable. there is also a polycarbonate type. the
polycarb cds if you are not kind of gentle with will shatter. the
acetate gilve a little before they break. I cut them with my saw
using fairly slow even strokes. it has to be well supported or it
will break. I cut them up to make measuring things, like a length
jig to cut earring posts, 1/2, 7/16 inch, 10 mm, whatever. sometimes
i need to measure the same thing out lots of times, so I colour code
them and inscribe the width. I also have a GRS multi purpose vise
that I put a cd in as a plastic bearing because the action was
sticky, and anything i tried as a lubricant made it worse. I never
thought to use them in jewelry, but I form a lot of plastic for other
purposes. if you have a porch and an old toaster oven you can form it
pretty easily by starting the temp out low and moving it up a little
at a time. I made my son a replacement helmet for one of his toys so
it was still “chrome” after several tries. At one point I had about
30-40 AOL cds (somehow they appeared in my mailbox. all the same,
within about a month) that were all the acetate ones. they burn
easily, but are easier to form. the polycarb ones don’t burn or
scorch as easy, but won’t bend as much before they lose integrity.

Hi Sharon,

Not sure if this will help, but I remembered having seen someone
working with CD’s on HGTV once. I did a little search and found a few
episodes of the Carol Duvall Show where they made projects with CD’s.
Looks like they did their heating with a heat gun, hairdryer or let
it sit in this warm embossing solution till it was soft enough to
cut. Once warm, they cut with scissors. If you go to www.HGTV.com you
can pull up the Carol Duvall episodes: episode CDS-1325 Faux Dichroic
Glass, CDS-1139 CD Pins, CDS-1303 Mizuhiki Pins. The website gives a
condensed version of the project. Better of course if you can view
the actual episode. Some of the guests also have links to their
websites at the bottom of the episode page. You may be able to find
more info by following a link.

I think CD’s are a great recyclable material that you could make some
great mixed media work from. Might just take some research and
experimentation to find the safest and easiest way to maniplulate the
material. I don’t have a heat gun myself, but I understand that their
are a variety of heat guns available and some get much hotter than
others. The heated embossing liquid looked really interesting, but
may only be worth investing in if you want to do embossing as well.

Hope this helps
Carrie Nunes

the acetate ones. they burn easily, but are easier to form. the
polycarb ones don't burn or scorch as easy, but won't bend as much
before they lose integrity. 

I never cease to be amazed by what expertise shows up on this forum!

Noel