Laser Cutting Acrylic

Overview

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Acrylic is a type of plastic that can be easily cut and formed to be used in many applications.

Safety

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ALWAYS keep a close eye on the machine when cutting acrylic due to its flammability.

Two Main Types of Acrylic Sheet

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Extruded Acrylic

Created by extruding molten acrylic pellets through a machine.

• Pros of Extruded Acrylic
  • Cheaper than cast acrylic
  • Better tolerances
  • Easier to bend and form
  • Easier to flame polish edge
• Cons of Extruded Acrylic
  • Easy to crack
  • Engraving produces grey frost
  • Lower optical clarity when compared to cast (still very high)
  • Less scratch resistant

Cast Acrylic

Created by pouring molten acrylic pellets into a mold.

• Pros of Cast Acrylic
  • Produces better results when engraving (white frost)
  • Comes in many colors
  • Machines better than extruded acrylic
  • Higher optical clarity
  • More scratch resistant
• Cons of Cast Acrylic
  • Expensive

Engraving / Cutting

	Raster Engraving			Vector Cutting
Substrate	250 DPI Speed / Power	400 DPI Speed / Power	500 DPI Speed / Power	Speed / Power / Frequency
⅛ (3 mm) Acrylic	100 / 100	100 / 80	100 / 60	15 / 100 / 5000
¼ (6.4 mm) Acrylic	100 / 100	100 / 80	100 / 60	5 / 100 / 5000

Tips

• Multiple passes may allow cutting of thicker materials.
• When vector cutting, use masking tape on the backside of the piece to protect against flair up scorch marks as the laser hits the cutting grid.

Additional Help

Links to related PPM Wiki pages:

  Laser — Epilog Zing   - make a reservation

  Laser — BOSS   - make a reservation

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