Overview
Acrylic is a type of plastic that can be easily cut and formed to be used in many applications.
Safety
ALWAYS keep a close eye on the machine when cutting acrylic due to its flammability
Types
There are two main types of acrylic sheet:
Extruded
Created by extruding molten acrylic pellets through a machine
- Pros
- Cheaper
- Better tolerances
- Easier to bend and form
- Easier to flame polish edge
- Cons
- Easy to crack
- Engraving produces grey frost
- Lower optical clarity when compared to cast (still very high)
- Less scratch resistant
Cast
Created by pouring molten acrylic pellets into a mold
- Pros
- Produces better results when engraving (white frost)
- Comes in many colors
- Machines better
- Higher optical clarity
- More scratch resistant
- Cons
- Expensive (your kid might not be going to college)
Cutting/Engraving
- Table for common settings
| SUBSTRATE | 250 DPI RASTER ENGRAVING SPEED/POWER |
400 DPI RASTER ENGRAVING SPEED/POWER |
500 DPI RASTER ENGRAVING SPEED/POWER |
VECTOR CUTTING SPEED/POWER/FREQUENCY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acrylic | 100/100 | 100/80 | 100/60 | ⅛ (3 mm) – 15/100/5000 |
| ¼ (6.4 mm) – 5/100/5000 | ||||
| (multiple passes may allow cutting of thicker materials) |
Tips
- If engraving, try to use cast acrylic as it will produce better results
- 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.