Acrylic edges...

[Linda Kroeker]

Having trouble with the edges of some letters 1/2" I'm trying to vector cut...
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I tried 2 different settings and didn't get any good results on either try...
Settings were - 25s 100p 500f got lots of ridges and not a smooth or clean cut so I tried 15s 100p 500f no better!
Material was extruded 1/8" thick and also did 2 passes on each...Help please, these are tests I'm doing for a new customer.

[Dee Gallo]

Hi Linda,

I'm no expert, and I'm sure you'll get answers from those who know this topic very well... but! I always cut acrylic at 5000 frequency. Seems to make a smoother edge.

Hope this helps a little, dee

[Linda Kroeker]

Hi Dee,
I'm sorry I did use 5000f not 500f on the 15s 100p and it didn't make any differance on the edge...

[David Fairfield]

You might improve it somewhat by tweaking your settings, but you just may have to live with ridges. They look OK to me. At the small scale you're working with these letters, effects like rippled edges are just going to appear magnified, relative to the whole. Also the complex outline and sharp corners adds a level of complication in plexi. Some letters will probably stick a little and need to be coaxed out of the sheet.

Dave

[Linda Kroeker]

I searched a few posts and found that with my 45w helix I should try
6-8s 100p 5000f so I tried it and got a much better smooth edge...Thank you Frank I think it was one of your old posts...
My issue now seems to be that the font my customer wants is an old english...
and with such a small size 1/2" tall they seem to be cracking and breaking apart when I try to pop them through...

[John Noell]

In my experience, they should drop right out - no push required, if they are really cut all the way thru. You may need a 2nd pass (at a lighter power). That said, I am not willing to do Old English in cut out letters of any material. Too many hair lines!

[Doug Griffith]

I searched a few posts and found that with my 45w helix I should try
6-8s 100p 5000f so I tried it and got a much better smooth edge...Thank you Frank I think it was one of your old posts...
My issue now seems to be that the font my customer wants is an old english...
and with such a small size 1/2" tall they seem to be cracking and breaking apart when I try to pop them through...

That speed/power/frequency is a good starting point. It's close to what I use on my 45 watt mini to cut that thickness. I use somewhere around 15/100/5000 depending on the idiosyncrasies of the sheet (ie manufacturer, color, manufcture method). For thin serifs, I would outline the typeface and then expand by 1/2 the thickness of the kerf plus a little. Try around .006".

[Rodne Gold]

you cannot use 2 pass with any measure of success on small lettering , it needs a single pass piercing cut with air assist ejecting the melt from back of the cut.

[Linda Kroeker]

Sorry Doug you lost me at outline...I'm not sure what you ment...can you explain? Thank you,

[Doug Griffith]

Sorry Doug you lost me at outline...I'm not sure what you ment...can you explain? Thank you,

I'm sorry, I speak in Illustrator. Not sure about Corel terminology but you want to convert the text to vector and then offset outwards 1/2 the thickness of the diameter of the beam. Otherwise the serifs will become too thin and burn away. I'm sure any of the Corel pros on SMC can enlighten on how to do it in CorelDraw.

[Rodne Gold]

You use the "contour" tool in corel.(under "effects")
There are shapes that will not contour (offset) properly , for example the top of a heart with a deep cleft between the "butt cheeks" will not contour properly to the inside of the heart. You can give a very small fillet to the cleft and it will work ok

[Linda Kroeker]

Those darn "butt cheeks"...thank you Rodne I will try that.

[Andrea Weissenseel]

using the contour tool is what I do when I cut delicate letters. I also check, eliminate and smooth nodes - especially on small lettering the less nodes you have, the faster the cutting and edges are a lot smoother. But I also have the problem that they are not coming out that easy as if you just cut a small circle, it's probably rather a problem of the form than settings.