Acrylic (or other material)

[David Dustin]

Hey guys (and gals) it's been a while...

I have a client that needs some parts cut out of Acrylic (he is not specifying Acrylic).

The parts will have a pattern engraved into them then the shape cut out.
He wants the material to be black with the pattern in white.
He is agreeable to the base material being White with a black laminate that gets lased to produce the pattern.

Here is my problem:
Some acrylics are very brittle. These parts need to be able to withstand the shock of being dropped without breaking (extruded acrylic would shatter if dropped).
Are there some better materials out there that can withstand being dropped?

We made some test parts out of
LZ901M2P08 (Johnson Plastics)
IPI LASERABLE MATTE
BLACK/WHITE 2 PLY 1/8 (we need to make them out of 1/4")

The material is something called "Microsurfaced Impact Acrylic".
The material feels very flexible and resiliant.
Is this type of material less prone to shattering?


Thanks in advance for any help.

David

[Joe Pelonio]

That IPI can be laminated together to double the thickness.

You could use 1/4" Black ABS and color fill, but it's hard to get paint to stick to it. It will engrave but stays black, not even grayish like black acrylic.

[Scott Shepherd]

I don't think you could shatter Rowmark or IPI if you dropped it off the Empire State Building. The term that you mentioned is the name that Rowmark use for almost all of their products. It's a modified acrylic that is flexible to some degree. Far more than acrylic. I have a client that we cut some objects for that have holes that get things pressed into them. The acrylic would shatter or crack, where as the IPI and Rowmark materials do just fine. We've made 10,000's of them and never heard of any of them cracking or breaking. Not a single one.

I think you're good with that, from what you described.

[David Dustin]

Thanks guys!

David

Edit
Does anyone know if IPI makes this material in 1/4"?
I cant seem to find it if they do...

[Scott Shepherd]

I doubt it.