Beveling Plastic with the Laser - Can it be done?

[Scott Balboa]

The beveler I have access to can't bevel anything clean - and trust me, I've played with the adjustments too many times to remember, and it never leaves a nice beveled edge! Before I throw this thing through a window I'm going to take a breath and ask this question...

Has anyone here successfully beveled plastic with the laser? I'm not looking to tilt the plate and try to laser it at an angle, but more along the lines (no pun intended) of creating 2-4 lines, at different power/speed, around the plate concentrically to create a beveled look? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Dan Hintz]

Yep, been done before with success...

[Randy Digby]

Scott, I'll tell you what I do and I got the idea from this forum. I don't actually bevel the edges but it looks like I do. I outline the plate with a rastered line that is .020 wide. I then cut the plate on the outer edges of that line. The .020 engraved area around the edge of the plate looks almost the same as if the plate was beveled.

[Scott Balboa]

Randy,

Your method is pretty much what I was imagining. I had work running on our laser so couldn't test it out myself. Thanks for the info and the specifics! You too Dan :D

[Scott Challoner]

I find it faster to use the contour tool to make 3 or 4 hairlines inside the cut line. Typically I make the offset .007". It's a lot faster than rastering. See the cdr.

137680

[Rodne Gold]

If your beveller cant cut clean , look at the bits you are using , the most common cause of burring etc is that the bit has too little back clearance , IE is not being able to remove the swarf properly and is rubbing it and causing it to melt back.

[Joe Hayes]

Scott - what type of beveler do you have? It maybe just an issue with a dull bit or out of adjustment. We use our bevelers all the time so that we can keep the laser doing what it does best. We have two different models of bevelers both have replaceable bits.

[David Fairfield]

Agree on giving the beveler another look. I spent a lot of R&D time developing a way to make bevel cuts in the laser. It works but I think I fell into the "laser mentality" trap by focusing on using the laser to do something another tool can do better. Ultimately I got a new beveler and bits because its more efficient to do it that way. But let us know what works best for you. Maybe the laser is better for some bevel or simulated bevel applications.

Dave

[Jeff Belany]

I am just going to start lasering plastics and beveling edges is something I've been thinking about. Would anyone like to recommend a method or tool that works well for them? I was thinking of setting up a router table with a chamfer bit (that's the woodworker in me talking) but I assume there are other/better ways to do it. I'll do a search through the site to see what I can find.

I have been lasering on wood for over 10 years but all these new materials are amazing. Just did my first granite this week and it came out great.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[Brian Robison]

Again, found here. I use a 4pt. line and a hair line exactly over each other. Raster the 4.0pt. line, cut the hairline. Pretty darn close to beveled look.

[Scott Balboa]

Scott - Thanks for the file/idea!

Trust me, I am NOT leaning to the "my laser can do everything for me!" mentality. The reason I even breached the subject is cause my beveler just sucks!

Here is the beveler I have to work with...

http://www.delviesplastics.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=DPI&Category_Code=Scott_Beveler

I have played with the depth and angle of the bevel (both are adjustable) and it just doesn't bevel cleanly consistently. It leaves a "wavy" edge that sticks out like a sore thumb to me. We have to notice the small details in our line of work so I guess we all posess "eagle-vision" of sorts, but if I can see it so can the customer. I've beveled thousands of plastic plates with an old New Hermes at my last job and it always did a flawless job. Anyone have this beveler and HAPPY with it? Personally I think it was too much $ for what we got, and I fantasize about putting a few .45 rounds through it in the woods!

[Tony Lenkic]

Scott,
If that is the price you paid for Scott beveler ($407.00) I would have spent another 300.00 and purchased the top of the line one from Fred at Q1 Engravers. I think that Johnson plastics are reps of Q1 as well. The model is Q1B.

[Scott Balboa]

I'm not sure what we paid, as I'm not the business owner who bought it. You'd think dropping $400+ would get you something decent...

Well apparently Johnson Plastics website is under construction cause none of their links are working at the moment. Gotta love technology!

[Tracey Bakewell]

This is a way old thread, but if you're listing... Scott, I like this method better too.. what were your settings for each of those hairlines? Did you have a different power/speed for each one? Right now, mine will just be vector "cutting" all the way through. I will obviously play with it until I get a nice look, but that's gonna take me a bit of time.


I find it faster to use the contour tool to make 3 or 4 hairlines inside the cut line. Typically I make the offset .007". It's a lot faster than rastering. See the cdr.

137680

[Dale Rajchel]

Jeff, Try some black marble from LaserSketch. I just did a 18 x 24 memorial with a photo. Looks great.