I'm looking for a two layers and two colors single acrylic sheet

[Christian Berrio]

Hi everybody

I want to know if there are any kind of acrylic sheet made for two layers, the internal layer has a color, and the external layer has a different one; this external layer has a specific deep, and when it is engraved, the rastered zone exposes the internal layer, I mean you can see a color contrast, you have two different colors in a single acrylic piece. I am almost sure I saw it in a website but I do not remember the address. If really it exist, please, help me to find this product. Thanks in advance.

[Aaron Koehl]

Hi everybody

I want to know if there are any kind of acrylic sheet made for two layers, the internal layer has a color, and the external layer has a different one; this external layer has a specific deep, and when it is engraved, the rastered zone exposes the internal layer, I mean you can see a color contrast, you have two different colors in a single acrylic piece. I am almost sure I saw it in a website but I do not remember the address. If really it exist, please, help me to find this product. Thanks in advance.
There are similar thick materials, such as ColorCore which can serve this purpose.. I've also seen translucent acrylic painted opaque and then engraved to allow light to shine through. It can also be covered in LaserLights, vinyl, or other similar materials.

[Rodne Gold]

You do get bi and tri coloured perspex , have a look at the degussa "sterling" range - gold/black/ gold/clear silver/clear etc. They work well on lasers.
Other than that , you can just spray paint the cap colour on whatever colour you want the inner core to be and laser thru that.

[Michael Hunter]

I have a sheet of translucent-royal-blue/black (acquired in the stock of a defunct engraving company, so it could be very old). It looks much more like perspex than the Rowmark range of engraving plastics.
The protective sheet says "New Hermes 2-Plex"

[Richard Rumancik]

If I understand correctly Rowmark and IPI would both have something. I was a bit confused when you said "internal layer" as with two layers there is no "internal".

For lasering, you really do not want a thick surface layer, because then you would need to laser away too much material to expose the underlying color. The laser materials are more like a paint than a second layer of plastic, but the effect is the same. The color layer may be only .003" thick or so.

Conventional rotary engraved plastics have a much thicker color layer. Some of them can actually be lasered, but success is variable. Follow the manufacturers recommendations.

Some materials are designed to be "reverse engraved". This means the "front" surface is clear, and it is colored (painted) on the back. Then you laser on the back in reverse. This is usually followed by a color fill on the back. One advantage is a smooth front surface.

http://www.inoplas.com/default.asp
http://www.rowmark.com/

[Mark Winlund]

I have a sheet of translucent-royal-blue/black (acquired in the stock of a defunct engraving company, so it could be very old). It looks much more like perspex than the Rowmark range of engraving plastics.
The protective sheet says "New Hermes 2-Plex"


New Hermes used to sell a lot of acrylics in 2 layer. They even had 1/4" in limited color combinations. The "2-Plex" name was originated by New Hermes in fact. We bought a lot of Black/Clear for control panels. Unfortunately, New Hermes price structure has gotten to the point where their products are double what most suppliers charge.... a good example is the bronze brushed sheet brass... $30 for a 12" x 24" sheet! It is too bad, because they were the originators of some pretty spectacular materials.

Today, the easiest solution is as Rodne suggests... good acrylic paint sprayed on clear acrylic. Easy to color match, and not a lot of material to stock.

Mark

[Christian Berrio]

Hi everybody again
Thanks for your answers, these have been very useful. Thanks to your advices I made a search on google using “Perspex” and “New Hermes 2-Plex” tags and I found these products:
Gravoply 1
Gravoply 2
Gravoply 3
These products are made by “Gravograph”, the internet address is
http://www.gravograph.com/usa/engraving-products/Indoor_Materials.php (http://www.gravograph.com/usa/engraving-products/Indoor_Materials.php)
I found similar products in the internet addresses given by Richard Rumancik.

Thanks a lot everybody, those were the acrylic I was looking for. This forum is amazing, and your answers were so fast and helpful.

[Larry Bratton]

Rowmark, IPI etc. All have laser engravable plastics. You can buy them from several different places, I personally use JDS or Johnson Plastics.
http://www.rowmark.com/laser/Laser_Engravable_Materials.asp
http://www.johnsonplastics.com/