Embossed Not Engraved Plastic

[Jesse Anderson]

So i picked up these double walled acrylic neon plastic cups from the dollar store. I figured i could engrave some nice logo's into them..

When i engraved them i ended up getting a very nice embossed look. The plastic puffed out and looks amazing...

Has any one had similar experience with engraving plastic or acrylic ? Getting a embossed look rather than a engraved look.

I will post pictures if any one is really interested...

The results were out standing... I was very surprised.

[Rodne Gold]

Post some pics

Be careful that these are not made out of PVC.. fumes will harm you and the machine if you do a lot of it.
Mostly we want the laser to vaporise material..bubbling or melting is often not that controllable or desirable..

[Dan Hintz]

Some plastics will bubble rather than ablate, though it's not nearly as common with the CO2 laser as it is with YAG/fiber. Typically this gives a light engraving due to the light interference with the air bubbles, so generally it's used for darker plastics.

[Jesse Anderson]

Not sure if they have PVC in them.. I do know that they have a recycle stamp into the plastic on the bottom. Looked it up and from what i found most likely they do not contain any PVC materials. ? I know that i cannot engrave materials containing Pvc... Is there a way to even tell if the product has PVC in it ?

I have not had time to post pictures... The Month of July and August is my busy time of the year..... Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.. when about a million bikers come through a small town of about 30-40k people... So my store is busy and there is not enough time in the day to keep up with wholesale.

[Jesse Anderson]

I also just looked at the cup's. They say BPA Free...Assuming that it is Polyvinyl chloride free ? You never know though they could have any sort of ingredients when they make those cups... Like having mercury free fish but they have a bit of mercury in them..

[Matt Turner (physics)]

Is there a way to even tell if the product has PVC in it ?

There's the copper-wire test. http://vimeo.com/1615418

[Dan Hintz]

They say BPA Free...Assuming that it is Polyvinyl chloride free ?

BPA-free is not the same as PVC-free. BPA is often used as a coating on packages to prevent food contamination, but it has been severely reduced in use for such things due to recent "BPA scares".

[Jesse Anderson]

Thank you Matt, Dan

Copper Wire Test.. That is awesome... I will make sure to do that....

I I did a search on the internet and the company that i order from trys to stays away from PVC BPA and some other bad stuff they put in plastics based drinking glasses. In addition to the cups having BPA free on them they also say that they can be recycled and has a number on it.

In most places they do not allow PVC to be recycled.

Hmmm..
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I will figure it out either way... I wanted to post a picture of how the plastic looks after it is engraved. Looks amazing.

[Matt Turner (physics)]

If there's a recycling number then you can just look up what plastic it is. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_Recycling_Code

[Jesse Anderson]

This Picture does not do any justice. Took it with my crappy phone.. I can say this... This is one of the only products that i cannot keep in stock.. Casino's, Business's, Clients, Companies and Wholesaler's like the quality of the engraving. I have done probably a 1000 of them... They are always on back order. I can engrave the plastic. But melting it seems to puff it out.. Giving it the embossed look. I adjust the power..
Thick cups and double walled.

Attached a Picture along with this.... Sorry it could not be better. But gives you a general idea.

Id like to point out that this does not cut down on the quality of the graphic in any way... Every thing is crisp and clear.
And for less than a dollar a piece. My Customers Retail them for $8-12.... They take about 3 min each to print... I make roughly $45 dollars an hour printing these. Not a bad margin for wholesale.

[Bruce Dorworth]

That does really look good. Does it only work on these cups from the dollar store? Do you buy them from only the dollar store?

Is the process the same as if you were going to engrave it, or do you use more or less power. A couple of good picture would be a great help.

Thanks for posting,

Bruce