PETG film.

[Mitchell Tutty]

Specifically, I'm looking for a plastic to cut for stencils that will leave a polished edge and isn't as prone to melting or leaving an ugly smoked edge that cannot be cleaned with water or alcohol. I've been reading up a little on a plastic called mylar. Which I presume is the trademarked name and the plastic is something else. This isn't so easily or cheaply accessible to me in Australia or through my plastic suppliers. However I can get PETG or PVC film. Are either of these products similar? Or even the same plastic running under a different name. Or will these still give me the results I'm after.

Also, when I say I'm after something that wont leave a melted edge, I'm not cutting anything like 2mm squares or anything ridiculous, just regular signage stencils.

Any help at all would be brilliant!

[vic casware]

Hi there
We use polypropylene from Field International (also in Australia), It's cheap and cuts good in the laser
sometimes for smaller stuff i put Application tape as it does soften a bit when cut.
It's worth a try!

[Dan Hintz]

Mylar is PET (more specifically, BoPET... not to be confused with BoBEEP, a fairytale sheepherder). Do not cut PVC in your machine... you will ruin it in short order as the chloride interacts with the moisture in the air and converts to hydrochloric acid, ensuring your machine begins to rust out within a few days.

[Rodne Gold]

PETG is wonderful material , it bends without marking white marks and is flexible and survives even if flexed a lot , custs clean and fast on the lasers too (we use the same settings as we would do on acrylic) , we cut tons of it for all sorts of applications, It's cheap and we can get it in many thicknesses , we normally use 1mm or 0.75mm.

[Matt Turner (physics)]

Overhead transparencies are a easy-to-find source of Mylar film, but are limited in size.

[Chuck Stone]

Don't know if McMaster Carr ships to Australia or not, but I get 1/32" Mylar sheets
to make stencils for sandblasting. (sandwiched to 1/32" rubber/polyester with double
sided Speed Tape from FastCap) Makes for a great flexible mask, and the rubber sheet
makes the Mylar last longer.

The rubber/polyester is easy to cut, but messy until you get some soapy water on it.
Cleans up well with dish soap. Leaves a nice, clean edge for a mask, but I don't imagine
that super file detail would work well. (4pt text is probably out..)

McMaster Carr isn't a plastics supplier, but then my plastics supplier didn't have either
of these products when I asked. Might be worth looking at their website to see if you
have a similar type of supplier locally, or at least who ships to you.

[Craig Dawes]

G'Day everyone, LEXAN might be worth a shot (1mm upto 12.5mm), I get mine from A&M Glass in Adelaide. You could try plasticwholesale.com.au, suppose to be reasonable on freight.

[Rodne Gold]

Lexan does not laser cut very well , leaves a yellow melty type edge..maybe a different composition in other countries would work tho.

[Craig Dawes]

Lexan does not laser cut very well , leaves a yellow melty type edge..maybe a different composition in other countries would work tho.

G'Day Rodne, yes I had that problem as well, (settings speed 1 mm/s power 98%), so I tried the speed at 3 mm/s and the cut is slightly sticky, but not yellow. The stickiness disappears after a couple of hours.
I would think the composition should be close to the same from most manufacturers.

[Mitchell Tutty]

Yeah I had PETG available to me from a supplier here in Australia already who are terrific. Got the result I wanted on the PETG with reasonable speed but had to give it two passes for the best results, which doesn't bother me with the small jobs that they are for now! Thank you all.