Acrylic and Paper Cutting Questions - Best Sources

[Robert Bonenfant]

Hello All,

Ive scouring this forums for the past few weeks getting information on laser cutting. I have all the bugs in my machine worked out and cutting well (Thanks to comments users on this forum have left & Past threads) I bought all the colors of acrylic and other materials I could find now i have a few questions

Best way to cut acrylic sheets ?
Should I remove the protective film on both sides ?? Then apply transfer tape ??
I found about 11 colors locally - Any one have a good source for more colors at a good price ?? Im looking for pink
Colors I have : Green, Red, Black, Blue, White, Bronze, Gray, Trans Red, Trans green, Trans yellow, Trans Blue

Paper
Anyone know a good place to get Laser friendly paper ??
I own a large format printer that uses roll paper and Ive tried this but it tends to get burnt and yellowed very easy (Made to be printed on not laser cut I guess)
Anything I can apply to the paper to help it not yellow as much

1/8 Wood
Tried home depot and local lumber yards - Best I can find is nice 1/4 plywood
Any good suppliers ?? Looking for bamboo, Birch, walnut
I found a few places but were talking 40 dollar 12 x 12 boards ( Crazy Pricing )

Any Help would be appreciate

Thanks in Advance
Robert

[David Somers]

Robert,

Rushing right now, but you will help folks answer your questions if you set your signature in the forum to include your laser and its tube size, and include at least a state, or city and state in the location entry of your profile.

Dave

[Robert Bonenfant]

Just added

[Jerome Stanek]

Have you tried hobby shops like Parma hobby

[Robert Bonenfant]

Im looking for more of wholesale suppliers - Parma Hobby and places like Johann Fabric, Pat Catans are great for a Hobbyist level I'm looking more towards making and selling a product. They sell Small 12 x 12 sheets I'm looking for more 4x8 sheets and/or 2x4 sheets (Cheaper Price - If I had to buy 10 sheets at a time I would be willing to ) . Trying to add extra services to my current company.

[David Somers]

Robert,

Apologies for such a brief answer earlier. Was zooming.

Do a search in Google on specialty lumber stores medina,oh. I just did that and saw a number of possibilities. If one has some of what you might want they can likely order the other materials if you ask. And you will not get socked for a special delivery of 4x8 sheet goods to your house. Someplace like Chesapeake Plywood delivers most anywhere east of the Mississippi and I know there are others as well. Delivery is what will get you though unless you can combine your order with that of an already established local lumber shop.

Dave

[Ross Moshinsky]

Acrylic: Three ways I know how to order acrylic.

The first is to contact a sign supplier in your region. The benefit is they deliver often and it's typically low cost. They also typically don't mind doing small orders. The downside is their price is going to be higher than a big distributor.

The second option is dealing with a big plastics distributor. It's a flip of the coin whether they will want to deal with someone ordering a sheet or two. Also delivery is often a bit more expensive because you're not ordering much. You may luck out and find someone within a drivable distance which may make it the best choice.

The third option is to work with an acrylic fabricator. They may give you scrap or let you add on to their order and mark it up a little bit. I've bought small pieces off an acrylic fabricator and it's typically more cost effective and they make a few bucks as well.

Wood: Two real options.

A good lumber yard can help you. You probably want to talk to people who deal with higher end hardwoods. They will either special order or stock what you're looking for. Price is higher, delivery time is normally a little longer (if required), but you can buy small quantities without too much of an issue.

Lumber/Plywood supplier. Same deal as the acrylic guys. They want to sell you more than one sheet. They might sell you a sheet or two but you might get hit with significant delivery charge. Again, someone might be local where you can pickup.

I know very little about cutting paper but I will say this, you're cutting with heat. Expect some burning.

[Harold Shinn]

Robert I have bought from Michael Kowalczyk (http://www.sawmillcreek.org/member.php?u=7880) at friends of the creek. excellent plywood for the price Harold

[Jerome Stanek]

Try APCO Allegheny Plywood on Brookpark road I just picked up some ultralite MDF for my cnc yesterday from them

[Joe Pelonio]

For acrylic, I have many local suppliers that may or may not be in your area. Mainly Tap Plastics, Laird, and Calsak. I may also use Delvie's who will ship at a reasonable cost. If you have a resale license the first 3 will give you a wholesale price with no tax. The nice thing about Tap is the will give me a full-sheet price (4x8) and cut to 12x24 pieces for me free.

For wood, I mostly use Rockler which has a local store, and we also have a local bamboo supplier about 6 miles away. Try to become "friends" with a local custom cabinet maker. I had one as a neighbor to my shop and got free scraps of really good wood from him.

You can find all kinds of paper in an art supply, again we have a big one in Seattle and smaller ones in several other cities. Any city with an Art Institute will usually have one.

[Kev Williams]

As for cutting -- as long as the factory covering is in good condition, there's no need to waste time and money removing it just to put transfer tape on!

Also- if you're going to cut a bazillion small parts and don't want to pull masking off each part, remove the masking and cut without it- BUT set the power much lower and the speed as high as possible without compromising the quality of curves & such. Make 5, 6 or more passes. I have one routine where I cut 1/16" rowmark 9 times with my LS900, but the cut is nearly flawless. With my Triumph I make a 4-pass cut with 1/8" Rowmark, the edges end up clean and not sticky.

When cutting without masking, I've found mineral spirits or denatured alcohol works to clean the surface. Which one works better depends on the mood the engraving Gods are in ;) ... Sometimes I can get away with cleaning after all passes, sometimes not... all depends. But with patience, the time taken to make several cuts will still be much less than the time & stress of picking masking off a buncha little parts...

[Michael Reilly]

Most paper will cut reasonably well but there are exceptions. Any paper with coatings designed to keep ink at the surface seems to result in a tacky surface that collects ash from cutting. Mohawk Superfine is one that works especially poorly. Paper over 100# cover is likely to mark more than lighter weights. Metallic papers like Stardream Metallic, and Curious Metallic work great. You need to go to a paper supplier for a good selection.

You want to get the paper off the grid/slats as much as possible and use no more power than necessary to get a good cut. Little air assist is good, too much is likely to blow ash onto the paper. You can mask difficult papers like Plike or C1S gloss coated sheets. Be careful of masking inkjet papers... I had a large photo print a client brought me to cut and found I was unable to remove the masking tape without tearing it.

[Martin Boekers]

Acrylic - chance are there is a supplier close to you Google acrylic sheets with your zip code. Delvies is good for small orders, cut pieces
they have quite a few colors.

Paper - check scrapbooking places, they usually have a nice selection of papers and card stock.

Wood - Think out of the box search scroll saw wood sheets, some I buy from are Colorado Heirloom, high quality nice selection and will cut to many sizes.
This is another vendor I buy from... http://ocoochhardwoods.com/scroll_saw_lumber.php

There are a few SMC members that sell wood also, search under "friends of the Creek.

[Jerome Stanek]

For acrylic I use Total Plastics in Middleburg Heights

[Kevin Gregerson]

If you are looking for wood. www.laserjumpstart.com I think sells a fair bit of wood material. I usually go to local lumberyard for my stuff.

[Jay Selway]

Bulk paper orders of every kind: https://www.xpedx.com/

Or, depending on the type of work you are doing, you can go direct to the factory. I do a ton of print work in my job as a creative director, and I love French Papers, Crane Lettra is great (it's all cotton, which is puffy and wonderful). These may not be good for laser work though.

You can hit up the guys at public-letterpress.com, they specialize in doing high end letterpress and laser work. That's who I'm going to ask about this sort of thing once I place the order for my laser.