Heat transfer & laser cutting plastics and acrylics

[Adam Less]

Does anyone know about or have experience heat transferring graphics (using a sublimation printer with transfer paper and a heat press) to substrates like plastics and acrylics then laser cutting the substrates once the images are applied? I'm new to getting into CO2 lasers and am curious if this is doable and if it is doable on typical laser cuttable substrates.

[Gene Uselman]

It is certainly possible. We print on a wide format printer with registration marks for a separate (cnc) plotter to read- I did several jobs last week that involved engraving on the laser and the drilling and contour cutting on my cnc router. Just a matter of developing a work flow to get the positioning the same on each machine. There are optical registration systems for the laser to do this but fairly expensive and not that hard to do manually after you get your mind around it. I requested samples of a non-pvc print material for this purpose but have not had time to try it yet. Gene