Questions - engraving and cutting acrylic

[Don Gares]

I had never had any reason to cut or engrave acrylic but a hardware store that is next to another business that we own gave me a bunch of the stuff to play with and I did, without much success. They use it in storm doors and windows so maybe it is not even the correct stuff to be lasering. It is called OPTIX by Plaskolite, Acrylic sheet .100 thick. Also on the label it states "Meets ANSI Z97.1, UL 94HB and CC2 Plastic, Listed in ICC ES ER-5411". This info means nothing to me but it may to some of you.

With my 40 watt M-Series Pinnacle it engraves fine, or at least adequate, at 600DPI, S100, & P50 thus engraving is not much of a problem. For vectoring I was using 1500 PPI, S2.9, & P100 which worked fine on the first couple of small Xmas tags. Then on the next tag it would start buring and leaving a black coating on the material when vectoring. I could speed it up some and all would be fine but it sure would not last as the next one might not cut all the way through at the faster speed. All in all, the material appears to be very inconsistent as certain settings will work fine one place but only an inch away on the same sheet they will not work.

If one or more of you experts could suggest approximate settings for both engraving and cutting of this material it would be appreciated. Also, if anyone could shed any light on this particular material and the quality of it, this would also be greatly appreciated. I would really like to be able to use it as they have a lot more if I want it for FREE which is a great price.

Cheers,

Don

[Brian Robison]

Are you using air assist to vector cut?

[Joe Pelonio]

That's actually a high-impact acrylic that may be coated, and will not cut as well as normal acrylic. Still, so thin it should do fine in your machine. I wonder if you have a focus problem, perhaps your material is warped in spots?

[Don Gares]

Brian, yes, I am using air assist set at approx. 20 psi.

Joe, this material has a very thin clear plastic (almost like a poly prop) covering on both sides rather than paper that I must remove as it will burn if left on. I don't believe that I have a focus problem as I can vector 1/8" birch all over the table at the same settings with the same results.

I am going to go try doing one tag at a time and see if that works. It is almost like the acrylic sheet is getting warmer (and softer) as more is done on it. Heck, maybe I will just try doing a few that are some distance apart for each other.

Don

[Dee Gallo]

Don, that stuff sounds a lot like the mini glowboard plastic I've cut and on my 35w Epilog I used 20sp/100p/5000freq. for cutting. I put a piece of cardboard underneath to prevent flashback marks. I also remove the plastic film before engraving or cutting.

HTH, dee

[Mike Null]

I think that's the same stuff I bought at HD and had no problem cutting it. Did you remove the protective plastic first?

[Don Gares]

.....it was an operator problem.:(

I really don't know what happened for sure but I do know that when I set the PPI down to 500 (AUTO) from 1500 it corrected the problem. Anyway, all is well and I apologize for wasting the bandwidth.

Cheers,

Don

[Brian Robison]

Don,
I'm SURE that NONE us the rest of us have EVER made any mistakes as laser operators!;)

[Barb Macdonald]

LOL, Brian!
Yeah, just booted up Abigail this morning, put in a piece of rowmark, wow, no good. Would have helped if I'd focused.... I could have SWORN the last thing I did was rowmark. Guess NOT.
Duh:)

[Joe Hayes]

Measure twice, cut once. Focus once, laser once. :D;)

[Don Gares]

.....made mistakes but when it is your FIRST one it is somewhat depressing.:D

Happy Holidays,

Don

[Larry Bratton]

I thought I made a mistake once...but I was wrong :)