ACRULITE FF what is this stuff?

[Bert Kemp]

Any searches brings up Acrylite FF ok maybe its acrylite and no u as the Y may have been cut off
My sheets are marked Cyro Acrulite FF I was told from the guy I got them from they were cast acrylic SZo this morning I tried to engrave and Cut this stuff. The engraving looked funny from the start but I let it go Then it went to cut and it had a really bright flame as it cut and produced a lot of carbon 4 passes would not cut thru it and it didn't smell like any acrylic I cut before IMG_20180311_095627401(1) (Copy).jpgIMG_20180311_095734568 (Copy).jpgSo I ask what have I got here

[Matt McCoy]

I believe it's Acrylite, which is an acrylic product and the FF is extruded. Their website lists laser cutting as a fabrication method.

[Bert Kemp]

so being extruded is why all the carbon and won't cut? if so the guy lied to me and I'm stuck with a bunch of this stuff

[Glen Monaghan]

You can see from your picture that it is Acrylite, not Acrulite; the y's descender is cut off but clearly too long for a u. And, as Matt said, it's extruded acrylic. That means it won't engrave to a frosty white, and it will tend to melt and reflow when cutting. I'm guessing the "carbon" was from the paper? Hmm, actually, it looks like you were cutting without the paper... How thick is the sheet and what sort of speed/power mix were you using?

[Joe Pelonio]

Though a different brand I have a regular job that I do with extruded regularly, about ten 12x24”sheets each time. It cuts beautifully, in 1/8” thickness.” The engraving on it works well for paint fill, bu not for that frosted glass look. The stuff I use has a blue plastic film on it , rather than paper. Extruded is cheaper so if it works for thejob, your profit goes up. I pay about $70 for a full 4’x8’ sheet cut to 12x24s.

[Bert Kemp]

I was cutting with out paper, its a little less the 1/4 and I was using same settings I use for cast. 70% pwr 10mmps spd.full air Never had any problems like this with cast 1/4. I don't know why all this carbon and not cutting weird.

You can see from your picture that it is Acrylite, not Acrulite; the y's descender is cut off but clearly too long for a u. And, as Matt said, it's extruded acrylic. That means it won't engrave to a frosty white, and it will tend to melt and reflow when cutting. I'm guessing the "carbon" was from the paper? Hmm, actually, it looks like you were cutting without the paper... How thick is the sheet and what sort of speed/power mix were you using?

[Joseph Shawa]

Bert, Could it be that by chance, your lens failed? I had this happen once after a long engraving session on high power.

[Kev Williams]

FWIW the rest of the "y" tail is right under the "r"

I've cut lots of extruded with no problem, other than the gooey edges. I've never cut it paper-off however. I too am wondering Bert, if your lens or a mirror has 'an issue'...

That said, here's a piece of the same stuff I cut not long ago.
It's a different brand and it's "SG" (sign grade) rather than "FF", but they're essentially the same...
DSC07421.jpg

All extruded I've ever cut comes out good like this one...
DSC07420.jpg

However, this crap doesn't laser engrave good at all.
--and I engraved this at 15% power 500mm/s at .07 gap,
that much power barely engraves black Romark...

here I have my shop light blazing across the surface,
the engraving is 'ok' but there is no 'frosty' look to it, the stuff just melts,
and there's very little contrast...
DSC07424.jpg

And here I put the edge right into the light,
cast acrylic engraving would light up like gangbusters,
but this stuff doesn't edge-light whatsover...
DSC07425.jpg

For your purposes Bert, you need cast acrylic, period. With any luck whoever sold you this stuff will trade it back in...

[Bert Kemp]

UPDATE
after once again trying and failing to cut this stuff, I sent a piece to Kev to see if he could cut it. He informed me that this is LEXAN, aka polycarbonate. So I guess this I can't cut with my CO2.
So now my ?is can I do anything with this stuff of should I just take it to the dump???
I have 13 pieces about 3 to 4 feet long and 6.5 wide.

[Mike Null]

Bert

You can engrave it and then cut it with woodworking tools. It's a great material and I'm sure you can find uses for it.

[Bert Kemp]

Yes it engraves ok. I was reading that a fine tooth table saw blade will cut it. I'm wondering if a led light base will lite it up nice like regular cast acrylic

Bert

You can engrave it and then cut it with woodworking tools. It's a great material and I'm sure you can find uses for it.

[Paul Phillips]

Yes it engraves ok. I was reading that a fine tooth table saw blade will cut it. I'm wondering if a led light base will lite it up nice like regular cast acrylic

Hi Bert,
It will cut fine with an Acrylic saw blade, it's not nearly as good as acrylic for transferring light through the edges though. Maybe you can use it for protective covers or something? It's very tough stuff, used to use it mostly for large lighted sign cabinet faces. I use scraps to make scrapers, cut it to 1"x6" and put a bevel on the belt sander and make a chisel for scraping old vinyl and things like that. I always did a comparison for customers and took a piece of Acrylic and piece of Lexan and hit it with a hammer, the Acrylic shatters, the Lexan bounces!

[Kev Williams]

Stack two of those 1/4" sheets together and they'll stop a .22 long rifle, 4 sheets will stop a 9mm... Delvies use to have (may still) a 2" thick chunk of Lexan with a 30.06 bullet stuck in it- makes great motorcycle windshields too... It has its uses, but it's hard stuff to work with.

[Paul Phillips]

Stack two of those 1/4" sheets together and they'll stop a .22 long rifle, 4 sheets will stop a 9mm... Delvies use to have (may still) a 2" thick chunk of Lexan with a 30.06 bullet stuck in it- makes great motorcycle windshields too... It has its uses, but it's hard stuff to work with.

Hey Kev, you're the master engraver, have you had a chance to work on any transparent Aluminum yet?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DduO1fNzV4w

[Kev Williams]

Not yet, and at $3 per sq inch for the bullet-resistant stuff, probably won't anytime soon either!