Cutting acrylic????

[bw5then]

I am ordering my first CW on the 10th of August.I have a bunch of Acrylic letters that I need to cut out for some signs(2" X 1.5" X 1/4" thick) .Will the CW cut these out without a buch of clean-up? If anyone has made these would like to see some pics.

[dbfletcher]

I think we would need to know what type of acrylic. I beleive the CW cuts cast acrylic fine, but I think I read here that extruded acrylic melts and gums up the bit.

here is a recent post on the subject: http://forum.carvewright.com/showthread.php?15788-Newbie-to-carve-Clear-Acrylic-and-wants-your-opinion&highlight=acrylic

[Digitalwoodshop]

That is correct.... Home Depot Acrylic will gum up and stick to the bit and damage the machine.....

You need to buy the more expensive Cast Acrylic. The $2K CW will leave machine marks from the cutter and the resolution of the machine. A $30K 60 watt Laser Engraver is what you need for this task... But you can make due for $28K less as long as you understand you get what you pay for.... Even with a Laser Engraver you need to do clean up.

Go to the Sawmill Creek Forum and the Engravers Thread and there is a bunch of posts about cutting Acrylic but most important to you is the finishing part... Sanding and Flame Polishing......

I went in on the first group of Flame Polisher Buyers from China. It takes water and breaks it down into Hydrogen for a Very HOT very Clean fine flame for Flame Polishing. Many other Flame methods can leave black scorched acrylic. Plus there are some Flame Polishing Tips on You Tube too.

I plan to get into the 1/4 inch Cast Acrylic Cutting by the Holiday Buying season. LED Light the base units.

Good Luck.

AL

[lynnfrwd]

The 1/16" cutting bit (the itty bitty bit, I call it) will do a fine job on the cast acrylic for your project, since they are 1/4" thick. You shouldn't have too much clean up and as Al said, for the price...you can't beat it.

[mabco12]

My students cut their name signs in the home depot cast acrylic and I didn"t get any gumming on my 1/16 carving bit. They love to do these signs and then decorate them with sharpie markers as you can see!!374303743137432