Carving Plexi-glass

[jdwykrent]

I just got the machine yesterday. My students did a fundraiser to purchase it for our high school shop.

The second project we ran was a 1/4" x 14" x 26" piece of plexi - glass that is part of a bandpass subwoofer box. We atempted to carve an flag in it .125 deep. We made it a quarter of the way through the project and had a meltdown. :( We had a nice glob of melted plexi on the bit...and it ruined the material.

I am worried that the excess weight damaged the bit adapter / chuck. After removing the bit and cleaning off the glob I reinstalled the bit and noticed there is a little bit of play...not in the bit / adapter...but in the adapter / chuck area...almost like the collet is a little too wide. The play is less than a 1/32". Is this a normal movement that everyone has?

Help!

Wykrent
PPHS Woodworking

[Kenm810]

jdwykrent

plexi - glass is prone to melt downs and is a poor choice for this machine.
You'll have fewer problems if you use polycarbonate plastic or cast acrylic.
They cut and carve cooler and have fewer chip outs.

Do a quick Search on the forum key word (Plastic)

By the way welcome to the forum http://www.carvewright.com/forum/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif

[menewfy]

I have used lexan in the past it is denser and so therefor does not melt down. you will notice that the carvewright spins very fast and it is easy to glob on plexi when it goes deep at all.

give lexan a try and then try and get some corian or staron it comes in many colors but not clear so when you put light behind it the effect will blow your mind.

good luck to your class it is nice that they worked for the money to be able to get it. keep this in mind though if you start to have trouble and it is getting close to three months exchange it at sears or before the warrenty is up.

again good luck

[sirsumm]

Check out the owners manual....It specifically tells you NOT to use plexi for the exact reason you listed. I have carved lexan with excellent results albeit considerably more expensive. Anyhow, I hope your students have allot of fun learning the Compucarve, I know I would have liked to use one in high school. Maybe a better use for the Compucarve would be to design intricate custom speaker boxes, I had thought about designing a bandpass on mine, with nice curves.

Jason