Acrylic 3/4 in

[Wayne Moule]

How do you set the depth for multiple passes to engrave on Acrylic?

[Digitalwoodshop]

To do a Cut Path or Vector Cut is easy with multi pass cutting..... but I don't believe that is what you are thinking..... IF you are thinking of Carving... That is not so easy....

The Machine is setup to Carve WOOD and since Plastic or Acrylic is much Denser then you could have a serious problem.... The Machine will try to Aggressively CARVE the Acrylic like it does Wood... and Something will FAIL.... The Machine will be pushing the bit MUCH FASTER than the Bit can CUT.... And the resistance or back pressure will cause....

1. A Stall....
2. The Y will slip a tooth and the Carving will go offset....
3. The Casting of the Z Truck will SNAP at the bearing hole....
4. The Flex will Snap....

Now with all the BAD NEWS.... You just need to be AWARE.... And Never leave the Acrylic Carving UN Attended..... Things.... VERY BAD Things can happen VERY FAST..... And YOU need to be watching.....

With all that.... You post that you have 3/4 inch Acrylic.... There are 2 Flavors of Acrylic.... The More Expensive CAST and the Cheaper EXTRUDED. CAST can be CARVED as it acts much like WOOD.... EXTRUDED.... Well, it MELTS and sticks to the Carving Bit and VERY BAD Things happen from the Bit Gluing itself to the Acrylic to Just Snapping the Bit or Z Truck....

What you can do is select OPTIMAL MODE when carving and that will make the Carving Bit Slow Down and take things slower.... to an extent.... Other settings like Bit Optimize will help.... And the DEPTH of the Carving TOO....

The only person I know who has carved Acrylic was my former Neighbor ChrisAlb about 2 years ago. It was a big project cutting the Red Bull Logo for Corp Red Bull.

Others will chime in with better advice.... But BE WARNED... The Machine FEED RATE is not setup for Acrylic.

Good Luck,


AL

[bergerud]

How do you set the depth for multiple passes to engrave on Acrylic?

I have carved and milled cast acrylic. Note CAST and not extruded acyclic. As Al says, milling is controllable with the max depth per pass. Deep carving can be a problem if there are vertical drops where the bit has to plunge. Feather can help for the start plunge. There is no way to set the max depth for carving except to do multiple separate carves at deeper and deeper depths. I have not myself had to do that yet.

I always use a new bit when carving or milling cast acrylic. Dust collection is crucial. The sticky shavings will quickly foul up the y and z rollers. If you post an mpc of what you want to do, maybe we can give more specific suggestions.

[lawrence]

If you post an mpc of what you want to do, maybe we can give more specific suggestions.

+1 and by the way,

Welcome to the forum!

Lawrence