I recently took the laser 101 class and I want to make my first laser project, but I’m not sure about what acrylic sheet should I buy from Lowes or if there is another provider… I want to cut some dime sized circles and etch some drawings on them. I went to the WIKI page to check on the forbidden materials, but I can’t figure out how these material names translate to the material names available on Lowes.com. Can someone please tell me? I don’t want to mess it up.
You want Acrylic or Lucite or Plexiglas (different names, same thing). You do not want Polycarbonate or Lexan (again, same thing).
Here’s the wiki page with the cut / no cut list:
https://dallasmakerspace.org/wiki/Laser_Cutter_Materials
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thanks for the reply… I guess Optix is ok, but Lexan not…
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thank you… nice page… have you bought from them before? are they fast?
How thick does this need to be?
I would urge you to check the scrap piles near laser. If you really need pieces that small it’s likely you could get them from someone else’s drop off.
You may have problems preventing your circles from dropping through the grid (or getting sucked up into Zing’s exhaust if that’s how you’re going). You may need to put your plastic on top of a sheet of cardboard.
Also, as a tip for etching acrylic - make your image mirror-image and etch it on the back.
EDIT: If you need thin plastic, you can buy a cheap poster frame at someplace like Walmart and cannibalize the plastic from the front of it - they don’t use glass. It will likely be somewhere between 1/32" and 1/16" thick (probably at the thinner end). It’s not going to be polycarbonate because that would be too expensive for a cheap poster frame. I know this because I have done it.
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Yet Another vendor: Allied Plastics
They’re about 10min from the space minus traffic. Call ahead, but for basic stuff I’ve often gotten away with a walk in.
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Allied Plastics has a $30 minimum walk-in order limit (as of the last time I was there, which was about 2 weeks ago).
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Thanks for the info. I’m thinking between 1/8 and 1/4 inch. I just want to see how good my idea comes out before cutting more… this will be for some earrings. If I put my piece over cardboard, wouldn’t the laser cut thru?
Not if you adjust your power level carefully. You want enough power to cut through the plastic and barely score the cardboard.
You should easily be able to find scraps to experiment with. There is usually some 1/8" hanging around.
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Huh, that sounds relatively new or they didn’t bother when I was there. Pretty sure I only paid $20-something for an ABS sheet I got on the spot. Then again I guess it’s always a “your mileage may vary” when it comes to that kind of stuff.
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I have used them several times. Usually just have them ship but you can call ahead and will call. They are in Rockwall?
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They must not like me. I called several months ago and they cited that minimum over the phone. I went in there in person and they reiterated that minimum. Now mind you - I was going to buy about $24 worth of stuff, so it’s not like I needed only $3 worth - but they stuck to that $30 limit.
I ended up hitting my minimum by taking some smaller pieces of colored acrylic.
According to our wiki page about plastics suppliers, Royse City…
https://dallasmakerspace.org/wiki/Plastics_Suppliers
Close enough for gub’mint work!
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Another option on etching is to etch on the front or back side, then rub wet acrylic craft paint (Apple Barrel, et al) into the etched portion and wipe off the excess. This allows for more color options than just white on clear.