I had someone today tell me it would be hard to bevel laser cut plexiglass. Anyone know if that is true? I know little about the material really, but they talked about it splintering, etc. The issue is that it has a corner on the edge that is causing some wear to a plastic object it is pushing on. The ideas they talked about to solve this issue included some that struck me as odd like adding rollers instead of a flat surface. I don't know much about laser cutting of quarter inch thick material, but if the laser can be tilted, a 45 degree bevel would be easy. Even a 30 degree tilt would do a lot to relieve the corner. BTW, multiple pieces of this material are assembled to create a wide piece attached to the arm which then presses on the plastic bag. So it's only to the two outer pieces that need to be beveled. -- Rick C. - Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging - Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209
Laser Cut Plexiglass
Started by ●July 20, 2020
Reply by ●July 20, 20202020-07-20
On 21/07/2020 10:14 am, Ricketty C wrote:> I had someone today tell me it would be hard to bevel laser cut plexiglass. Anyone know if that is true? > > I know little about the material really, but they talked about it splintering, etc. The issue is that it has a corner on the edge that is causing some wear to a plastic object it is pushing on. > > The ideas they talked about to solve this issue included some that struck me as odd like adding rollers instead of a flat surface. > > I don't know much about laser cutting of quarter inch thick material, but if the laser can be tilted, a 45 degree bevel would be easy. Even a 30 degree tilt would do a lot to relieve the corner. > > BTW, multiple pieces of this material are assembled to create a wide piece attached to the arm which then presses on the plastic bag. So it's only to the two outer pieces that need to be beveled. >There are some problems with laser on plastics, for instance if the blue colour has the same freq as the laser it will not cut it and similar with clear, the laser passes through and other colurs have problems as well. You would be better served with a bevel rotary bit.
Reply by ●July 21, 20202020-07-21
On Monday, July 20, 2020 at 10:34:05 PM UTC-4, RheillyPhoull wrote:> On 21/07/2020 10:14 am, Ricketty C wrote: > > I had someone today tell me it would be hard to bevel laser cut plexiglass. Anyone know if that is true? > > > > I know little about the material really, but they talked about it splintering, etc. The issue is that it has a corner on the edge that is causing some wear to a plastic object it is pushing on. > > > > The ideas they talked about to solve this issue included some that struck me as odd like adding rollers instead of a flat surface. > > > > I don't know much about laser cutting of quarter inch thick material, but if the laser can be tilted, a 45 degree bevel would be easy. Even a 30 degree tilt would do a lot to relieve the corner. > > > > BTW, multiple pieces of this material are assembled to create a wide piece attached to the arm which then presses on the plastic bag. So it's only to the two outer pieces that need to be beveled. > > > > There are some problems with laser on plastics, for instance if the blue > colour has the same freq as the laser it will not cut it and similar > with clear, the laser passes through and other colurs have problems as > well. You would be better served with a bevel rotary bit.These guys seem to like trendy things. They were having trouble finding a laser cutting outfit when the virus initially shut down everything. I asked why not CNC and they talked like that was so much more expensive. I can't imagine CNC being hard or expensive for a simple cut out, but I have to say I don't know. There are some poor thinkers in the crowd who don't get what is the important part of a problem sometimes. I don't want to talk down to people, but it's been more than once I had to explain how to look at a problem. -- Rick C. + Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging + Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209
Reply by ●July 21, 20202020-07-21
On Monday, July 20, 2020 at 7:14:18 PM UTC-7, Ricketty C wrote:> I had someone today tell me it would be hard to bevel laser cut plexiglass. Anyone know if that is true?Wouldn't want to try it. Oblique incidence of light creates extra reflection power, and driving acryiic sheet beyond linear optical response is likely to be a nuisance. If the plastic refracts the light, you'l get lots of power outside the kerf, by internal reflection. Abbeon has a bunch of cutter options for plastic and beveling jigs are available. <https://www.abbeon.com/Item--i-HE3000>
Reply by ●July 21, 20202020-07-21
On 21/07/2020 03:14, Ricketty C wrote:> I had someone today tell me it would be hard to bevel laser cut plexiglass. Anyone know if that is true? > > I know little about the material really, but they talked about it splintering, etc. The issue is that it has a corner on the edge that is causing some wear to a plastic object it is pushing on.<snip> A sharp corner can be rounded with a flame, see 'flame polishing acrylic'. -- Cheers Clive
Reply by ●July 21, 20202020-07-21
Reply by ●July 21, 20202020-07-21
On Monday, July 20, 2020 at 10:14:18 PM UTC-4, Ricketty C wrote:> I had someone today tell me it would be hard to bevel laser cut plexiglass. Anyone know if that is true? > > I know little about the material really, but they talked about it splintering, etc. The issue is that it has a corner on the edge that is causing some wear to a plastic object it is pushing on. > > The ideas they talked about to solve this issue included some that struck me as odd like adding rollers instead of a flat surface. > > I don't know much about laser cutting of quarter inch thick material, but if the laser can be tilted, a 45 degree bevel would be easy. Even a 30 degree tilt would do a lot to relieve the corner. > > BTW, multiple pieces of this material are assembled to create a wide piece attached to the arm which then presses on the plastic bag. So it's only to the two outer pieces that need to be beveled. > > -- > > Rick C. > > - Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging > - Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209I would consider using a table saw. Dan
Reply by ●July 21, 20202020-07-21
On Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 9:03:33 AM UTC-4, dca...@krl.org wrote:> On Monday, July 20, 2020 at 10:14:18 PM UTC-4, Ricketty C wrote: > > I had someone today tell me it would be hard to bevel laser cut plexiglass. Anyone know if that is true? > > > > I know little about the material really, but they talked about it splintering, etc. The issue is that it has a corner on the edge that is causing some wear to a plastic object it is pushing on. > > > > The ideas they talked about to solve this issue included some that struck me as odd like adding rollers instead of a flat surface. > > > > I don't know much about laser cutting of quarter inch thick material, but if the laser can be tilted, a 45 degree bevel would be easy. Even a 30 degree tilt would do a lot to relieve the corner. > > > > BTW, multiple pieces of this material are assembled to create a wide piece attached to the arm which then presses on the plastic bag. So it's only to the two outer pieces that need to be beveled. > > > > -- > > > > Rick C. > > > > - Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging > > - Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209 > > I would consider using a table saw. > > DanThere are two types of plexiglas, one is cast and the extruded. And one (I think the cast) can be machined, the other cracks if you try and machine. (As your machinist. :^) George H.
Reply by ●July 21, 20202020-07-21
tirsdag den 21. juli 2020 kl. 22.24.07 UTC+2 skrev George Herold:> On Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 9:03:33 AM UTC-4, dca...@krl.org wrote: > > On Monday, July 20, 2020 at 10:14:18 PM UTC-4, Ricketty C wrote: > > > I had someone today tell me it would be hard to bevel laser cut plexiglass. Anyone know if that is true? > > > > > > I know little about the material really, but they talked about it splintering, etc. The issue is that it has a corner on the edge that is causing some wear to a plastic object it is pushing on. > > > > > > The ideas they talked about to solve this issue included some that struck me as odd like adding rollers instead of a flat surface. > > > > > > I don't know much about laser cutting of quarter inch thick material, but if the laser can be tilted, a 45 degree bevel would be easy. Even a 30 degree tilt would do a lot to relieve the corner. > > > > > > BTW, multiple pieces of this material are assembled to create a wide piece attached to the arm which then presses on the plastic bag. So it's only to the two outer pieces that need to be beveled. > > > > > > -- > > > > > > Rick C. > > > > > > - Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging > > > - Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209 > > > > I would consider using a table saw. > > > > Dan > > There are two types of plexiglas, one is cast and the extruded. > And one (I think the cast) can be machined, the other > cracks if you try and machine. (As your machinist. :^)yeh, extruded tends to melt, stick to the tool and then you are fubar and don't clean acrylic with ethanol, it cracks into pieces like breaking hardened glass
Reply by ●July 21, 20202020-07-21
On Monday, July 20, 2020 at 10:14:18 PM UTC-4, Ricketty C wrote:> I had someone today tell me it would be hard to bevel laser cut plexiglass. Anyone know if that is true? > > I know little about the material really, but they talked about it splintering, etc. The issue is that it has a corner on the edge that is causing some wear to a plastic object it is pushing on. > > The ideas they talked about to solve this issue included some that struck me as odd like adding rollers instead of a flat surface. > > I don't know much about laser cutting of quarter inch thick material, but if the laser can be tilted, a 45 degree bevel would be easy. Even a 30 degree tilt would do a lot to relieve the corner. > > BTW, multiple pieces of this material are assembled to create a wide piece attached to the arm which then presses on the plastic bag. So it's only to the two outer pieces that need to be beveled. > > -- > > Rick C. > > - Get 1,000 miles of free Supercharging > - Tesla referral code - https://ts.la/richard11209I have cut a lot of plexiglass with a CO2 laser It cuts very well and does not leave particularly sharp edges. I have cut both clear and "smoke" colors. The laser is infrared, so visible colors aren't likely to make a difference. You can soften cut edges with a flame, but you can also round them with a scraper - it goes way faster than you might expect. How thick is the plexi you're looking to cut? what kind of sizes and tolerances?
