Routing Acrylic Sheet

Achieving premium finishes when routing acrylic.

Routing acrylic sheet.

Clamps may also be used to hold the template to the material and moved when necessary. Transfer image to. Routing acrylic plastic can be classified as soft or hard for routing purposes. Templates can be made from plywood fiberboard or rigid plastic.

As the accuracy of cnc routers continues to improve additional gains are being made into the machine building medical devices and valve industries. Routing of acrylic has become one the most popular methods of plastic fabrication in the sign and point of purchase industries. Some useful tips for cutting plastic acrylic using a router or cnc machine are discussed in this video. Here i have used 2 mm thick acrylic sheet of size 13 inches by 10.

The characteristics of each classification necessitates the use of different router tooling with varying geometry. The template is typically held to the sheet using vacuum or two sided adhesive tape. This tool holder provides far less chatter which means smoother results. Routing premium acrylic sheet this brief gives advice for.

Using a tape measure or a ruler if the piece is small measure the distance of your first cut. Any movement whether when measuring marking or cutting can create a situation where the end cut is not what was desired. An rpm setting of 32 000 or. Be sure to follow the manufacturers safety recommendations for equipment and materials used with.

Acrylic has the attribute of being either soft or hard depending on the manufacturing process. For best results you should be using an hsk tool holder or better for routing this job. Freeze material for an hour before cutti. I have selected an arrow head shaped bit for this project.

Guideline 2 use the right bit. First start by clamping the acrylic sheet down with table clamps to prevent slipping. A piece of acrylic sheet. This will ensure that the acrylic is fastened as solid as possible which will minimize any movement flex or vibration.

Extruded acrylic tends to fall on the soft side of the equation while cast acrylic is hard. Routing line art on acrylic sheet step 1. You will never get the best results using wood bits to cut acrylic as cutting and chip removal is key. These include hand held routers table routers.