Routing Acrylic Sheet

You will never get the best results using wood bits to cut acrylic as cutting and chip removal is key.

Routing acrylic sheet.

Freeze material for an hour before cutti. As the accuracy of cnc routers continues to improve additional gains are being made into the machine building medical devices and valve industries. I have selected an arrow head shaped bit for this project. Routing acrylic plastic can be classified as soft or hard for routing purposes.

Some useful tips for cutting plastic acrylic using a router or cnc machine are discussed in this video. For best results you should be using an hsk tool holder or better for routing this job. Using a tape measure or a ruler if the piece is small measure the distance of your first cut. An rpm setting of 32 000 or.

Routing line art on acrylic sheet step 1. Guideline 2 use the right bit. These include hand held routers table routers. This tool holder provides far less chatter which means smoother results.

Here i have used 2 mm thick acrylic sheet of size 13 inches by 10. Acrylic has the attribute of being either soft or hard depending on the manufacturing process. Routing of acrylic has become one the most popular methods of plastic fabrication in the sign and point of purchase industries. Be sure to follow the manufacturers safety recommendations for equipment and materials used with.

Extruded acrylic tends to fall on the soft side of the equation while cast acrylic is hard. We recommend using a bit that is specifically designed for cutting acrylic. Routing premium acrylic sheet this brief gives advice for. Achieving premium finishes when routing acrylic.

First start by clamping the acrylic sheet down with table clamps to prevent slipping. Clamps may also be used to hold the template to the material and moved when necessary. This will ensure that the acrylic is fastened as solid as possible which will minimize any movement flex or vibration. Any movement whether when measuring marking or cutting can create a situation where the end cut is not what was desired.

Templates can be made from plywood fiberboard or rigid plastic. The router is guided around a precut template pattern that is fastened to the acrylic sheet. The template is typically held to the sheet using vacuum or two sided adhesive tape. The characteristics of each classification necessitates the use of different router tooling with varying geometry.