CNC Routing Clear Acrylic

[Susan Stewart]

chips need somewhere to go, they'll never go straight-up through the flutes and want to rub/melt against the material as you progress through the shape.

I'm a huge fan of doing a rough-cut first, anywhere between 0.02"& up to half the diameter of the bit offset from the final part, but leaving .040" remaining in the depth of the material to keep it held in place. then your single-pass final cut will have plenty of room to evacuate chips AND polish the edge as it cuts.

Thanks for your input!

 

[Jester]

Here's another resource with articles about routing plastics.

http://www.plasticrouting.com/Van.asp

 

[Susan Stewart]

That looks like a lot of information that will come in handy. Thank you very much!!!

 

[Ian Stewart-Koster]

Nearly $2000 for that 3/8 polishing cutter! Wow. Amazing results, if your machine is perfectly rigid, but at what cost...

 

[johnnysigns]

There's feed rate calculators you can search for online. We just cross reference the chipload of the tool for the given diameter you're using in the specific material. It's pretty simply math: chipload x RPM x # of flutes to get your feed rates.