Which plastic to cut with laser?

[Accelerated Graphics]

I have a customer wanting custom cutout trophies. I thought we could cut them out of 1/4" acrylic. Is this cheapest and easiest route?

 

[CanuckSigns]

I have a customer wanting custom cutout trophies. I thought we could cut them out of 1/4" acrylic. Is this cheapest and easiest route?

it depends on how powerful your laser is, 1/4" acrylic will look very very thin when you make it into a trophy, we always try to go at least 3/8" thick, 1/2" is preferred

but at the end of the day, are you looking for cheap &easy, or a nice award? you can't really have both

 

[Embosstek]

To answer your original question: 1/4" acrylic is great for laser cutting, depending on your laser(wattage, cutting table, etc.) It seems a little thin for awards or trophies though.


On the other part of your question...I agree with watsons signs.

Custom awards/trophies and cheap and easy don't belong in the same sentence.

Why do so many sign and graphics "professionals" focus on cheap and easy. A real professional sells quality, service and detail. Get out of the Walmart philosophy!!

 

[StarSign]

Also make sure you have the correct acrylic to cut on the laser

 

[Shadowglen]

We Cut acrylic all of the time Mostly 1/4 inch. Standard sheet acrylic cuts great with proper wattage and speed. I have two 30 watt machines and one 40 watt. Do not try to cut Lexan unless you like toxic smoke and killing your optics. Also I have found leaving the paper on both sides works best specially if you have a honey comb table. If you want to cut and etch just power the laser higher than normal on the raster to go through paper and still etch plastic.