Routing Acrylic Sheet

A piece of acrylic sheet.

Routing acrylic sheet.

Clamps may also be used to hold the template to the material and moved when necessary. Some useful tips for cutting plastic acrylic using a router or cnc machine are discussed in this video. Routing acrylic plastic can be classified as soft or hard for routing purposes. Be sure to follow the manufacturers safety recommendations for equipment and materials used with.

Any movement whether when measuring marking or cutting can create a situation where the end cut is not what was desired. Routing of acrylic has become one the most popular methods of plastic fabrication in the sign and point of purchase industries. As the accuracy of cnc routers continues to improve additional gains are being made into the machine building medical devices and valve industries. For best results you should be using an hsk tool holder or better for routing this job.

Transfer image to. These include hand held routers table routers. An rpm setting of 32 000 or. You will never get the best results using wood bits to cut acrylic as cutting and chip removal is key.

Templates can be made from plywood fiberboard or rigid plastic. Achieving premium finishes when routing acrylic. This tool holder provides far less chatter which means smoother results. First start by clamping the acrylic sheet down with table clamps to prevent slipping.

Routing line art on acrylic sheet step 1. Extruded acrylic tends to fall on the soft side of the equation while cast acrylic is hard. Routing premium acrylic sheet this brief gives advice for. I have selected an arrow head shaped bit for this project.

Many commercially available types of routers are acceptable. Using a tape measure or a ruler if the piece is small measure the distance of your first cut. The router is guided around a precut template pattern that is fastened to the acrylic sheet. Guideline 2 use the right bit.

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. We recommend using a bit that is specifically designed for cutting acrylic. This will ensure that the acrylic is fastened as solid as possible which will minimize any movement flex or vibration.