Laser Cutting Acrylic
So I have been fooling around with all sorts of test projects on my Ortur Lasermaster 2 (20W) lately. After watching all the YouTube videos, I decided to give acrylic a shot. I guess I was wondering why nobody on YouTube could… cut orange acrylic.
Surprise, surprise! I was able to cut and engrave on the first try!
What I did was cover one side of the 6mm acrylic with Rustolium black rubber spray. The other side I left the protective paper on. I set the laser to 100mm/in, 100% power and 14 passes. I also focused the laser and then dropped it down by 5mm. This way the focus was NOT on the top of the acrylic, but rather almost to the bottom.
Tip:
You should always mask a cut! Whether it be masking tape, spray paint, rubberized paint or whatever.
At 8 passes, I could see the laser beam hitting the steel below on the left side; it was cut through.
At 12 passes the top, bottom and left side were cut completely through.
At 14 passes, the right side cut through and the square fell out.
So, what’s the bottom line?
Yeah, it is possible to cut CAST acrylic with a low power, diode laser. I have engraved clear, and engraved and cut black, orange and green acrylic with my 20W (5.5 actual watts of optical output power) Ortur laser. The key is to mask your cut and focus the laser to the BOTTOM of the acrylic. Lowering the focus makes the laser cut through instead of melt the acrylic.
Pro Tip:
Cast acrylic sheets are made from a liquid acrylic that is poured into molds that can then be set into various shapes and sizes. This type of acrylic is ideal for engraving because it turns a frosty white color when engraved, making it suitable for awards and plaques.
In your article you say you cut clear acrylic with your ortur laser master 2
May I ask what your settings were.
I did not say that. I said I was able to cut orange acrylic, and engrave on clear.
Probably a dumb question but do you put painted side up or down? Love your videos and websites. Thanks for all the great help and graphics.
Im curious if the rubber paint mask was able to be removed? If not, have you had any success using removable masks, like tape to cut acrylic?
Yes, the rubber peeled right off with a little doing. I usually use regular spray paint.
hello! i recently got an ortur laser master 2 20w with the fixed focus lens and have been trying to cut out 3mm acrylic. as i research i have come across a lot of conflicting information about how to accomplish this; could you explain what how to focus the laser to the bottom of the acrylic? thanks in advance!
You must have a perfect focus to start. I suggest putting a piece of of black paper on top of your workpiece and then moving the laser up or down until you get the smallest dot. Once you have achieved that, lower it half the distance of the thickness of your piece. So if your acrylic is 4mm thick, and your perfect focus is 20mm, lower the laser to 18mm. Make sure there is air flow beneath the acrylic. Raise the workpiece slightly with a metal substrate so the fumes and debris can exit from the bottom. You can buy a honeycomb base or just use a homemade one like an oven rack or BBQ grill rack. I have even used metal A/C vent covers.
Using air assist is another recommended tool, but not absolutely necessary.