Routing Acrylic Sheet

Templates can be made from plywood fiberboard or rigid plastic.

Routing acrylic sheet.

An rpm setting of 32 000 or. Be sure to follow the manufacturers safety recommendations for equipment and materials used with. The router is guided around a precut template pattern that is fastened to the acrylic sheet. Here i have used 2 mm thick acrylic sheet of size 13 inches by 10.

Guideline 2 use the right bit. Achieving premium finishes when routing acrylic. Any movement whether when measuring marking or cutting can create a situation where the end cut is not what was desired. Transfer image to.

A piece of acrylic sheet. Routing of acrylic has become one the most popular methods of plastic fabrication in the sign and point of purchase industries. Acrylic has the attribute of being either soft or hard depending on the manufacturing process. As the accuracy of cnc routers continues to improve additional gains are being made into the machine building medical devices and valve industries.

We recommend using a bit that is specifically designed for cutting acrylic. Clamps may also be used to hold the template to the material and moved when necessary. First start by clamping the acrylic sheet down with table clamps to prevent slipping. For best results you should be using an hsk tool holder or better for routing this job.

Some useful tips for cutting plastic acrylic using a router or cnc machine are discussed in this video. You will never get the best results using wood bits to cut acrylic as cutting and chip removal is key. Extruded acrylic tends to fall on the soft side of the equation while cast acrylic is hard. Freeze material for an hour before cutti.

Using a tape measure or a ruler if the piece is small measure the distance of your first cut. These include hand held routers table routers. This will ensure that the acrylic is fastened as solid as possible which will minimize any movement flex or vibration. Many commercially available types of routers are acceptable.

Routing acrylic plastic can be classified as soft or hard for routing purposes. The characteristics of each classification necessitates the use of different router tooling with varying geometry. I have selected an arrow head shaped bit for this project. The template is typically held to the sheet using vacuum or two sided adhesive tape.