Cermark for acrylic

I was wondering if anyone knows of something like cermark, but that would work acrylic.

I’m trying to end up with a very durable image on the acrylic, but I also want it to be as smooth as possible.

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You could try engraving the back side and filling it with paint/ink.

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That was my first try. I looks pretty good with enamel, but I’m trying to get the surface to be as smooth as possible.

What I’ve been trying at the moment is filling the engraving with a resin. I’ve have pretty good looking results with that, but it does tend to add quite a bit of extra work.

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I think this might be the same as chris1 said…have you thought about flipping your image and using it as a reverse engraving and viewing it from the smooth side, as you would do when using text? And if you filled it with something, it would still look smooth when viewing it…or do you need it to look very smooth from the engraved side?

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If you just want it to be dead smooth and it’s a simple design, maybe just cut a stencil and go from there.

@Xabbess I am reversing the image before I engrave it. I’m just trying to get both sides smooth.

What I’m making right now are 18" rulers with metric on the other side. It’s not exactly critical to make them smooth, it’s more of a challenge and in the tests with resin the way it looks and feels when it is smooth is really cool.

@jbmanning5 I’ve been thinking about cutting a stencil and setting up a silk screen for it, but the thought of screen printing something like a ruler and keeping registration between the cut and the print has kept me from trying that. That’s why I was hoping there was something like Cermak that I could coat the acrylic with before and it could cure the coating in the same step as cutting.

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I did this last night:

Reverse the image
Peel the paper off the acrylic
Set a manual engrave to 1000 speed and 30-35 power
Defocus by adding .2 to your height

The laser just kisses the surface, making a visible engrave with almost no discernible depth.

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TherMark says it works on plastics, not sure which. Of course, I think it’s likely you’ll get some melting while you try to apply it.

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Have you seen this Two sticks to rule the world

Really smooth might not work so well as what you see and measure to is the sharp edge

From their website:

  • Nylon
  • HDPE
  • UHMWPE
  • Polycarbonate
  • PVC*

*Marking PVC can cause the release of chlorine gas which can be harmful to the laser operator and corrode the laser head. It is important to use adequate fume extraction and air filtration when attempting to mark PVC with a laser.

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Thank you. I was on the go and didn’t have time to look,but I knew I had seen something!

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you can also laser cut a stencil, either over the acrylic or separately, then spray paint . most spray paints will stick really well to acrylic

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Use two pieces of thinner acrylic the same area, engrave one and glue together?

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Did you, or anyone, ever try using cermark on acrylic? I have something I want to make and I was thinking Cermark on acrylic as well. Really interested. Thanks!

Cermark is melted and fused onto the metal, I don´t think it will work on acrylic.
On acrylic just engrave and then ink with acrylic paint.

Wow! By engraving first without removing the masking and then spray painting the piece before removing the masking. This can be the result…

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