Hard Plastic Settings

[wendiwoods28]

What settings would I use for hard plastic? I’ve been asked to engrave on a rectangular non-glow on-off electrical switch. Thank you.

[evansd2]

Hey welcome to the forum.

All of your questions about materials can be answered here in number four which talks about which materials might be dangerous and then number six which talks about settings:

Common problems/questions

Hello! You’ve been referred to this post because you have a common problem or question. Check out the list below to see what this post can do for you. Just click on a topic that interests you. • 1: I’m new to Glowforge and really have no idea where to start • 1a: What other tools/materials should I buy to go with my Glowforge? • 2: I want to find masking/tape to cover my materials • 3: I want to design/make a box • 4: What materials are dangerous to laser? • 4a: What are the basic safet…

[dwardio]

Most switch plate covers are made of either polycarbonate or thermoset plastic.

Polycarbonate tends to melt and is really hard to work with, but thermoset plastic contains chlorine, so should be avoided at all cost! Chlorine gas will destroy your Glowforge’s electronics in short order.

Identifying the material is the most important consideration, so checking @evansd2 link referenced above is critically important.

[eflyguy]

Virtually none of the commercially available switch plates are going to be engraveable. You might consider some kind of veneer applied to it.

[wesleyjames]

May suggest to them wood plates. Readily available at most big box stores.

[wendiwoods28]

Thank you for the information.

[deirdrebeth]

I tried it way back when and the results were underwhelming

Light switch cover questions

Yes…and it melted. I found one that was made of laser safe material and ran a test on it. The laser caramelized the white plastic and the fan blew it lightly so it set in ~slight~ waves. It was interesting, and possibly useful if you were doing a design that took that into account, but I moved onto wood ones. They just looked better. [IMG_20181226_211726786]

OTOH, spray painting it with a colour, and then engraving off just the colour looks brilliant.

Spray paint, old light switch cover and a repeating pattern

Thank you for this! I got around to doing it and now I have the best light switch cover a hockey fan could ask for [image] I ended up doing two passes using @ovm.steve’s instructions - guessing I laid the spray paint on a little thick Sealed with a spray polyurethane and up on the wall! The only downside is realizing that the switch itself was installed a touch too deeply into the wall so I (almost ?) cracked the case trying to get the screws to catch.

[wendiwoods28]

Thank you for the feedback.

| deirdrebeth Regular
November 12 |

• | - |

I tried it way back when and the results were underwhelming

Light switch cover questions Everything Else

Yes…and it melted. I found one that was made of laser safe material and ran a test on it. The laser caramelized the white plastic and the fan blew it lightly so it set in ~slight~ waves. It was interesting, and possibly useful if you were doing a design that took that into account, but I moved onto wood ones. They just looked better. [IMG_20181226_211726786]

OTOH, spray painting it with a colour, and then engraving off just the colour looks brilliant.

[eflyguy]

Here’s a solution similar to what I’ve used, I never posted mine here but what I did was actually make two different-sized layers, a bit like a reverse picture frame, so I could cut holes in the room-facing side to allow the screws to be recessed. I positioned the design so I could use screws with black heads so they blended in to the design.

Switchplate

Not a big thing, but it makes me happy. [IMG_0239] Baltic birch, cut and scored on my Glowforge, then painted with acrylic paints and coated with Polycrylic.