Lexan -- has anyone tried it?

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Just a quick question – among the pre-release and beta user wizards, has anyone tried to etch lexan? is it even safely laser-able?

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Yeah. On mistake. I have a pallet of acrylic and lexan and grab cutoffs from my CNC from the scrap bin marked ‘Acrylic’.

Yeah. No. Crappy cut quality and a metric ton of smoke. A LOT of SMOKE.

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Thanks!!

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Wow, good to know!

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Lexan, esp thicker sheets, is on the no-no list at many maker spaces. Here’s what the folks at ATX have to say:

http://atxhackerspace.org/wiki/Laser_Cutter_Materials#NEVER_CUT_THESE_MATERIALS

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Thanks – that is a great resource.

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There’s a bit under the “Safe” section on it, too.

Material: Thin Polycarbonate Sheeting (<1mm)
Max thickness: <1mm
Notes: Very thin polycarbonate can be cut, but tends to discolor badly. Extremely thin sheets (0.5mm and less) may cut with yellowed/discolored edges. Polycarbonate absorbs IR strongly, and is a poor material to use in the laser cutter.
Warnings!: Watch for smoking/burning

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That’s an understatement :smile: The stuff is crap for lasering.

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It can work pretty well in a CNC mill though. This is something I was playing with a couple of years ago: https://youtu.be/qy4iM7xJNd8

Also there was a thread here on some edge lighting standoffs, so of course I had to order them and try them out. This is pretty ugly as it was on a piece of scratched-up scrap that I ran as fast as possible just to test the lights.

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Can’t wait to get my laser as I think 3D printer + CNC + laser cutter is the triple threat of maker tools.

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Really like those stand offs!
Thinking about the fluorescent green acrylic back-engraved for a shop sign.

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Thank you for the link!

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