Local Dealers rock

This is why local dealers are amazing:

$20, all cast acrylic.

The big pieces are 48"x12" of translucent smoke and red. I picked up that 1" thick scrap just to run cut tests on and for fun

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Can’t wait to see what you do with that thick stuff:-)
I have a bunch of really thick acrylic that I have been thinking about.

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ive been curious about focal point, so i figured this would be a great medium to run different focal points down to the edge of to see what the beam profile looks like

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Was this from a local sign shop or plastics dealer?

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Shop, not dealer. They make a lot of things there. Mostly displays from folded acrylic, trophy stands etc. Theyve been doing a lot of hospital cabinet windows lately out of colored acrylic. I think they do some signs too.

Their “trash” is stuff under 12". so half the stuff in the photo was free. They say they throw that type of stuff out on the regular, so theyre going to start saving it for me to come by and pick up once a week. Those are $20 pieces off amazon.

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Not to burst any bubbles, but I think I remember @dan saying to be sure to use extruded acrylic, and not cast, for some reason?

Hoping that I’m wrong, or that this has changed…

Actually, I am pretty dang sure I got that the other way around…Lol

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Its the other way around. Cast acrylic engraves REALLY well. Thats what gives you nice edge lit detail. Extruded cuts really nicely, but engraves arent as crisp, which could be good for some applications. Extruded will stay clear/smooth when engraved, while cast gives you that light diffusing textured look.

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Holy c*** that one piece looks thick… the surface area they left you with doesn’t look huge, but you could probably get some nice dice out of it!

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Thank you for clarifying that! It’s a helpful detail.

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yeah buddy! 1" thick. gonna have to take the bed out to cut on it, but should be interesting =)

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Awesome, great find, then!! And thanks for the info…which actually leads me to a question, please, and not to hijack this thread:

One of the next projects I was thinking of working on is a privacy engraving, to cover a bathroom window, and still let light in…sort of like how glass blocks work.

Which type would you recommend for that, if you don’t mind?

Thanks again!

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it depends on the look you are going for. Ive seen a lot of wavy glass that is transparent, but wavy enough to distort anything behind it beyond recognition, so if you could pull that off with extruded it could be cool. If you want that frosted look go for cast.

I have some of both here, ill see if I can do a comparison engrave on them and post a photo of the diff

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Great question! They put new windows in my house, and the master bath isn’t frosted or anything. I have been considering solutions. I like this one.

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Thank you…found a cool site with some good info: http://www.pmma.dk/Acryl_stobt_kontra_ekstruderet.aspx?Lang=en-GB

And sorry, again, did not mean to hijack…

Soooo…GREAT FIND!! :grinning:

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I keep meaning to visit my local plastic supplier. Maybe a sign shop as well. Thanks for the inspiration

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Did you already know people there or did you just cold call them?

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Ive been going by there for a little over a year now. Really cool people. I just walked in one day. Got a very similar deal the first day.

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Man that is a nice find! Especially that 1" material. A square foot of that from TAP Plastics is $50-$60.

We have a number of boat builders in my town and one shop that makes acrylic windscreens for them… Hoping some day I can pay a visit and take some “scrap” off their hands.

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Wow. Great find! Symbiosis at its best! You paid them to haul their trash away! :slight_smile:

I’m going to have to look around town now. Who knows what one can find! And it’s great you’ve now built up a relationship with them so you can come by and get more here and there!

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They have a box waiting for me once a week now =)

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