Hey!
I ordered some acrylic, but it’s taking too long to deliver, and I need to make some items before Mother’s day.
Does anyone have even one sheet of acrylic they would like to sell that they could ship out quickly?
Thanks,
Shalee
Did you check your local hardware store? (Plexiglass.)
“acrylic source” is what you need.
https://community.glowforge.com/search?q=acrylic%20source
There are whole companies that can do that for cheaper than you’d get at the GF store. Estreet has the basics for cheap, inventables has the cool colors, and many other sources. Just look for paper masked cast acrylic, there are so many places to get it.
Postception!
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Thanks. I ordered from estreets, but they have a 7-10 day lead time currently so it won’t arrive in time.
Where are you located?
I’m in Charlotte, N.C.
Hmm if speed is a big concern, maybe there’s a local plastic supplier?
Quick google maps search for plastics yields a piedmont plastics location, you can probably pick up in person? There are lots of other distributors there, I am barely scratching the surface.
Cast acrylic is cast acrylic more or less. Paper masked is the big distinction that I’d stand firm on, plastic masking is a mess.
I know the by-the-book answer is to get cast acrylic with a paper backing, but I have gotten excellent results cutting Optix-brand acrylic sheeting that is stocked at Lowe’s and Home Depot. I leave the clear plastic masking on it until after it is cut, and wash the parts with dish detergent after cutting to eliminate any odors. “Crazing” can be an issue if you wash it with alcohol, but I think that is also the case for cast acrylic.
One of my favorite materials to run through the GF (aside from the smell) is “green glass edge” acrylic. It cuts very cleanly and looks great.
Don’t waste your time trying to cut polycarb.
Of course, please be careful when using materials that are not being marketed as “laser safe” as the burden is on you to check the material datasheet to make sure you won’t damage your health or your Glowforge.
If you’re in a crunch for time, give your local big box hardware store a try.
check your local sign or trophy shops. Sign shops especially, they use large pieces to make large letters and thus often have large scraps.
How does that optix stuff engrave? White like cast or clearish like extruded?
What color do you need? I’m in Charlotte, but I don’t have any clear left. I do have frosted though, and a couple of fluorescent colors.
I must admit, I’ve mostly cut it. Haven’t done a lot of engraving with acrylic. I did make a small trophy for a club event, and the results were “acceptable” but I was short on time and couldn’t experiment with it very much.
I’ll try to run some engraving tests with it next time I’m pharting around the shop.
Yeah, that’s the big difference between cast and extruded, or at least one of the two:
- Cast doesn’t seem to craze much if at all, especially due to alcohol.
- Cast engraves white, extruded engraves kind of “foggy”, but not as much contrast.
Of course, cast tends to be a bit more expensive too. Oh and extruded is a bit more brittle.
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Of course, extruded acrylic engraves not as well as cast, and yet still better than thin air. 
according to plastikolite (in an answer on the home depot site), it’s extruded.
Uh, come again? 
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I was trying to be a wise guy, and failed! 
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