Marks on my mirror acrylics

Beyond the Manual
1

Hi all,

I’m getting these marks on my mirror acrylic which I initially thought were glue residue but after wiping with baby oil and nothing happen realised`` it’s not glue (glue residue came off nicely with the oil).
Please can anyone help?

I’m cutting 1/8 extruded mirror acrylic, I removed plastic backing on both sides and replaced with masking tape. I have tried cutting on both side with same marks☹️

I have used a 135 speed and 100 power selecting PG yellow acrylic and I also tried the PG setting - all same thing.

Hope u guys can see the marks in the pic.

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Thanks in Advance.

2

I can offer a theory as to what they might be, based on what I’ve seen cutting acrylic…but it might or might not be what’s causing that.

Acrylic is a strange material to try to cut…it vaporizes in the laser beam, but the part that is left behind is very sensitive to high temp and it can go through some changes that will cause the paint on the back to “detach” slightly for a fraction of a second, leaving those marks in the mirrored finish that is applied to the back.

You’re going to notice them particularly on really thin cutout areas, or tight curves and angled switchbacks in a design, where the heat gets concentrated while the beam is moving.

I have a way to work with this kind of situation that is unorthodox, but it should work pretty well for something like this. Place cuts in your design at every corner. It will consist of open paths that just meet up at corners. Then give every other path a different stroke color. Like red - black - red - black…all the way around the design.

When you process the design, do it in two stages. Cut all the Red lines first. Set the Black strokes to Ignore in the thumbnail column.

Then wait a minute for the acrylic to cool.

Last, without touching anything else, change the Red paths to Ignore and send the Black paths to Cut.

Use the fastest speed you can to cut through…it keeps the heat down in an area.

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Are you cutting it face up or face down?
I’ve found most success cutting mirror acrylic face down and cranking down the power so it just cuts consistently.

4

Thank you.
please I do not understand this part

I use Silhouette studio for my designs (I have had my cutter for years and find it easier to use than Inkscape).

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Thanks. I tried cutting face up and face down - face up was worse with the marks. Power was 100 and thenI tried PG setting.

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Oh…hmmmm…its’ been years since I used Studio.

I’m trying to remember if there is a way to cut the paths.
(Yes, I still have an older version installed.)

Click on Edit Points, then you can click on each node and choose Break Path in the Point Editing palette.

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2 Likes
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You are an absolute legend :heart_eyes: I will try this thank you very much

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