Hello everyone! I’m getting some mirrored acrylic and wanted to know if there are any suggestions to just remove the mirror finish and not actually engrave/etch the clear part? any help would be great cant really afford to waste a bunch of material.
Search returns quite a number of previous discussions on this.
https://community.glowforge.com/search?expanded=true&q=mirror%20%23beyond-the-manual%20in%3Atitle
So you want the mirror gone, but have it be completely clear where the mirror used to be?
If so, I don’t think that’s really doable with the laser. You’re going to have to apply enough laser power to remove the mirror layer, which means you have to slightly overpower it to account for variations in the mirror material. That overpowered laser energy will go into your plexiglass (acrylic, perspex etc) and extruded acrylic (most mirrors are extruded) will engrave cloudy. If you have a cast acrylic mirror (again, rarer, but maybe) it is even worse, it engraves white.
Now, if you just want it non-mirrored, and milky/cloudy isn’t a problem, I’d say just run a test or two on the corner of your material. None of us can tell you the specifics of your mirror, start with a medium engrave power and go from there. Try searching “acrylic engrave settings” in the forum, it will probably give you a good jumping off point.
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Thanks the few i found i messaged them to see a picture or possibly get a better picture for reference most are using the proofgrade settings im okay with a little foggy/cloudy just didnt want bright white. appreciate the help and the link!
If you’re using extruded, I think you are going to be fine. No substitute for a small test, of course, so I’d do that if you have any material to spare.
You’re always going to need to test before running any job where loss of the material would be an issue. Engrave settings, cut settings, you never know what’s going to work on the exact piece you are going to work on. Make a small representative design and run it along the edge where you can cut that piece away.
Would targeted flame polishing destroy the adjacent mirror coating?
Maybe? Probably? That stuff bubbles up pretty easily, but it might be worth a shot.
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So I’m trying it out in the morning. after testing small area I’ll post a picture of my results tomorrow and settings I use. Then maybe get some feed back on what may improve it if it doesn’t work out.
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I wonder if another possibility would be to mask the material, score through the masking only and peel off the sections you want clear. Then treat with something (acetone maybe?) that would strip the mirror coating. Then peel the rest of the mask.
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