Source for acrylic that looks like Carbon Fiber?

Everything Else
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I am having no luck finding laserable acrylic that LOOKS LIKE carbon fiber. Has anyone found such a thing? I need some desperately.

Thanks in advance.

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There was a thread about unusual acrylics a while back. Let’s see…

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Here is the thread. I’d start looking on these sources.

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Thanks, looking now…

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I dug around in that thread and the one linked in it…

this popped up pretty quickly:

https://shop.decorativeplasticsheets.com/Decorative-Acrylic-Sheets-for-2nd-surface-back-lit-applications-acrylic.htm

You will probably want to hunt around some more, but there is at least one option.

Googling can likely yield results too.

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Been googling for days…

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I’m not sure that’s actually solid acrylic. I don’t know what it is, but they refer to ABS, “Acrylic laminate” and then say it “fabricates like acrylic.”

Having search high and low, finding patterned acrylic isn’t as easy as one might think.

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Another possibility: hydrodipping.

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another possibility… lightly etch a carbon fiber pattern on black acrylic. :slight_smile:

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This is a novel approach, thank you for your input :slight_smile:

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I played around with this - here’s a screen grab of a design I threw together in PowerPoint.

It came out “ok” with a light engrave settings on black acrylic. I thought I could then coat it with a clear lacquer but iirc I gave up because it caused the effect to be too subdued.

image
image2162Ă—432 67.4 KB

Depending on what you’re making, leaving it bare might be fine. I was working on auto emblems and needed a smooth gloss finish.

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That’s funny… I have a pretty good business going making auto badges/emblems and that’s exactly what I need the CF for. Requests for the base to be CF.

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Maybe this plus a vinyl cutter and a layered approach is the way to go?

As always, don’t cut it with your laser unless you can 100% verify that it’s not PVC.

Hmm they say it’s “vinyl”, need a proper msds. They also say that it’s not designed for digital cutters.

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Thank you. I have thought about layering, wrapping, hydro-dipping and etching, but the time and effort as well as expense make those options much less feasible. If I don’t find an acrylic with CF look, then I will just say “no” to those requests. :frowning:

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Yeah that’s fair. You could always ratchet up the price to reflect the additional labor, you never know, people might go for it. It’s amazing how much cash people have to blow on things :wink:

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True. I’m not honestly sold on the durability of a lot of these additional items, though. The search continues!

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Hydro-dip with a coating can be durable enough for frequent handling. It is a PIA, though, and more suited to one-offs like props and such, or high-priced work that justifies the time and effort.

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If you need a reasonable amount of the stuff, you might be able to find a company to make it for you. Reach out to these folks about it… https://www.aliexpress.com/store/433980
They also have a shop on Etsy, so you can pop them a message there.

If not them, there are other acrylics manufacturers/distributors on Aliexpress and the like who might be willing to do it. Of course, things in China aren’t moving terribly quickly right now, so I don’t know how long it will take. I’m really hoping they are able to get the virus under control soon. The situation is heartbreaking. I can’t imagine having your community shut down for weeks in addition to basic fears for your health.

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At the bottom of the page it warns “Our materials are not for sale, they are only for use with our laser cutting service” :frowning_face:

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