Type of Acrylic

[evansd2]

@ChristyM

Cast acrylic is generally preferred, but extruded will work in a pinch.

Extruded and cast cut about the same, but engrave very differently. If you search (again) for “extruded cast”, you’ll find gems like this:

https://community.glowforge.com/search?q=extruded%20cast

in which we find

Acrylic: Cast vs. Extruded for Strength

I am designing a marble machine gizmo that will be made of mostly clear acrylic. For the lift chain I want the pin that connects the links to pressure fit into the outside faces. But I am concerned that after laser cutting the holes they might be susceptible to cracking or breaking from the pressure. I know cast acrylic is best for taking a nice engrave. But is there a difference strength wise between cast and extruded? Is this a good case where annealing the plastic would be helpful? [Link]

Extruded vs Cast Acrylic

This is in response to @nunzioc asking the difference between the two when engraved. Here are two similar engraves. The one on the left is extruded, the right, cast. Extruded cuts a bit more cleanly, but engraves poorly compared to Cast. Ignore the paint on the left one. [image]

Cast vs Extruded Acrylic in Edge Lit Signs

I have an idea for a cheshire cat sign using the different properties of cast vs extruded acrylic. Per the examples that have been shown, one does not show etching very well under normal light. My thought is to make layers with the grin on one material and the cat on another. The grin will always show up, but the cat won’t unless lit, and then program the controller to dim the LEDs to off to make the cat fade away, leaving the grin. Any input on this? I have seen it done but I am not sure how th…

and so forth.