Varia Ecoresin safe to cut?

[UnicornHero]

Hey all, I’ve got several sheets of a Varia Ecoresin acrylic that I wanted to try out in my glowforge but am not sure if it is safe or not. I looked up the Msds and it appears to be 100% copolyester which i think might be safe but I wanted to get some opinions before trying it out.
Thanks for the help!

MSDS_3form_varia.pdf (34.8 KB)

[PrintToLaser]

Hi! Welcome to the community.
I have no experience with that material, but your answer lies in the ‘MSDS’, the material safety data sheet that lists the combustion by-products of the material.

[UnicornHero]

Thanks for telling me where to look! I had never read a MSDS before so I wasn’t entirely sure what to look for. Looks like this material had combustion byproducts of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.

Carbon monoxide seems to me like that would make it a no go, or am I just being overly cautious? I haven’t really worked with any acrylic except for some small proof grade piece

[PrintToLaser]

You’re welcome!
Yeah, the amount of CO should not be a problem, is your machine vented outside? It is primarily Chlorine you need to avoid. It will combine with atmospheric moisture to form Hydrochloric acid, and that will quickly kill your machine.

[UnicornHero]

Yes the machine is vented outside and I have carbon monoxide detectors in the room.

Thanks for the info! This has been so helpful, I feel like I can pick materials to cut much more confidently now!

[dwardio]

@UnicornHero

Carbon monoxide seems to me like that would make it a no go, or am I just being overly cautious?

@PrintToLaser

the amount of CO should not be a problem

CO and CO2 are the primary byproducts of all wood-based Proofgrade materials (Draftboard, plywoods, veneers, & hardwoods), as well as PG leather.

[markevans36301]

Never heard of it but looking at the msds I think it is safe enough. The next question is will it cut decent? Some products like Delrin are safe but cut terrible.

[UnicornHero]

That is a good question, I’ll post the results here after I test it out.

Update: so it didn’t cut super well, it might have cut better if the material was thiner but there was a lot of discoloration and and melting. The engraving worked okay, the engraved part was less discolored but still lost some detail due to melting.