Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff

Looking for a fab house that can cut plexiglass (small quantity)

<< < (3/4) > >>

wraper:

--- Quote from: Benta on August 31, 2020, 06:30:14 pm ---Lexan (polycarbonate) is a really good idea. It's not prone to cracking like Plexiglass. It's a little bit duller, though.

--- End quote ---
Get cast acrylic instead of extruded and it's won't crack easily. Also as long as you don't do complex shapes with narrow features and simply keep it square, it's not that easy to crack even extruded.

Renate:
Actually, I used to cut plexiglas with a wood crosscut saw that I bought for $1.
Ok, the edges were a bit rough though.

Mmm, it was mostly to cut large sheets down to fit into the laser cutter. >:D

Renate:
These were cut by Pololu:

Ian.M:
Most shops refuse to laser cut polycarbonate because "polycarbonate sheets (Lexan) produces flames, creates long stringy clouds of soot that float up, ruin the optics and mess up the machine and which is extremely hazardous to the health of people nearby." [ref]  You'd need a higher than usual power laser, an actively purged light path and an inert atmosphere to even contemplate cutting it.

A sandwich construction of thin acrylic sheets solvent glued together is quite practical for the bezel.  If you make it three sheets thick, you can trap hex nuts invisibly  in hex holes in the middle one to allow the display to be mounted to the back of it with the fixings invisible from the front.  Glue the window in place from behind after assembling the layers of the bezel using an adhesive that wont mar the window.

Mecanix:
Plexy or PMMA both will require anti-scratch coating if fitted onto a illuminating device such as lcd, led, or anything bright for that same matter. A costly and extra surface process I understand however worth keeping in mind. If this coating is omitted then consider utilizing a cleaning technique that will not scratch the surface. It only needs 1(one) dirty cloth rub and you end up with a hundred micro-scratches. Guessing you aren't into 'smoky-looking' surface finishes so that's why I'm chiming in...

I'm guessing you could get away by applying a commercially available thin anti-scratch film on the surface and have them laser cut to size after. Might leave some nasty burns and burs, or might not... needs experimenting. I do however recommend coating though (dipping process).

Depending on the location of the hardware (fixed? portable?) you've considered glass cutting instead? Normally the guys specializing in optics can get this done rather quickly...

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page

There was an error while thanking
Thanking...
Go to full version
Powered by SMFPacks Advanced Attachments Uploader Mod