I have a project that requires 2 acrylic glass windows per unit each 110 x 22mm. It for a 1/12 scale cryogenic chamber I designed which is of a mad scientist laboratory based on an action figure and comic. I have customers that been waiting months for me to finish this. So I need at least 50 to a hundred windows. Acrylic sheets 1mm thick 8.5” x 11” are only $8 on amazon. I have to figure out how man 110 x 22 mm windows can fit on one sheet.
I tried using the cutter attachment I bought but it was only able to score the surface which then resulted in having to break or snap off the surrounding excess. This would sometimes inadvertently cause the windows to crack.
I figure the best way to do this is just find someone I can pay to laser cut them for me?
Alternatively if those are just actual 90 degree rectangular and flat pieces, you can probably do this on a table saw w/ a jig on your crosscut sled, and a small tooth blade
Yeah they are just flat window slats. I could cut them with a saw but I don’t think it would come out as clean. That’s why I’m thinking better to get a bunch lazered enough to last me for a year of building the sets for orders.
Acrylic can be cut on saws no problem but it will be a mess. The lines end up visually clear, but for your use case here, you’d probably be cursed into a swipe of sanding for the 1 edge that people’s fingers will find the rough part of. Laser cut you wont need to worry about that postprocess
Can a foam wire cutter effectively cut through acrylic? Achieving a precise rectangular cut might be challenging.
After a Google search, I found a service that custom cuts acrylic sheet as thin as .06 inches (1.52 mm) to the desired size at a cost of $1 each.
Cutting acrylic with a saw results in a mess, and I would need to visit my parents’ house to do it in the workshop. Cutting 100 pieces would be tedious, so I would need to create a jig for it. Therefore, I’ll likely opt for this company.
Acrylic can be hard to cut, drill or CNC. If the blade speed or cutter RPM is too high, it melts the plastic. If you push it too hard, the tool will grab and crack the plastic.
For Acrylic I need to cut on my CNC, I use a special single flute end mill specifically designed for Acrylic. More flutes means more friction means more melting.
But CO2 laser is really the way to go. Easier setup, no tool changes, faster cutting, much much cleaner edges.
I’m designing a quad copter (aka “drone”) to carry an Insta360 camera. If I did my math right, the body of the copter will be invisible, like a selfie stick. It’s a combination of 3D printed parts I made with my printer, and a clear 3mm Acrylic frame I cut with my CO2 laser.
That’s really nice work! Are you in the US? Would you be interested in taking the job to cut the windows? I was just playing with the design and I can accommodate a window thickness from 1-2mm. 2mm would be great. The window is 110 x 22mm. The smallest Acme Plastics lists on their site that they cut is one inch and I have to wait to call them on Monday to see if they can do shorter. They use inches. Using the estimater on their site using the closest dimensions they charge $100 for 100 pieces. For 50 they still charge $100. 50 pieces would allow me to build 25 sets. If I could pay for atleast 50 pieces to get done it would be great. No hurry.
[edit] I ordered the windows from Elecrow in the UK
They use millimeters and will do 50 for $44.
Thank you. I just paid to have it done at Elecrow. Will only take a couple weeks and I’m in no hurry. The diorama set design won’t be done for another month still. It was cheap too only about $1 each for 50. For 100 it’s the same price so I settled on 50 to see how it goes.
