Acrylic has excellent processing performance. It can be formed by heat processing or cut by mechanical processing. You can see acrylic on light boxes, signs, doors and windows, lampshades, furniture, etc.. The material is popular in all fields from home to industry.

Laser cutting is one of the main processing methods for acrylic. Laser cutting has many advantages, such as high processing accuracy, fast processing speed, non-contact processing without mechanical stress, high degree of automation, etc..

However, laser cutting is not as simple as pressing a button. If you want to get the best result, there are things to take care of.

1. Pretreatment of acrylic

Dust and dirt on surface of acrylic will affect the processing. Before processing, you should keep the surface of the material clean. Some acrylic surfaces will have a protective film. Pay attention to whether the laser equipment has function of film cutting. If not, it is recommended to remove the protective film before cutting.

2. Laser parameters

Among those laser parameters, power, speed, and focus are the main ones for cutting. Generally speaking, higher power is required to cut thicker acrylic, but too high power may cause the edge to melt. And too low power may not be able to cut completely.

Before starting processing, you need to repeatedly check and test to use the most appropriate laser parameters.

3. Processing technology

The processing technology also has a great influence. For example, when cutting a thick acrylic, if the laser power is too high, and a single cut is performed at a slow speed, the edges will be burned.

To prevent this, the speed can be increased, and the power can be reduced. Then the processing can be repeated many times. This reduces the heat accumulation during cutting, and avoid overburning of the edges.

4. Equipment maintenance

A well-running machine is crucial to smooth processing, so we must do a good job of regular maintenance and cleaning of the equipment, especially the optical path and mechanical axis.

For example, if the focusing mirror is exposed to smoke and dust for a long time, it is easily contaminated. If it is not cleaned in time, it will cause the optical path to deviate, and affect the processing effect.

Laser cutting machines generally have restrictions on thickness of acrylic. Common power of laser tube is generally below 400W. The thickness of the processed material is below 40mm.

The power of laser tube determines the thickness of acrylic. The cutting speed and power can be adjusted to make the cutting effect more in line with industry requirements.

Laser uses heat to make acrylic undergo chemical or physical effects, thus completing the cutting. During laser cutting, the delay correction of the galvanometer and the laser may not be accurate enough. Positive focus and defocus (also divided into positive defocus and negative defocus) have different effects on cutting.

When cutting acrylic with CO2 laser, the nozzle hole should be large. It is best to turn or saw off the tip. The hole diameter should be about 5-10mm. The air volume should not be too large. Otherwise, the edge will appear wavy. If it is too small, it will catch fire.

Try to make the workpiece suspended in the air to avoid diffuse reflection on the table and damage the back of acrylic. Choose right focusing lens according to different thickness of acrylic.