Etching Clear Acrylic With A Diode Laser
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ก.ย. 2022
- This was my first video. I realize it is horribly edited.
Today we will etch some clear acrylic with (GASP) a DIODE laser. This is for all the naysayers that say it can't be done. Be sure to protect your acrylics before, during and after etching, they scratch easily. Try using soft cloth towels to clean them with. As you'll see in the video, paper towels can scratch them. More videos coming soon. Please Like and Subscribe!!
www.panhandlelaser.com
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Acrylic with Lighted Base: amzn.to/3RqHePS - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
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![Can A Diode Laser Engrave Clear Acrylic?? [YES, but not without this]](/img/n.gif)
all the people that say it cant be dont have not been creative enough, kudos!
If you plan to make a lot of acrylic signs, get a car polisher. I go over mine when done and you can get all the scratches out very quickly, even pretty deep ones if you are patient enough.
What did you use to clean off the Endura off the acrylic, wouldn’t see on the video? Was it water? What can be done to avoide the scratches.
Just water. The scratches came from 2 things. Using paper towels which is a no-no. And #2 Stacking them on top of each other. Another no-no.
Well Hell. When I saw your shirt I had to subscribe. lol
thank you, just to make sure I followed you correctly you are applying paint on the bottom side and focusing the laser on the top side?
Correct.
Dude Best Shirt Ever!
Thanks for this ! :) Subscribed !
Hope it helps you out!
Noob here as well. New to the D1 Pro 10w and your vids are giving me a lot of good info. The shirt is awesome by the way!!!
Thanks for sharing my friend. Keep up the good work.
Wow great!
Do you let the acrylic sit in the stand loose or do you add something to stabilize? Just like the ones i have the stand seems to have to big of an opening for the acrylic.
I buy sets that come with the acrylic and base. The thin ones I use in the videos are a cheap substitute that I use just for testing.
Thanks for posting the settings at the end. Where did all the scratches come from? The cleaning? What was your dish soap to water ratio and what soap did you use or does it matter? Thanks again r/
The scratches came from a combination of cleaning with the wrong material (need a soft cotton cloth) and from stacking them on top of each other. They scratch EASY. As far as the ratio, just enough soap to make it viscous.
I use a normal white A4 paper 180gsm and after done you can use any glass cleaning product that is used at home for windows.
@@LaserNoob FYI, the scratches can be polished out of the Acrylic using a NON-Abrasive auto polish
Hi, I loved your videos, but which of the three experiences would you recommend?
Check out my Acrylic Part Deux video. I use tempera paint and compare. Tempera paint gives the best result, but has a longer prep time due to drying time.
Is there another alternative to the posterboard? I dont have the heavy duty ones in my country btw amazing vid
Poster board is the only thing I have tried to be honest. It is not heavy duty by any means. I find the cheapest stuff I can get and that's what I use. Is Amazon available in your country?
do you let the the water and soap dry first and is there a certain soap to use? Dawn Soap? etc..
Any dish soap like dawn should work. I start the etch as soon as it is coated, while it is still wet.
interesting bud, but little tip just put black scratch paper under neither, that's how i did it on tool F1 works a treat . disclaimer only found out by accident lol. PS keep up the great content as highly informative ,i use the power / speed set up you showed only using CS best vid that's helped me out lots .
Love your shirt!!!
Cool thanks for the quick reply. Awesome shirt!! I have one just like it and a decal on the back of my window of my car. It is also has become a hot seller as coasters.. I love your channel
Hi, What CO2 lasers would you recommend to cut Acrylic for beginners?
I don't have a co2 laser, so I can't really recommend one. If you have facebook, check out the Laser Masterclass group. The folks there should be able to provide you with some good feedback.
Hi, unfortunately this spray is not available here and is generally sold out and unfortunately I can't understand exactly what you mixed the water with in step 2 :) Water with detergent? Thanks for the answer, otherwise great video :)
Dish soap and water is the mixture. I am working on another way of etching acrylic. If the results are good, I'll do another video.
@@LaserNoob Thx a lot :)
@@LaserNoob waiting for that too.
Can you test to cut the transparent acrylic also?
@@nomanmalik4816 sadly, clear acrylic can not be cut with a diode laser.
have you tried to cut glow edge acrylic or mirror acrylic
I have not.
i have a 5.5w laser, is there a way to cut clear acrylic ??
Sadly, no. A Diode laser can not cut clear acrylic. You'd need a co2 laser to achieve that. Sorry.
ok thank you .@@LaserNoob
Acrylic scratches very easily! Do not us paper towels! wash in warm water and dry with a microfiber towel.
I just etched tempered glass with my 20w diode. Same technique but used acrylic paint and a brush
I'm curious as to why you didn't include the tempura paint test as well.
I had not done that at the time I recorded this video.
I got an acrylic led pack for laser engraving off amazon and i did a power/speed table test and it's cracked in every box on every speed and every setting any advice is it the acrylic? It is extruded not cast
It's possible that it is not cast. What power laser do you have? What speed and power are you testing with and what medium are you using?
@LaserNoob comgrow z1 10 w and i used black acrylic paint, and speed and power i did a whole test ranging from 6000 to 2000 speed and power from 100 to 45
I've never used acrylic paint. That could be the issue. Also my best results came at around 20-30% power.
alright I'll give that a try with some other mediums and see how that goes, thanks. And i like the shirt 👍
Tempera paint works well. That's what I typically use.
Hai i'm from Italy we don't have that brand of spray Paint. It's an acrylic base Paint or a water base Paint?
I am uploading a new video today with some different options for those people who can not get the Enduramark spray.
Did u take the protective cover off before using the marker or leave it on and marker over it?
Also can you engrave a photo? Aka, something not so simple.
I can engrave your design with my 1.6 watt snapmaker laser but can't seem to get photos to engrave (they engrave but look like a big blob and not an actual photo).
Btw, Snapmaker 2.0 is 1.6 watt at 40 mm/sec and 100% power for basic engraving for anyone with one.
Take the protective film off. And yes, I have done a photo!
How do you do a photo?
I processed the image in imag-r and used tempera paint. I cover tempera process in my 2nd acrylic video.
thought mm/sec was for co2?
also with regards to using black paint ive seen people engrave the paint side not sure what to do
Lightburn settings say mm/s are best for co2, but not sure why. Even xtools website gives burn speeds in mm/s on their materials page. Mm/m is just mm/s x 60. I have not tried black paint so I can't comment on that.
I think you might be talking about tempura paint. I will try that method soon, and post the results.
The answer is ALWAYS to try both ways and learn from whichever one was a “failure”. You’ll spend more time thinking about it than simply doing it would take.
That said, I just did something similar, but it was on wood, and I engraved directly onto/through the black spray paint that I covered the board with. It smelled a little, but not too bad. The laser pretty much completely burned the paint away, along with a little bit of the surface of the wood, leaving just wood underneath. I think it would work similar to acrylic. The paint just serves to be something for the laser to hit instead of passing through. When it hits the paint, or marker or whatever, it causes the heat/fire to occur on the material, which leaves a mark.
@@michaelkeymont501I did a flag display for my brother-in-laws flag when he passed. I covered the area to laser with painters tape. Came out perfect and wood was walnut. Did 4 passes to make sure it was deep enough.
Did you use cast or extruded acrylic? How long did it take to run each??
Each one took about 20 minutes to etch. As far as the type of acrylic, there in no info listed as to what it is. You can find them here - amzn.to/3Eu7k1C
Cast acrylic works the best for engraving.
Una pregunta amigo... con esmalte en sprite negro opaco? Funciona?
No sé. Intentaré.
At what speed and power did you engrave the acrylic?
Speed and power are both mentioned in the video, for each test.
Is it possible to cut clear acrylic using this method?
Unfortunately, cutting clear acrylic is not possible with a diode laser.
Dude I just hit subscribe and like just because of your shirt!
On acrylic do you have a problem with scratching?
Yes! I always leave the protective film on the uncoated side until I'm ready to etch it. Then clean it with a very soft cotton cloth. Even paper towels will scratch acrylic. After your done etching, I suggest putting them in a soft protective sleeve. Personally, I use transfer tape. But I have a ton of that on hand for when I work with vinyl.
Hello! Can the d1 cut clear acrylic by using this method?
Unfortunately, diode lasers can not cut clear acrylic and some colored acrylic, no matter what coating you apply.
Can you use a coat of plasti dip!? Easier to peel off with less scratches?
Depends on the chemical composition of the coating I suppose. I'm not sure if the fumes would be toxic or corrosive.
That shirt is worth a subscribe 😅
Try 1 plain with just the black poster board . I have had success with that on glass haven't tried it with acrylic yet
Good suggestion. I did try that. It "pops" the acrylic and leaves dots.
@@LaserNoob good to know ... thanks
@@LaserNoob The dish soap (which can be applied pure, and must probably remain wet) act as fire retardant (so they say) and allows to avoid this problem (but you have to adjust the laser power & speed to be sure).
Have you tried blue painters tape?
No, but I will in the next acrylic video when I do tempera paint as well.
I use painters tape when I burn on wood. Always have great results. Even with small wording. No burn over
Can you link to the enduromark stuff u used ?
Here you go. amzn.to/46CICHD
They all look good to me, but why do they need to be scratched up like that, can that be avoided?
I had just gotten into lasers when I did this video. I was not cleaning them properly and stacking them on top of one another. They scratch very easily. Now I clean them with soft cotton cloths and cover them with masking tape to protect them.
I like the T Shirt : )
That's my favorite!
What is a good laser for begginers?
I have only used the XTool D1 5 & 10 watt. I bought the 5 w rig about 3 months ago and got the 10 w module a month later so I could do white frosted glass. I was a complete noob and it was relatively easy to get going.
@@LaserNoob I want to do clear acrylic and simple stuff like that. This is enough eh?
Once I figured out how, I have had no issues doing clear acrylic with my D1 10W.
why is it when i set my quality 7 on laser grbl, it sets a 7.000 , but on other videos it only has 7 on it's own , would this matter.
I don't really use GRBL, but I did take a look at it. Mine has the 3 zeros after the decimal as well. But I also have decimal spaces in Lightburn as too. The videos you were watching may just have their GRBL set up different. I don't believe it will cause you any issues. If it does, please let me know and I'll investigate the issue further.
@@LaserNoob cheers for your reply , i will look into it further tomorrow and mess with some settings , i did see a video with someone using laser grbl on an ortur laser on their quality settings they also had 7.000 and it came out perfect , i'm still getting used to this , sorry if i keep bothering you , have a good un cheers.
Instead of the blacking out with marker can't you just use black matt fablon and peel off afterwoods' it might make the time less intense.... Great video and really enjoyed...
Contact paper? I have not tried that. But I have some other tests to do and I'll add that to the list!
where do you get Enduromark (sp)?
You can get it on amazon at amzn.to/3UVFWj2 or from Enduramark.com. Warning: It's NOT cheap.
I'm doing another acrylic video soon. I'm testing another couple of methods. One looks just as good as Enduramark and is much cheaper.
You did not say, but I assume that EVERY method had the treatment on the bottom of the acrylic so that the laser went through the acrylic first...right? But, if you used Tempera paint, this paint would be on the top surface, or can it be on the bottom for all materials...let us know please.
Everything including the tempera were placed face down against the black poster board.
what type of paper you use it ? it's standar a4 paper???
Black poster board.
I noticed the last piece you put in was pure white and you pulled off some plastic. What was that piece?
The plastic is a protective cover. The white was Enduramark Charcoal Glass spray.
How much time you need to etching that acrylic?
This particular design was about 20 minutes to etch.
@@LaserNoob hi you said this took you 20 minutes, well I followed your steps and no way does it take 20 minutes. at a speed of 40. definitely no way after an hour of etching I cancelled the job and decided engraving on acrylic is to time consuming. i didn't even get to half way in the spiderman text. i did a canvas the other day at a speed of 2000 and power 15 and the took 7 hours. this acrylic I was doing would have at least took 14 hours plus. unless you showing an unedited video that the design you did was 20 minutes and then I apologise for doubting you. and I am using an xtool d1 10w pro and just because of the slow time for doing acrylic I went straight online to buy and research a co2 laser. 20 minutes, hmmm. that remains to be seen.
@@paulb6181 then your settings are wrong.
@@paulb6181 I put in a small 58x53 mm file at 40/40. Preview shows 2 hours. No way it took 20 minutes. And this is line. If I jump to fill it's almost 4 hours
Your settings are wrong.
hi there sir
is it possible to cut 1. mm clear acrylic with diode laser?like using the marker method?
No matter the coating, clear acrylic can not be cut with a diode laser. Sorry! You will need a co2 laser for that.
That spray is hella expensive. I've seen etching with just the posterboard. Have you tried that?
Yes, with inconsistent results. Now I use tempera paint as I show in my second acrylic video.
@@LaserNoob That's what I thought.
But can you cut clear acrylic?
Not with a diode laser, unfortunately.
Why do all of your engraved panel appear to all scratched up?
From rubbing against each other. They are extremely susceptible to scratching.
Ever try a whiteboard black rub-off marker?
A dry-erase marker? No, I have not yet. At this point, I only concentrate on what is giving me the brightest look. And that is tempera paint.
Wowowoeowoeowowowowowowow. Lol what are ur power and speed settings
The settings are stated towards the end of the video.
Disclaimer I'm no expert . I found for clear frosted marking on clear materials glass/acrylic you can use Montana chalk paint. Spary it on and run your engraving over it 100% power and 1500-2000mm/min. For acrylic you want less power I use 80%. Edit I used A 10w diode laser btw.
I'll look into that. Where do you get that paint from? I've never heard of it.
try to put a black sheet of thiny cardoboard under the acrylic
If you watch the entire video, you will see that I did.
@@LaserNoob my mistake I wrote too soon
I did a very quick video about just by putting some paper under it
Are you sure about the speed?
Those are the speeds and power I ran each test. Speed and power will vary slightly as no 2 lasers are the same. Your 10w might have slightly more or less power than mine, or vice-versa.
@@LaserNoob i was confused about mm per second and per minute my bad. Thanks for the response though. Thumbs up.
how about in cutting sir?
Cutting clear acrylic with a diode laser is not possible.
What about if you wanted to cut?
Sadly, you can not cut clear acrylic with a diode laser.
What settings
The settings are stated in the video.
thx for this video. shows me i do NOT want to get a cheap diode laser and i'll stick to my co2 laser for acrylic
Whatever floats your boat. I'm not here to say whats better or not.
hallo danke für dein vidio...könnst du bitte die einstellungen für deine sachen noch bekanntgeben, denn ich bin ein neuling aus deutschland... danke schon mal gruß peter
Peter, ich mache demnächst ein Acrylvideo mit meinem A5 M50.
Peter, I'm doing an acrylic video with my A5 M50 soon.
@@LaserNoob ..hallo danke für deine schnelle antwort... freue mich schon sehr auf dein acryl video mit den A5 M50... das wird mir bestimmt weiterhelfen...
Love the shirt dude!
Have you tried cutting acrylic material?
I cut some black acrylic with a 5w atomstack a while back doing some tests for a video. But I have not cut any outside of that.
ich habe ein... atomstack A5 M50 pro 40 watt..laser.....
I came for the acrylic and subscribed for the T Shirt 👌
Try painting the backer instead of painting or coating the acrylic.
👍🏻
Backer as in protective film?
@@user-fj5ul9ci7d No, he's referring to the poster board I use for backing.
LOVE THE SHIRT !!!!!!
Thanks!
Very helpful video. Love the shirt. Thanks!
The music was super loud.
You might want to preview videos with sound on before posting?
Thanks for the advice. That was my first video. Improvements have been made 😉
Love the Shirt!!! had to subscribe!!!
Thanks for the sub!
Awesome shirt! Let’s Go Brandon!!
Good video and love the shirt I’m a subscriber now
Thanks for the sub!
They looks completely ruined with scratches?!
That was from having them stacked on top of each other and being wiped off with paper towels. Nothing to do with the actual lasering.
Yes I figured that, I hope tp find a way to wipe em off withput ruining the finished result, maybe that would be a topic for a new video?!. I'm getting my own laser to day and thats defently something i want to try out.@@LaserNoob
Lightly wipe with water and a microfiber rag. Clean hands will keep smudges and fingerprints to a minimum
You just got a thumbs-up in the first three seconds of your video starting.
Nice shirt. 😁
Thanks! 😃 While it was my 1st video and horribly edited, I appreciate the like!
I've been struggling with how to get my diode laser to engrave acrylic. Thanks for clearing this up...and...LET"S GO BRANDON!
Liking for the shirt!!
LOVE YOUR SHIRT !!!! Liked & Subscribed !!! Where do you get the black markers at and what brand are they - can you provide a link for them ???
They are just Sharpie brand markers. But, hang on! I'm doing an acrylic showdown for my next video this weekend, so don't buy a bunch of sharpies just yet!!
@@LaserNoob ok brother !!! Thanks for posting!!! I’ll be watching !!
Where did you get that lovely shirt? 😆 🤣
I make them. This one is my favorite. Lol
I followed you just because of your shirt. #FJB. #LETSGOBRANDON. You rock my friend.
That's my absolute favorite design that I made. Thanks!
Sorry I'm trying to stay away from politics.
MAGA WORLD on Earth 2
Nice shirt
All the loud niose in the background of your video is VERY overpowering! I love the music but it is destracting. The video is very informing but is better watched muted or at least volumn reduced.
Read the video description
@@LaserNoob I hope I didn't offend you. I was only using Constructive Criticism. The videos are very helpful and thats why I'm subscribed to your channel. Please keep them coming, especially the 20 watt vids. Also, MOST OF ALL, Love the shirt! My front Liscense Plate on my Expedition is Lets Go Brandon! Keep um coming my friend!
Not offended at all. I know the editing sucked on this video. Sadly, it is also my most popular, which keeps me from pulling it down and remaking it.
Great video! Now etch “Trump Lost”
Hmm... Sorry, those keys are missing on my keyboard.
@@LaserNoob lol! Love it!
i turned off the video because of the shirt you are wearing, goodbye forever
👋
Instead of complaining about the shirt, why don't you start your own country and have Biden, Fetterman, and Rachael Levine run it. Report back and let us know how that goes!
Like your channel and videos, but please keep politics out of it, shirt is very distasteful for the message you are trying to send.. The four letter word sends the wrong message to our younger generation. If you decide that your channel going to include political statements then sir I will unsubcribe and withdraw any financial support for your channel. I like what your doing but there is enough political bashing going on without this channel doing the same.
I appreciate your opinion. Thank you.
Lose the shirt, my 6 year and i set down to learn how to burn acrylic and had to explain F*ck. Not cool….beside this is about layering not your political views. We will be back!
Not a fan of your divisive choice of t-shirt. I'll leave you to your 307 subscribers.
Awesome! Thanks!
308 now I guess … I just subbed to him! Let’s go !!!! Nice shirt bro !!! I’m not a fan of having some senile old man leading us straight into WWIII, but hey, to each their own I guess. Hope you aren’t draft age Mr. Pickle 😮
Really? That Shirt? Sad
Don't be sad! I sell them and you can get one too!!
Exactly why I served in the military - so you can have (and KEEP) the RIGHT to disagree !!! I for one LOVE his shirt !!!
@@jacknick429 I guess it's all about where you draw the line. If the shirt explicitly endorsed Hitler or contained explicit hate speech, would the be OK with you as well. Anyway, I don't want to see our country go down the golden toilet. And that's exactly where Trump and his MAGA MORONS will take us if they get the chance. So for me the shirt is not OK, though it's not illegal. Keep in mind is the crazies like Desantis and Abbott who want to limit free speech.
@@steveh8724 A little “triggered” are ya now ???
@@steveh8724 Aaaaaand those of us that support freedom consider the left and the DEMONCRATS - the “crazzies”… so there’s THAT…..🤔