Can A Diode Laser Engrave Clear Acrylic?? [YES, but not without this]

Have you ever tried to engrave clear acrylic with your diode laser with no luck? Well I've run a few tests and have managed to get a pretty good result within the first attempt.
Here I show the process the I used to allow my diode laser to actually engrave/ etch clear acrylic. It was fairly simple and the results are amazing.
So, watch the whole video and try it yourself. You will be amazed by the results. I Promise!

[@RNMSC]

You may want to see how even this does with edge lighting the acrylic. Even fine scratches are likely to scatter light, making the etch more visible, even without fillers.

[@LHommeDeParfum]

Have you tried engraving the non painted side while the black side lies on the bed? Thanks

[@MARCAM]

I did try but the results didn’t really work well for me. Not sure if I missed something but I just found doing it directly on top worked best for me :)

[@LHommeDeParfum]

@@MARCAM Thanks

[@nossica149]

Ooh, I wonder what would happen if we painted both sides of the acrylic?

[@MARCAM]

I’m not actually sure. If you give it a go, let us know the results 👍🏻

[@TooScaredToFart]

I’ve been having great luck with dry erase

[@MARCAM]

Is that just with a marker pen?

[@dafyddgould9485]

ive seen some where they put a metal sheet under and dont paint the acrylic and comes out, maybe worth doing a side by side to see which works better?

[@MARCAM]

That’s a great idea! Since the wood kind of already did it, metal should work quite well 👌🏻👌🏻

[@dafyddgould9485]

@@MARCAM yea and no burn marks from the metal, they did paint it with grey paint to make a bit darker

[@MARCAM]

I'm definitely going to try this later. Thank you :)

[@Mr81smc]

Don't use achohol to remove the rub n buff, just a dry towel before it drys

[@cris_viga_loca]

why dont put paper tape on acrilic?

[@dominicknepper2082]

Don't use acrylic as you have to remove it with alcohol or acetone, both of which can damage the acrylic.

[@MARCAM]

I’ve noticed acetone isn’t good with acrylic. Never had problems with ipa mind

[@rigel2112]

Rubbing alcohol is used in optical labs on plastic lenses with no problem.

[@koksrock]

What is your laser machine? and what did you use power for that?

[@MARCAM]

Laser is the Ortur master 2. Powers and speeds are mentioned in the video 👍🏻

[@edinmak9226]

Hi, I have an atomstack s20 max. The power of the laser is 18-20w. They cannot cut white plexiglass (acryl) 3 mm at all. Is the problem that the laser power is low, or did I not set good parameters for cutting? I use the lightburn program

[@MARCAM]

As far as I know, diode lasers just can’t cut white acrylic at all, regardless if settings as it just reflects the laser’s wavelength. They can cut darker acrylics such as black but for clear and white you will need a co2 laser.

[@edinmak9226]

@@MARCAM THANK YOU

[@Trouble4u2day]

Wouldn't you do paint side down?

[@MARCAM]

Someone else did suggest that and I did try it. But it didn’t work for me. I have some “new” type of paint I’ll be testing soon so maybe that’ll yield a better result 👍🏻

[@artman3]

im having trouble 😅 im burning and making the acrylic pop i tried so many different thickness, power, and speed but i cant seem to get it right its either hard to see or a I burn the acrylic

[@MARCAM]

What power laser are you using? And what paint are you applying before hand?

[@RCChoppercx2]

I used cardboard an that worked as well. Without using paint.

[@MARCAM]

Can you elaborate on this a bit? Be interesting to know the method on that 👍🏻

[@RCChoppercx2]

@MARCAM sure. I'm new to this so it may of done what yours did in your video where the paint or coating melted into it? However it did come out clean after washing it with windex and water. All I did was lay it down on cardboard an set my power at 70. Speed was a 100 which may of been to slow? But the image was on the acrylic. An lit up very well with led. Maybe use something a bit tougher than cardboard though. Wants to burn lol. But it worked.

[@charlesm.1638]

how thick is your acrylic?

[@MARCAM]

Piece I used here was 10mm. But any thickness should have the same results 👍🏻

[@goodolsouthernboy352]

Power and speed??

[@MARCAM]

Should be mentioned in the video

[@JSGilbert]

Try multipass?

[@MARCAM]

The layer of paint gets removed from one so you would have to apply another layer before running another pass I believe. Worth trying though for sure 👍🏻

[@JSGilbert]

Makes sense @@MARCAM

[@LostCloudx4]

ummm 101.... raise it off the bed..... mirror the image and engrave on the back side.

[@MARCAM]

😂 thanks Jer, I’ll remember that for next time 👍🏻