CNC Acrylic: Essential Cutting & Etching Tips for the Longmill
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- Опубликовано: 26 июл 2022
- Dive into the art of cutting and etching acrylic with the LongMill in this comprehensive guide. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced maker, discover the nuances of working with cast and extruded acrylic, choosing the right bits, securing your material, and achieving the perfect finish.
🛠️ What's Inside:
1. Overview of cast vs. extruded acrylic and their cutting requirements.
2. Insights on inverting images for optimal results.
3. Detailed comparison of V-bits and drag bits for etching and engraving.
4. Essential tips on bit selection, feeds, speeds, and the ideal router settings for cutting acrylic.
5. Techniques for securing materials, from small blanks to larger sheets.
6. Finishing edges and cleaning up your acrylic pieces for a professional look.
📝 Setting & Notes:
1. CAST ACRYLIC
2. FEED: 1,200mm per minute
3. MAKITA ROUTER: Between 1 & 2 Closer to 1
4. Depth of Cut per Pass: 1mm
🔍 Key Moments:
00:58 - Cast vs. Extruded Acrylic: Which to Choose?
02:26 - The Importance of Inverting Your Image
03:23 - V-Bits vs. Drag Bits: Which is Best for Etching?
11:20 - Selecting the Right Bits for Cutting Acrylic
18:19 - Securing Your Acrylic Material Effectively
21:47 - Finishing Acrylic Edges for a Polished Look
22:42 - Best Practices for Cleaning Acrylic Pieces
🔗 Useful Links:
Some of these are affiliate links that help support the channel and add nothing to the overall cost
Shop DeHammer Store:
www.dehammermaker.com/shop-de...
MK2 Long Mill:
sienci.com/product/longmill-m...
Recommended Bits:
60 Degree V-Bit From Sienci:
sienci.com/product/60-degree-...
DRAG BIT:
amzn.to/3PDf0BA
1/8 AMANA O-FLUTE:
amzn.to/3Jn0VpL
1/4" AMANA O-FLUTE:
amzn.to/3cJPDQ3
HQMaster 1/8 O-FLUTE:
amzn.to/3cG4QBx
HQMaster 6mm O-FLUTE:
amzn.to/3zz3NMB
🎵 Music by Hawk vs Dove:
hawkvsdove.bandcamp.com/music
💡 Why Watch?
This video is a must-watch for anyone looking to refine their technique in acrylic cutting and etching. Learn from practical demonstrations and expert advice to enhance the quality of your projects.
💖 Support the Channel:
If you find this video helpful, don't forget to like, subscribe, and share your thoughts in the comments. Your engagement helps us continue to provide valuable content on woodworking and CNC techniques! 
Хобби
Go Vikings. Great video. First time hearing about acrylic. Looks like it would be something fun to try. I too have a long mill--Great machine
Acrylic is fun. Just remember to start with cast acrylic. I love my longmill and just added the SLB to mine.
Thank you for this. Extremely informative and helpful for us new CNC owners.
Thank you. I hadn’t heard about drag bit and spring loaded bits. Very helpful
Your welcome and it really is a great bit to have for acrylic.
Love your vids and you are one of the main creators that have given me the confidence to get my CNC and then start posting. Just know your videos mean more than the content; you are making changes in people's lives. Thank you!!!
Thank You, and thats awesome to hear. I subscribed and watched your videos. Yes fonts are "so much fun" just as about as much fun as sanding. Welcome to the longmill fam, looking forward to your upcoming vids and keep it up!
@@D.E.Hammer You are awesome!!!
To hold down my acrylic, I use double sided carpet tape. I just gotta make sure I apply this tape to areas where I won't be doing my cutout due to the glue on these tapes. When I cut through the tape, the glue gums up onto the bit and it will stick to the edges of the acrylic while you're cutting through it and the bit may break. I've had that happen with my 2-flute upcut 1/8" spiral endmill with a feedrate of only 1000mm/min and doing 1/16" depth per pass (I do 3 passes on 5mm thick acrylic). For engraving, I also prefer the diamond springloaded dragbit (tried 30° V-bits but the acrylic just gums up onto the bit and creates melted parts around the cuts and I have to clean the bit every few seconds by pausing the program, stopping the router, clean the bit and resume) but I'm using 1000mm/min feedrate and 2mm depth/pressure and a clearance height of 2mm. The manufacturer (RDZ) stated that you should start with a feedrate of 500mm/min and adjust if neccessary so it's already going twice as fast and I'm happy with that. I dulled one tip already during a project on a piece of non-tempered glass but it's still usable on acrylic. For the acrylic itself, my local shop only seems to have acrylic with plastic covering but it states the more expensive one as being PMMA, which should be cast acrylic. For a sheet of 500x1000mm and 5mm thick, this sheet is around 60 euros while the other sheets with same dimensions are only 40 euros. So I guess the 60 euro sheet is cast acrylic and the 40 euro sheet is extruded but they don't mention this on the label applied to the racking of the store. Keep doing these videos as they are well explained and educational. I've also picked up some good advice from your videos.
Great video sir . Thank you 🔥
Your Welcome and Thank You!
Great video amigo, thank you
My pleasure! And Thank You for watching!
Have you ever thought of switching to a vacuum table I built one to do circuit boards instead of using the CA and it works a lot better and faster what a difference
I have looked at them, but I switched over to double sided wood workers tape. Not that I had issues with CA and tape, but got a free roll of double sided wood tape and it was faster than the CA method.
Thank you for all the great content. I just found your channel. I haven't tried engraving yet and the one thing I am still curious about is where you get your acrylic. What thickness, etc.
Thank you for watching and subbing. I get my acrylic from both amazon or makerstock, for speed amazon for quality makerstock. As for thickness, just depends on the project, but mainly 3mm or 6mm.
I'm wanting to play with acrylic, but not wanting to buy the O flute in the event it's not something I want to keep doing. I have V bits and two flute bits. Would the two flute bits cause a lot of problems? What could happen?
2 flute will work, you may get some flash back welding, and some minor chipping, but nothing terrible. Maybe ease up a little on your depth of cut say 0.5mm to 0.75mm instead of 1mm for your first run and see how it goes. If no issues try deeper cut per pass.
I would love to get that drag bit but I don’t know if gonna fit my cnc. Could you please give an advice. I have a 3020 pro max cnc with 12000 w spindle
The bit is 1/4", if your collet is 1/8" then you will need to get a new collet. Sorry not sure what collet size comes with the 3020 max.
@@D.E.Hammer Thank you sooo much for your reply :)
Where I can get a 1/4 collet for my cnc 3020 ? thanks in advance :=
You can get them off amazon. Look up er11 collet. That should be what the 3020 uses, but compare it to your current collet.
@@D.E.Hammer Amazing. I truly appreciate your help. Thank youuuu :)
What about static? Is there a concern, have you taken precautions?
I have not had to do any extra grounding, however I have seen others who have had to ground their machines. I do blow off the acrylic chip regularly as well when citting.
why not use the laser?
So I have never tried, but from all I have read and researched is that diode lasers do not work well with acrylic. On clear acrylic the laser just passes thru. Also seen that they just do not have the power out put to cut, and if they do cut it is very slow and reduce the life of your laser. The best laser to use for acrylic is a CO2 laser. Again have not tried, but if I get a diode laser for my longmill I will test it out.
I dont know if its just me but I always find your voice out of sync with the video on each of your videos ive watched..... its not a criticism its just an observation.
Other than that keep up the good work.
Thank You, and yes it appears so. Working on getting the correct delay set in obs for my microphone.