Cheap laser cutter plastic

[Theo Markettos]

We've been having fun with the laser cutter recently... but 'professional' (>A1) acrylic sheets from our local supplier are a bit on the expensive side. So I wondered if there was a source of cheap plastic sheet for messing about with.

One thought was HDPE chopping boards (Tesco Value and friends, or from the pound shop). Anyone have any other ideas of a source of cheap uniform-ish flat plastic, somewhere between 1mm and 12mm? Is there some supermarket or Ikea product that can be abused?

Cheers, Theo

[NT]

I would have thought getting a boxful of assorted plastic sheet products from the local tip would work, 10-20p a piece.

NT

[RCW]

Look out your local signmakers who deal in the stuff.... They usually have skiploads of offcuts

[Thomas Prufer]

x 37 cm x 29 cm, 2 quid pack of two, polyethylene.

I've seen temporary signs made of plastic shaped like cardboard: two flat surfaces and a wavy bit in between. Usually cable-tied to things, easy to remove the eyesores...

Thomas Prufer

[Thomas Prufer]

Maybe something other than plastic? There's 2mm or 3mm plywood, thin MDF...

Thomas Prufer

[F Murtz]

Most hardwares have clear pvc sheeting(about 3mm) for glazing

[Theo Markettos]

The nice thing about Ikea is they tell you what everything's made of, and decent dimensions. Those look interesting, though I'm curious what 'bendable' means. Hopefully they're not floppy...

You mean estate agents' boards and the like... interesting thought. We have some foamboard (expanded polystyrene sandwiched between two flat surfaces) that's intended for artwork mounting etc... works quite nicely but the foam retreats back into the core around cut surfaces, so cuts aren't very rigid.

Theo

[Theo Markettos]

PVC is tricky because on combustion it makes hydrogen chloride, which dissolves in any water vapour to make hydrochloric acid. This is not good news for the inside of your laser cutter. (PTFE is even more fun because you get HF)

Is this glazing all PVC or are there other types? I'd have thought it would be more likely to be polystyrene or polycarbonate?

Theo

[Owain]

AOL CDs :-)

should be cuttable into shapes about the right size for xmas tree decorations

Owain

[Theo Markettos]

I like your style :)

Sadly my piles of 1990s CDs are long gone. So I wonder if I can sign up to a few 'free CD' mailing lists ;-)

Theo

[Nightjar]

Any of those three, plus acrylic and PET, although it should always be identified.

Colin Bignell

[Thomas Prufer]

I have some -- bendable, but not floppy. Can be rolled into a 27 cm long cylinder, but springs back, mostly, shows some creep.

The cheap clear sheeting off a roll is PET, I think it says so on a stamped text I wiped off. Something like 10 Euros per square meter, here.

Thomas Prufer

[Steve Firth]

Laser cutting CDs is also bad. You get small quantities of HCl and CN (cyanide) from the dyes used in the CD data layer.

[Steve Firth]

Theo Markettos wrote: [snip]

Ikea have a range of cheap plastic sheets sold for use as cutting boards. They are polypropylene, available in a range of colours and about 3mm thick. Barely good enough for cutting on but may suit you (sir).

[Thomas Prufer]

Just seen in a store with the colored paper and crayons: Stack of approx 2mm thickness very fine foam rubber (neoprene?), assorted colors, 20 A4 sheets just under 6 euros.

Might be useful to cut, stack and glue, or as gaskets?

Thomas Prufer