Finishing Acrylic edges

[growler]

Smaller acrylic prints, reverse printed with white, full bleed, say 600x400mm on 10-20mm acrylic.

Do you finish the edges pre or post printing?

May be a silly question but it is not an area I have had to deal with before.

Will be printing on a Oce 460.

Thanks!

 

[nashvillesigns]

finishing edges

this is always a debate..
to sand with 220?
to use a blowtorch?

i am still debating.

 

[Z SIGNS]

I use this.It's a tipping off torch on our neon bench.Shoots a very hot pointy flame.It's about the only thing our neon bench is used for.

 

[TammieH]

or scrape with a matte knife, I hold the knife at about 90 degrees to the edge of the acrylic, use my thumb for a guide

 

[growler]

I know the techniques to polish the edge.

More after details to doing this post print or pre print.

 

[TammieH]

before

 

[fixtureman]

I just size mine on the laser it give a flame finish

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

95% of the time we cut our acrylic in the laser before we print. If it's too big to go in the laser, we cut the acrylic to size and finish the edges before printing. On rare occasions we'll finish the edges after a print if we absolutely have to.

 

[NicMarKro]

Smaller acrylic prints, reverse printed with white, full bleed, say 600x400mm on 10-20mm acrylic.

Do you finish the edges pre or post printing?

May be a silly question but it is not an area I have had to deal with before.

Will be printing on a Oce 460.

Thanks!

Hey there - what did you end up doing for this? I am trying to figure out a similar conundrum, but we are doing 300 units at 100x150mm so trying to avoid having to print on pre-cut pieces that small.

 

[gnubler]

Did you say something?

I was mesmerized by the OP's avatar...

 

[FlyingSquirrelBrigade]

Hey there - what did you end up doing for this? I am trying to figure out a similar conundrum, but we are doing 300 units at 100x150mm so trying to avoid having to print on pre-cut pieces that small.

We find the ink chips if you cut afterwards full bleed white ink. Flame polishing is difficult. Can leave a gutter around the edges where you cut with no white and cut without chipping usually. There’s a diamon polishing bit on some cncs but haven’t tried it

 

[Boudica]

Maker of weird things (I like the name, respect) .
That said... If you flame polish, do it before... And no cleaning with isp alcohol... That will cause cracking.

 

[Johnny Best]

Before. I use a polishing wheel and bar compound.
This thread was started 9 years ago, hope growler figured it out.

 

[ProColorGraphics]

If you do a lot, you could get one of these:

EF-200 Edge Finisher

Edge Finisher EF-200 - table-top plastic edge finishing machine for creating a smooth, clear finish on the edge of a saw-cut plastic material.

www.edgefinisher.com