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Flamed edge or polished on Acrylic

jhd

New Member
Does anyone have any tips, no-no's or the process that will create a flame edge / polished edge on acrylic? I've read up on it alittle - just would like some information from someone with experience doing this.

I'm having trouble filling an order, I've talked to a local plastics supplier (they even provided me with a sample) and then they have decided that the order is to small to handle.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
I just hate it when someone goes back on their word or promise...........


Buncha.........
 

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Letterbox Mike

New Member
Depending on how big it is you can always send it to Gemini, we have them laser-cut smaller acrylic panels for us all the time. The edges are ready to go then.

If you're going to do it yourself, it's critical the cut edge you start with is as smooth as possible. If you can, have it cut on a router instead of saw cut it. Either way, sand the edges with progressively finer sand paper until they are as smooth as possible. Spend a lot of time here, this is critical. The smoother you sand it, the less you have to flame it, which is good.

When it's sanded, use a tack cloth to remove the dust and then start flaming the edge. A blow torch is perfect. Go quickly and make many many passes, don't try to get it all in one slow pass, you'll bubble or melt the plastic. Eventually the edges will polish out nicely.

What you want to avoid is over-heating the plastic. The hotter it gets, the more likely you'll get tiny bubbles in it or it'll deform. I don't know the chemistry behind this, but if it gets too hot the acrylic can also react to solvent cleaners and craze or crackle on the surface. Don't ask me how, but it's happened to us several times, and our local plastics distributor says over-heating the plastic changes it's molecular structure and causes it.

It's a simple process, just fairly labor intensive. Budget a couple hours labor at least to do a decent sized panel. We just finished a 2'x5' piece yesterday and the polishing took about 2 hours, but we didn't have a ton of sanding to do on the edges because we router-cut the shape.

But seriously, if they're not huge, order from Gemini.
 

jhd

New Member
thank you for helping me out with that. I have 3 qty: 30 x 36, 1 qty: 36 x 36 and 1 qty: 36 x 78.
I'm going to give this a try in-house - I just put a brand new 60 tooth blade on the saw-traxx. I'll practice on some scraps, until I get a handle on the process.

I do have another order coming up - I'll be on the phone with gemini tomorrow - thanks again
 

Letterbox Mike

New Member
Are you in a decent sized city? YOu might look in the phone book or on the website for a company with laser cutting capabilities, or at least a router table that you can take your material to and have them cut it. I can't imagine there's not someone near you that can do this. Not that that's a TON of stuff to cut, but it's not a small order either, I'd think most places would be happy to take that on.

If you're doing it yourself, yeah, 60 tooth is going to be rough. Make sure the blade you use has 0-degree teeth and is meant for smooth cutting plastic. Blades meant for wood will have teeth set at an angle which will tear up your acrylic.
 

jhd

New Member
I'm not located in a huge city - I'll do some more calling tomorrow though.

Like I said, I went to a local plastics supplier in my area and they quoted the job provided me a sample. I called to place the order and they decided it was to small of an order.

For a worst case scenario - can anyone recommend a blade to get me to a good starting point, which then I can progressively sand and the finish the edge with a torch.

This is the blade from saw traxx:
Saw Trax 60 Tooth Premium Plastics Blade

Product Description:

Description - 60T Premium
Teeth - 60
Diameter - 7 ¼"
Grind - ATB
Kerf - 0.079"
Rake - 5
Arbor Hole - 5/8" KO
Substrates - Hard and Soft Plastics
Resharpen - Yes

Perfect for Plastics such as Sintra, lexan, & Styrene.
Smooth, clean and melt-free Cuts on Most Plastics.
 

MikePro

New Member
Depending on how big it is you can always send it to Gemini, we have them laser-cut smaller acrylic panels for us all the time. The edges are ready to go then.

If you're going to do it yourself, it's critical the cut edge you start with is as smooth as possible. If you can, have it cut on a router instead of saw cut it. Either way, sand the edges with progressively finer sand paper until they are as smooth as possible. Spend a lot of time here, this is critical. The smoother you sand it, the less you have to flame it, which is good.

When it's sanded, use a tack cloth to remove the dust and then start flaming the edge. A blow torch is perfect. Go quickly and make many many passes, don't try to get it all in one slow pass, you'll bubble or melt the plastic. Eventually the edges will polish out nicely.

What you want to avoid is over-heating the plastic. The hotter it gets, the more likely you'll get tiny bubbles in it or it'll deform. I don't know the chemistry behind this, but if it gets too hot the acrylic can also react to solvent cleaners and craze or crackle on the surface. Don't ask me how, but it's happened to us several times, and our local plastics distributor says over-heating the plastic changes it's molecular structure and causes it.

It's a simple process, just fairly labor intensive. Budget a couple hours labor at least to do a decent sized panel. we router-cut the shape.

But seriously, if they're not huge, order from Gemini.

+1 this.
patience is key and you need a keen eye while doing so. use lots of practice pieces to get the feel for it. heck, a 1" square will even do. This way, you can see what it looks like when the surface of the edge becomes "wet" when you hit that perfect temperature, and then how it becomes trash just as quick when you linger too long. heat gun isn't enough, you need FIRE.

edited: dang. didn't notice you post that you don't have a router. my bad. I've got nothing on that front except i think i could most likely pull off square shapes well on a tablesaw with a fine blade and whole lotta extra sanding. bandsaw>jigsaw would be my last choices.
 
I had a neighbor at my last business location that built acrylic museum displays & aquariums for 'aquariums' his big claim to fame was that he built the round jellyfish tanks for the oregon state aquarium..so that was the time I quit finishing my own acrylic & let him do it.

as noted above before he flame polished he polished mechanically using vuffing pads & an assortment of polishing compounds working from coarse to fine.

he also used a pen torch it created an amazingly fine flame & he laughed at me for using propane (he used acetylene) as it burns hotter. as noted make sure you do not wipe down with any solvents, propelled paints,etc or it will craze.
 

FS-Keith

New Member
the guys who do it for a living use a hydrogen torch, but if you have a few pieces you can wetsand and polish it
 

Drip Dry

New Member
We don't heat with a torch... ruined too many that way.
We do sand it down progressively with finer sandpaper ( it takes time)
The idea is to make it as smooth as possible and don't scratch the face. To get the polished look, we use steel wool as the final step after sanding (without the soap) It will come out like glass
 

visual800

Active Member
All this hell and trouble you could send those files to gemini and have it delivered ready to go! worry free!
 

BPI Color

New Member
Do NOT flame acrylic unless you are dead sure that particular material is completely stable. I used to do tons of plexiglass displays. Suddenly, the acrylic started cracking when it was cleaned. Turns out you're not supposed to use any thing on it but a barely damp (water) cloth. We switched to polishing all of our edges for display work. Cost us a little more but we didn't have to worry about a cleaning service using Windex on a very expensive display.
I haven't been in the plex biz for a few years now. But, I still wouldn't use a flamed edge for any graphics.
 

TammieH

New Member
If you do not have one, you can turn a router into a jointer/trimmer for acrylics and other plastics. I over cut my plastics then trim with the router to clean the edges.

I hope the quick drawing I made is clear enough.
 
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