new acrylics cracking wtf

[Techman]

flame ??
there is a better way to polish plastic. will be discussed in an upcoming signs and finish and 3d machining meet in Nov. Details to follow
Any solvent with just about any flame polish will give a wonderful line of crazing and cracks..

 

[Mosh]

acrylics? We only use Polycarb for this reason!

 

[FS-Keith]

flame ??
there is a better way to polish plastic. will be discussed in an upcoming signs and finish and 3d machining meet in Nov. Details to follow
Any solvent with just about any flame polish will give a wonderful line of crazing and cracks..

not much works better then someone that knows how to use a hydrogen torch

acrylics? We only use Polycarb for this reason!

 

[visual800]

who the hell rolls up acrylic? i can look at acrylic and hear it popping. Theres your prob there it was rolled. if it came rolled I would demand refund but in all fairness i would have never rolled it back up

 

[Bly]

who the hell rolls up acrylic? i can look at acrylic and hear it popping. Theres your prob there it was rolled. if it came rolled I would demand refund but in all fairness i would have never rolled it back up

Same.

Acrylic is brittle stuff. Don't take much to split it.

 

[Gino]

Well, I'm baffled on this one.
Been using acrylic, modified acrylic and poly carbs for nearly 40 years and I've never once seen or heard of any of it cracking from alcohol.

We used to take the paint off with alcohol and denatured alcohol and would literally scrub the faces to make them ready for the next paint job. The alcohol would just lay on the stuff, loosening the paint to be scraped off. Never a problem.

Nope, I still think for the most part... something unknown to you happened to this stock before you got it. Either there were already minute fissures from cutting, from the factory or somehow mishandled, but not from just putting vinyl on it.

 

[m giese]

Acrylic Crazing with alcohol

1. If you laser cut acrylic and did not anneal it it will craze when alcohol is applied.

2. If you flame polished the edges, and did not anneal it, it will craze when alcohol is applied

3. If you bought extruded acrylic, instead of cast, It will craze when alcohol is applied.


You most likely purchased extruded acrylic.

For cleaning acrylic I like a product called "Klear to SEA", has some anti static properties and does the best job i have found for cleaning.

I am not a vinyl guy, so cant speak to how well it would work on an install.

Sorry to hear that, good luck. Mark

 

[thewood]

We don't use much acrylic, but we have a client that does. We've done some work for each other over the years, and they warned us never to use alcohol on acrylic--especially on the edges.

 

[J Hill Designs]

wierd. when acrylic gets a bit old, and the backing paper gets really stuck to it, I've always soaked it in denatured alcohol to get the paper off -- never a problem (small pieces of course)

still thinking it is because it was rolled / rolled too tight / mishandled

 

[signcrafters london]

who the hell rolls up acrylic? i can look at acrylic and hear it popping. Theres your prob there it was rolled. if it came rolled I would demand refund but in all fairness i would have never rolled it back up

The manufacturer. One of my suppliers has spools upon spools of high impact acrylic in nine different widths. If you buy anything from them over 6' or 8', you can be assured it will be rolled.

 

[visual800]

The manufacturer. One of my suppliers has spools upon spools of high impact acrylic in nine different widths. If you buy anything from them over 6' or 8', you can be assured it will be rolled.

gotcha! see ive never ordered acrylic this large and actually didnt know it came this size i prefer lexan