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Small PVC Letter help
- Thread starter Routerguy
- Start date
I have cut many 10mm acrylic letters @ 20mm cap height. (10mm is a tad under half inch & 20mm is a fly dung over 3/4" for those still stuck in the stone age 
)
Attached is a pic of a letter "S" with a Alumasteel face. The Alumasteel face is approx .5mm thick. I can't see any reason why you couldnt cut the same from 1/2" PVC using the same tools and parameters as long as you can accept the 1/16" radius to the inside apex, (pic also attached). In my example I used 1/8" Belin 13317A which is a single flute upcut spiral & cut without tabs or bridges as the swarf stays in the cut. When cutting thick plastics with that tool the letters stay in place. I only use Vac tables & rarely clamp.
The 13317A has a 1/8" shank therefore will cut beyond the 1/2" and a bit flute length. I would suggest laminating the Rowmark ply to the PVC with thin double sided tape then cutting in two passes. The first pass should just penetrate the ply by maybe a millimetre which will clear all the swarf by default & the second pass should cut the balance right through which should leave the rest of the swarf in place. When finished push the letters through from the back of the sheet to avoid delaminating the ply.
We buy .1mm double sided tape in 305mm wide rolls. (12") so you can laminate full sheets without to much trouble.
The machine I cut the attached samples on was an oldie, an L-Tec CM250 that I bought new in 1989. Was great to buy then, would be great to tie a boat to now. :Australia
)Attached is a pic of a letter "S" with a Alumasteel face. The Alumasteel face is approx .5mm thick. I can't see any reason why you couldnt cut the same from 1/2" PVC using the same tools and parameters as long as you can accept the 1/16" radius to the inside apex, (pic also attached). In my example I used 1/8" Belin 13317A which is a single flute upcut spiral & cut without tabs or bridges as the swarf stays in the cut. When cutting thick plastics with that tool the letters stay in place. I only use Vac tables & rarely clamp.
The 13317A has a 1/8" shank therefore will cut beyond the 1/2" and a bit flute length. I would suggest laminating the Rowmark ply to the PVC with thin double sided tape then cutting in two passes. The first pass should just penetrate the ply by maybe a millimetre which will clear all the swarf by default & the second pass should cut the balance right through which should leave the rest of the swarf in place. When finished push the letters through from the back of the sheet to avoid delaminating the ply.
We buy .1mm double sided tape in 305mm wide rolls. (12") so you can laminate full sheets without to much trouble.
The machine I cut the attached samples on was an oldie, an L-Tec CM250 that I bought new in 1989. Was great to buy then, would be great to tie a boat to now. :Australia
Attachments
synergy_jim
New Member
we have a multicam machine w/ vaccum table.
when we cut small letters, I put two layers of transfer tape on the back of the material and cut to the tape. It holds great. On small letters like these, I would cut all but a millimeter or two with an 1/8" bit and go back and clean up with a 1/16" bit.
Also, when you get into small bits like the 1/16", you are better off to go with high speed steel cutters as opposed to carbide. They break less often and actually give a really nice cut edge.
when we cut small letters, I put two layers of transfer tape on the back of the material and cut to the tape. It holds great. On small letters like these, I would cut all but a millimeter or two with an 1/8" bit and go back and clean up with a 1/16" bit.
Also, when you get into small bits like the 1/16", you are better off to go with high speed steel cutters as opposed to carbide. They break less often and actually give a really nice cut edge.
MikePro
New Member
yup! we've got one, and its GREAT with our router! bridges? tape? i just flick a switch to keep my material down!
iSign
New Member
I thought I had a great one too.. 20 HP... nearly the size of a VW bug.... and it works great holding down a half sheet of material... but once I cut a small letter out of it...
are you saying your vacuum hold so well you never have to use tape? I can't imagine how much more powerful of a vacuum pump I would need to be able to hold small letters down.. do you have a high powered cyclone dust collection system trying to suck them up off the table as well? Maybe that's the real culprit in my system..
are you saying your vacuum hold so well you never have to use tape? I can't imagine how much more powerful of a vacuum pump I would need to be able to hold small letters down.. do you have a high powered cyclone dust collection system trying to suck them up off the table as well? Maybe that's the real culprit in my system..