[KwartzLab] source of Acrylic sheet for Laser Cutter

[James Bastow]

For work, I buy in bulk from interstateplastics.com

Buying full 96x48 sheets and having them cut to size (no waste) is economical. Not sure how much freight costs (couple hundred pounds; it comes on a pallet).

James

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-----Original Message-----
From: doug moen <doug at moens.org>
Sender: discuss-bounces at kwartzlab.ca
Date: Thu, 22 Dec 2011 17:45:00 
To: KwartzLab Public Discussion List<discuss at kwartzlab.ca>
Reply-To: KwartzLab Public Discussion List <discuss at kwartzlab.ca>
Subject: [KwartzLab] source of Acrylic sheet for Laser Cutter

I'm cutting some acrylic next month for a laser cutter project, so I
did a bit of research on where to get it cheaply.

A-K & Lippert Plastics at 962 Guelph St is close to Kwartzlab, and
will sell new acrylic cut to size. But it's expensive: 1/8" is $8.70
per sq ft, 1/4" is $13.25 per sq ft.  That's $11.34/lb and $8.63 / lb.
 Available colours: white black blue green orange yellow red amber,
light & dark smoked.

KW Surplus sells scrap plastic for $3 / pound. The sheet plastic
seemed to be all polycarbonate, I didn't see acrylic.  Polycarbonate
should be avoided.  Although it doesn't contain chlorine, it
nevertheless releases toxic yellow smoke that gums up the laser,
requiring extra cleaning. The cut edges are rough and burned looking.
http://support.ponoko.com/entries/20189761-can-ponoko-cut-polycarbonate-plastic

These guys sell 25 lbs of scrap acrylic for $108 (~ $4.20 per lb).
That seems like a good deal, unless I was wrong and KW Surplus really
does have acrylic in the size you need for your project.  "This
package of acrylic has various coloured sheets. The thickness is
mostly 1/8" to 1/4 (3-6 mm) and sheet sizes are mostly 2' x 3' (69 x
91 cm) and generally masked. This is an econmomical way to buy your
acrylic."
http://kidder.ca/assorted-off-cuts-of-acrylic.html

So, my current idea is to do a group buy of 25 lbs of acrylic from Kidder.

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