Plex/Acrylic Policy and Recommendations

Output Shop guidelines for cutting plex/acrylic

Type of plastic/acrylic: Extruded vs. Cast

This is a big one. You can find some info
here
Basically, you really want to be working in cast plastics (according to the experts at Canal Plastics) if you going to me machining or laser cutting your sheets. According to the experts, a sheet of cast is much much harder than extruded and as such cuts cleaner and is far less likely to warp, melt or bend when it is cut or machined. We can actually cut both types and often do but you will get better results if you get cast plastics (Plex GM, Acrylite GP, Ploycast, Acrycast, Chemcast and Lucite L are all brands of cast plastics).

Color vs. clear

As long as you stick with the above guideline of cast vs. extruded for color acrylic you should be fine. According to what we've seen, almost all colored acrylics/Lucite/plastic is cast plastic, which should cut just fine. The key is stick with cast plastic. If you get an non-cast colored acrylic it is very likely not actually acrylic and could be dangerous to cut. We're only going to cut cast colored material and ideally, we'd like you to stay with one of the aforementioned brands. Please include a copy of your receipt stating what you bought when you submit your laser job so as to avoid delays/confusion. Canal Plastics, and TT Plastics both carry ChemCast brand cast colored acrylic and this should be fine to cut and comes in a variety of colors. The responsibility lies with you to provide us with the proof of what you bought.

Where to get it and what to buy:

Here are some local vendors that can be trusted and sell what you need:

Canal Plastics--http://www.canalplastics.com--212-925-1666
T&T Plastics--http://www.ttplasticland.com--212-925-6376

AIN Plastics--http://www.ainplastics.com--914-668-6800 (press #1 for any inside sales rep and then ask for "Godfrey" and mention Mark Taylor from CU's GSAPP). They have a $70 minimum delivery charge (they use their own trucks) so consider getting together and placing a bulk order with other studios/students.

Also, if you look at many of the sheet plastics listed on the AIN Plastics website they have MSDS Data Sheets. IT's worth looking at these if you are unsure of a material (especially sections 3 and 11, Hazards Identification and Toxicology Information respectively). Here's an example for Acrylite GP

We hope that this eliminates some of the confusion regarding this subject. Tito and the Output Shop Staff can and should not cut something that they are unsure of or if its composition. Please respect their decision if this happens, but if you follow the above guidelines we should be able to avoid this problem. If you already have some material and are unsure of it's composition please contact the vendor and see what info you can get. The Output Shop, Tito and I will handle these on a case by case basis.

Remember the best thing you can do is tell your vendor that you will be laser cutting the material and that you are concerned about off-gassing and toxicity. Again, here's a list of good brands to simplify things for you. :

Plex GM (again, some other Plexiglas brand products are O.K., just double-check)
Acrylite GP (we also cut the FF but the GP is cast and produces better edges)
Ploycast
Acrycast
Chemcast
Lucite L

Please contact Output Shop staff with any further questions.

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