Cnc Cutting Acrylic Sheet

Due to its impact resistance, transparency, and toughness, acrylic is a widely used manufacturing material. Acrylic can create optical devices like contact lenses and glasses as well as window and door panes, greenhouse panels, light fixtures and even electronic screens. The leading applications of acrylic in the medical industry today are for cuvettes and tubing connectors, but it is also used to produce test kits, syringes, Luers, blood filters and drainage wands as well as flowmeters, blood-pump housings, fluid silos, surgical-blade dispensers, incubators and surgical trays.

Acrylic can be cut into various complex shapes, but this material requires finesse as it is prone to stress cracking and crazing during machining and post-processing. CNC machining is an excellent way to manufacture acrylic, as it carefully strikes a balance between force and fragility. CNC-machined acrylic is strong, durable and precisely manufactured for ultimate performance. Here's how it's done.

Why use CNC machining to cut acrylic?

Thanks to its precise manufacturing methods, CNC machining can cut acrylic with just the right amount of force to avoid irreversible damage, quickly and effectively producing acrylic components with accurate shapes and sizes. This minimizes waste, increases accuracy and contributes to better CNC machining dimensional tolerances that improve long-term performance.

Acrylic can be cut using CNC mills or CNC lathes. CNC lathes are generally used for softer materials like wood, foam, plastic , etc. 

A CNC milling machine is very precise because it uses a multi-point cutting tool that can move along different axes. This presents you with a variety of angles to cut from, which increases precision. CNC milling is perfect for hard materials like metal and some high-performance plastics. Many engineers cut acrylic using a CNC milling machine to achieve optimal handling strength.