Cutting acrylic and I have scarring

Hi there,

I’m cutting 1/2" thick acrylic with a Boss 50w CO2 laser, and I’m having scarring on the sides.

Here’s my parameters:

3mm/s
95% power
5 passes

Does anyone have an ideas on how to get a cleaner cut? I’m trying to make templates to use a bearing bit on, so it needs to be smooth.





You do not have enough power with a 50W machine for clean cutting 1/2” acrylic.

Clean cutting with polished edges means a single pass at just the right speed to cut and polish (as well as using a long focal length such as 101mm).

Your biggest hurdle is the multi pass cutting. You’re heating and reheating and melting surrounding acrylic of the kerf with every pass.

Example of 1/2” cuts on acrylic, one pass, 140w laser:

1 Like

I cut that thickness on a 60 watt in 3 passes, comes out pretty clean

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