Cut something that appeared to be acrylic, cuts like acrylic, fire tests like acrylic, but the flames it produces are mad. 2mm sheet, clear. Definitely not polycarbonate.
Smells different though. In focus, lens clean, cuts well. What a heck is it if its not acrylic ?
100w CO2 (EFR F4 tube i believe) Video below.
Don’t smell it too much. 
Try a scratch test to see if it’s softer than regular cast acrylic.
With a thin piece does it snap nicely when you bend it?
Hi.
Acrylic is just a marketing term, there’s a lot of variations in materials that can be -and are- sold as “acrylic”.
Or in any other material that’s marketed as plastic for that matter.
Couple that with all sorts of coatings and additives available, and it’s easy to see how it’s virtually impossible to know how a random piece of plastic behaves when cut.
Obviously not possible from a pic or a clip shot with a regular camera with regular optics and filters intended for visible range image capturing, but comparing the approximate colour of the flame with the spectrum chart of materials when burnt in regular air can give an idea about the material composition.
“Can give”, because any time a material is superheated, all sorts of splitting and fusing can (and usually will) happen, and that can throw the spectrum analysis off.
In any case:
is always a good practise when dealing with unknown fumes and the byproducts those fumes produce when burned.
Not all plastic fumes are toxic or irritating, but it’s pretty safe to say that there’s not such a thing as a health safe plastic fume.
Regards,
Sam
