I hope you’re doing well and happy new year 2025!
I’m new in the world of CNC, I already did 4-5 projects that gone well!!!
My new challenge is to realize acrylic boxes for a friend. He bought good quality panel of 1/4 thickness.
In my head, the way to do it is :
doing a contour of each side of my box with a Vbit 90 degree, to be able to have clean 45 degree angle everywhere.
My question is, I dont see anybody doing it. People usually cut with a standard 1/4 bit but by doing it that way, how to you achieve you bevel/chamfer at 45 degree?
The first question is to find out if the Acrylic you have is cast (Good!) or extruded (not as good). Cast cuts better.
If not indicated directly, I think that Cast typically has paper facing on it, while Extruded has a thin plastic sheet attached to it.
Other than that, the advice is usually slow RPM’s and high feed rate - you want big shavings, because any rubbing at all can cause melting.
The usual bit people recommend would be an ‘O flute’ (single cutting edge). Most V bits have 2 cutting edges, so you would want to dial the RPMs down even further.
Finally, make sure you have enough material to run a few practice passes. It would be difficult to get a perfect cut on the first try, as Acrylic is notoriously finicky.
I’ve cut a ton of acrylic. I think mitered corners on 1/4" acrylic sounds tough. For the corners to look good, I think they’d have to be polished prior to glue. If your machine is dialed in, and you can keep the acrylic flat, you might test doing a miter “fold” box. I put fold in quotes because the acrylic will not fold, but with the right adhesive, that might give you the best shot at a tight seamed box.
