Hi Julien,
Well, by no means am I an expert with acrylic, but I’ll share what I can. This was only my second project with it. The only ways I’ve come across getting nice clear edge walls were sanding/torching on the edges, and an upcut single-flute bit for the cleanest smaller cuts. If you don’t want to do any torching, one trick might be to rub some butcher block oil on the edges, which won’t create a mirror-smooth wall finish, but could clear up some residue and get it a little closer to clarity. I tried it on some polycarbonate/Lexan, which was a mistake to use in the first place, but it helped clear things up a bit.
The only other thing I can think of to try is to get into microgrit sanding, which would be a LOT of work, sanding through progressively finer sandpapers, then liquid microabrasives and polishes. That’s how pens are finished on a lathe with CA glue, or also in acrylic, but they’re a lot less work than sanding and polishing edge walls by hand.
Update: Ok wow! I read more of your journey in getting clean cuts on curved wall edges through actual advanced mastery of the software and hardware. Reminds me of Zeno’s paradox about a rabbit never actually being able to catch a turtle by creating a perfect zero distance between itself and the turtle. When I wrote that I enjoyed clean clear cuts after much trial and error, I meant in contrast to the frayed, messy cuts I had been getting with wood and gunked up Lexan, which melted, versus much cleaner-cutting cast acrylic. I learned way more from reading your discussion than any advice I might give as a rookie lol. My hat is off in respect.
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