Laserable Styrene or Substitutes?

[David Fairfield]

One more question for the scale modelers here-- has anyone found a laserable material that can subsitute for white styrene sheet?

If you build models you know how great sheet styrene is because its completely smooth, flexible, sandable, takes glue and paint perfectly. Unfortunately under the laser, cuts have a tendency to melt and partly re-heal, and it doesn't raster worth a darn.

So far, the best substitute I've found has been micro plywood, but it requires a lot of surface preparation to hide the grain. Acrylic also works, but its brittle and I can't find it in sheets thinner than about 1mm. It can also warp under the laser.

So, any suggestions for a laserable styrene-like material? Thanks!

Dave

[Larry Bratton]

One more question for the scale modelers here-- has anyone found a laserable material that can subsitute for white styrene sheet?

If you build models you know how great sheet styrene is because its completely smooth, flexible, sandable, takes glue and paint perfectly. Unfortunately under the laser, cuts have a tendency to melt and partly re-heal, and it doesn't raster worth a darn.

So far, the best substitute I've found has been micro plywood, but it requires a lot of surface preparation to hide the grain. Acrylic also works, but its brittle and I can't find it in sheets thinner than about 1mm. It can also warp under the laser.

So, any suggestions for a laserable styrene-like material? Thanks!

Dave

Just a thought..how about Rowmark ADA Alternative applique? It's 1/32" thick, acrylic, laserable and comes in a bunch of different colors. You can get it with or without adhesive. If my math is right, that would be .79375 mm. It cuts like a dream.

[Kim Vellore]

Dave,
Call up Johnson plastics they have very thin acrylic sheets which are just like styrene sheets, perfect for lasering and model making. I have been using it for a while. I dont have the part # if you do get the part # can you email to to me. I think the thinnest I got is .01" .

Kim

[David Fairfield]

Thanks for the tips so far, will follow up on all!

Kim, I found Johnson plastics, just wondering on the acrylic sheets, are they flexible? The 1mm clear acrylic I have here will snap just from normal handling Cuts beautifully though!

Dave

[Kim Vellore]

Dave,
I have been using .01" acrylic and it is just like styrene but laserable. 1mm is a little thick and flexible but becomes brittle when there are many fine cutouts in it. What thickness are you looking for?. Have you tried the ADA some are double colored and comes in the thickness you are interested in.
I have a bunch of different types of plastics if you want to try some.

Kim

[Dan Hintz]

Are you using air-assist? The air should blow out any molten material before it has a chance to "heal".

[Robert Ray]

That clear acrylic Kim is talking is what they call Modified Acrylic. I got it from Johnson Plastic in .010" and .015" thickness. It is pretty flexible, but not exactly like Styrene. It vector cuts and rasters great!

Here is some Corn Stalks I rastered out of it:


Here are some Z Scale Brakewheels I rastered out of the .010" stuff:


I also rastered some Z Scale roofwalks out of it to make lower profile ones than come with MTL boxcars. The rastering went all the way through just fine without melting. The Bowtie roof patterns is the .003" acrylic peel & stick material, I think it's called flexibrass, but it has an adhesive backing, a white substrate, and black layer, so that stuff is very useful too:



This is the .020" thick white Modified Acrylic that I used to convert the hatch and dump chute arrangements on a cylindrical hopper. This stuff works almost exactly like styrene, but you must use superglue to bond it (superglue slightly melts it too). I have not tried any of the dedicated acrylic solvent glue yet:



I ordered mine from Jim Isham, Mgr Johnson Plastics California 866-869-7820 Ext 2201 fax 925-680-0970


-Robert Ray

[David Fairfield]

That Z scale stuff blows my mind! Even with the dime in the photo its hard to grasp how small this stuff really is.

Thanks for the pointers I will experiment with some modifyied acrylic.

My next big project is a 1920 vintage steel steam tug in HO. The front of the deck and wheelhouses will need to curve around from port side to starboard. I guess it can be thermoformed if necessary.

Thanks again, this has been very interesting for me!

Dave

[Howard Garner]

Please post some stock numbers when you get a chance.
I model in HO and regular styrene does not work the way I would like.

Howard Garner
VL300 30 W
www.cwrail.com