Clear acrylic is probably the most underestimated material for your laser, hands down. Most crafters skip it. They don’t know what to do with it. And that is exactly what makes it an opportunity for you and me.
Today I have three projects, and every single one showcases a technique that is going to change how you look at this material permanently.
Now, I want to set you up for success here, so before we get into it, you need to know – not all acrylics behaves the same way.
We need to quickly go over one of the biggest differences between cast and extruded acrylic sheets.
Cast acrylic engraves with that gorgeous, frosty white finish.
Extruded acrylic engraves kind of clear and more melty than frosty.
Everything you’re going to see today is clear cast acrylic. No color, just that crystal-clear sheet, and we are going to make it work hard for us.
Since we are going to need to cut and engrave clear acrylic, I am going to be using the FLUX beamo.
It’s a super compact, 30w CO2 laser.
This is important because here’s what some companies skip out on when they’re selling you on a diode laser: diode lasers literally cannot engrave or cut clear acrylic.
The blue diode light beam just disperses off the surface, no matter the wattage. You get a gooey mess or nothing at all.
A CO2 laser beam is infrared. It actually absorbs into the material and does exactly what we want. Slice and dice, baby.
Time to get to these techniques! I promise, you are going to learn something in this one!
HOW TO GET FROSTY ENGRAVINGS
For this first project I’m gonna make Cat earrings! These are light, they’re adorable, they are dumb cheap to make, and here is why they’ll actually sell: that frosted engraving on clear acrylic catches light in a way that colored acrylic just doesn’t do.
It looks expensive. It’s got that “oolala” factor.
Customers pick these up and think they are so simple, yet alluring. “I must have these,” they’ll say. At least that’s the goal!
No joke, when positioned correctly, you can get $15, $20 or even more for jewelry like this. For about 50 cents of material.
Here’s how we get a perfect frost engraving.
First step, go into your kitchen and grab your dishsoap.
Before I put this into the beamo, I’m gonna take off just one side of the masking paper off – keep the other side on – and rub a thin coat of dish soap right onto the surface. Just a thin film, not a bubble bath.
This does two things: it protects the surrounding area from smoke and resin during the engraving, and to cleanup afterward is just a rinse under water. That’s it. Done.
In case it needs a little extra buffing, I use this Novus #2 Plastic Polish.
From there I just need to put on the hardware. Jump ring, ear wire, boom.
We went from a flat clear boring piece of acrylic to a pair of fancy pants earrings.
The main reason I like taking off the masking on the engraving side is because this is a pretty involved engraving. Having to take off all the masking in between the engraving is not impossible, in fact, we’ll be going over how to do that in the next project.
HOW TO COLOR FILL ENGRAVINGS
Project two is a suncatcher and I love this one because of the process. 100% laser made, no extra machines needed.
Tell me that wouldn’t stop someone in their tracks hanging in the sun at your craft booth.
This time, we are keeping the masking on the acrylic the whole time it’s in the laser.
Quick note on masking, you are going to want a paper based masking for this. If your acrylic came with a clear or plastic cover, replace that with something like this wide masking tape.
We are going to engrave right through the masking into the cast acrylic underneath.
And then, here’s the fun part, we fill in the design with paint markers while the masking is still on.
I like these oil paint pens; acrylic pens work too. Even just using bottles of paint and a paintbrush. It all works.
The masking is doing double duty here. Protecting the acrylic surface AND catching any overflow from the paint markers. So, you can absolutely color outside the lines a little.
Let the paint dry.
Once completely super dry, it’s time to get that masking off. The easy way.
Strong duct tape. I like this gorilla tape. Press it right onto the edge of that masking and peel.
If your paint is coming off with the tape, it might not have been totally dry yet – or – try again but with a deeper engraving for the paint to settle into.
If some of your paint happened to smear or get under the masking, here’s where that Novis #2 Plastic Polish comes into play again! Just be careful not to buff away the paint.
Now, look at that. Crisp, colorful engravings, perfectly clear acrylic between them, and that clear background let’s all the light through. Hang one of these in sun at your booth and watch what happens.
These price out beautifully, $18 to $35 depending on size, or sell smaller ones as a bundle of three!
The technique takes a little patience but the material cost is basically nothing if you’re working from cast acrylic scraps.
HOW TO ENHANCE CLEAR ACRYLIC
Okay, project three. Custom price tags. Made from clear acrylic. And we’re using a technique called reverse engraving — but with a twist.
Start by spray painting one side of your clear acrylic piece black. Or whatever color, really.
Just a couple light coats. Let it dry completely.
Now here’s the trick, we are going to engrave this painted side but will be viewing it from the clear side. The masked side goes face-down, on the honeycomb bed.
In Beam Studio, I flip the design horizontally — mirror it — so when we engrave into the painted back and then flip it over to look at the front, everything reads correctly.
Then it’s time to engrave and cut the shape.
After it’s cut, pull the masking off the front for the grand reveal!
Doesn’t that look nice!?
The black paint is now a background behind the engraved design, making it super legible. The front is smooth, clean, and professional.
I’m just making price tags, but the possibilities of this technique is endless!
CLEAR ACRYLIC TIPS
Okay, a few quick things that will save you from learning them the hard way.
Number one — air assist. Clear acrylic with no air assist can be a disaster. Flare-ups, melt marks, charring. The beamo has an air pump all wrapped up in the machine, just make sure it’s running before every job.
Number two — strong duct tape on masking removal for any larger pieces. You saw it in the suncatcher project. Use it everywhere. Your fingernails will genuinely thank you.
Number three — cast acrylic only for these techniques. If you try the soap method or the frosted engraving on extruded acrylic, you’re going to be disappointed. The engravings won’t frost. When in doubt, test a small scrap first.
The FLUX beamo laser is compact enough to fit on any worktable. It’s a 30w CO2 laser so it handles clear acrylic and everything else you want to throw at it, and the Beam Studio software is really clean to work in once you get the hang of it.
I love a laser that comes with it’s own program.
If you’re thinking about adding a CO2 laser to your setup — or you’re starting from scratch — this is a strong place to start. The link to learn more is down in the description, so click that and see what else this powerful little beamo can do!
In fact, I would love for you to see how easy the FLUX beamo is to set up and what else I have been making with it, so check this video out next!
Thank you so much for watching and Happy Crafting!
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