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Acrylic is a plastic material that goes by several names including Plexiglas. Acrylic is particularly useful thanks to its ability to be transparent like glass, but less brittle. Because of these properties it is very often seen in lighting applications, windows, and enclosures. Acrylic isn’t always transparent though, it comes in a wide range of colors, opacities and strengths and cuts very cleanly on lasers.

Acrylic is one of the cheaper plastics to use in designs thanks to its simplicity in production as well as its widespread use. While natural acrylic is transparent, pigments can be added to give it almost any color conceivable, and it can be made to be either fully transparent or fully opaque. Ponoko offers a wide range of various plastic materials including acrylic, and these can even be made to have special coatings including an anti-static and gold mirror finish. Furthermore, Ponoko offers acrylic sheets in a variety of thicknesses allowing for a wide range of designs to be manufactured.

Acrylic has a vast range of different practical applications and is often the material of choice for engineers. For example, acrylic is exceptional when used as an enclosure material especially in designs that need to be corrosive-proof and waterproof. Acrylic is a good material for engraving, and this makes it ideal for creating LED logos that are edge lit. Furthermore, acrylic is also excellent for use with small tags and other small designs including keychains, switch covers, and signs. Clear acrylic is also particularly useful as a light guide and can be used to redirect the light from an LED found on a PCB to the outside of an enclosure.

While wood may be aesthetically pleasing, and steel is strong, acrylic is a material that has a very good strength to weight ratio, is chemical resistant, and is waterproof. Acrylic is stronger than glass making it ideal for use in screens and displays, but it is simultaneously lighter than glass making it very practical in mobile designs. Acrylic is also a material that works well with glues such as superglue and acrylic glue. As these glues form a fast bond, creating acrylic structures can be done at speed with little effort. Furthermore, acrylic can give a design a very professional finish with clean-cut edges, precision engraving, and complex designs.

Being stronger than glass and its ability to withstand wide temperature variations acrylic does not break easily. However, acrylic cracks during structural failure instead of bending or warping, and thus there is little warning when it does break. Despite this, acrylic does not shatter like glass when it breaks, and the resulting shards are dull presenting little danger to those exposed to the edges.

This is a hard question to answer as it depends on the brand of acrylic used. Most plastics fail disastrously under UV light and will often yellow. However, American made Plexiglas, Lucite, and Acrylite do not deform or change color even when exposed to the sun.

While acrylic is strong, light, and cheap, it is not able to handle high temperatures. The melting point of acrylic is 160°C, and it should be noted that the material begins to deform at temperatures below this. Therefore, acrylic cannot be used in high-temperature environments.

Acrylic is plastic, and as such its life expectancy depends on the environment it is used in. Some acrylic has been known to last up to 30 years when left in the outdoors without showing signs of yellowing. If kept in a relatively safe environment, engineers can expect to get 50 years out of a part before signs of failure show.

Ponoko is able to get laser cut parts shipped in just 24 hours thanks to a carefully planned series of steps from design submission to shipping. The first stage involves user design submission that is completed all in-browser and ensures that the user’s design conforms to standards used by all Ponoko processes. Furthermore, Ponoko has a team of specialists who are not only able to efficiently operate the equipment but can also identify potential problems before they manifest in the final product. Daily shipments are sent out with several shipping providers to provide customers with their desired delivery timeframes.

One of the biggest challenges of moving a design from the alpha stage to the beta stage is finding a manufacturing process that is cost-effective and produces a product that is professional. While 3D printing can be cheap, low cost 3d prints are often also low in resolution. This means both the surface finish and strength are of a lower quality than could be achieved with laser cutting. Plastic injection moulding can produce high-quality parts, but its cost is only justified when used to make tens of thousands of parts. Laser cutting combines the speed of printer technology with the precision of CNCs, and can be used to create professional designs that not only look like the finished product but may end up actually being used at the end product (such as laser cut panels and engravings). Furthermore, Ponoko is able to offer production rates from single pieces all the way to tens of thousands enabling engineers to quickly scale their designs with ease.

Ponoko has more than a decade of experience in the laser cutting industry and is trusted by many thousands of engineers around the globe. Ponoko parts can be found in almost all environments ranging from the deep ocean all the way to the edge of space, and with key users including NASA, Google, and Intel, customers can be assured to receive the highest quality services possible. At Ponoko, we offer an incredibly wide range of materials including various types of wood, many different plastics, steel, copper, and brass. Furthermore, all of our engineered materials are carefully sourced from responsible suppliers with supply chains that can be trusted. Ponoko also prides itself on its ability to protect customer information and intellectual property and guarantee that any design sent to us is in the safest of hands.