Clear extruded acrylic sheet Perspex™
Our supply: 2mm, 3mm, 5mm are generally a stock item at the Production Studio
Thickness: Available in 2mm, 3mm, 4mm, 5mm, 5.8mm
Sheet sizes: A full sheet of acrylic measures 3000 x 2000mm and we can cut up to this on our biggest machine. We can get sheets in lots of other sizes too, including these standard sizes 2400×1200mm, 2030x1525mm, 2000×1000mm, 1500×1000mm, 1000×1000mm, 1000×500mm, 500×500mm, 500×250mm
Your supply: If preferred, you can also supply your own acrylic at any thickness up to 20mm, any sheet size up to 3000×2000mm
See drawing guidelines for more on setting up a file for laser cutting and engraving.»
See more on laser cutting acrylic service»
Material Properties
Manufactured by extrusion, extruded clear acrylic sheet is more suitable for laser cutting than cast acrylic. It laser cuts with a highly polished edge. Clear extruded acrylic sheet transmits 92% of light, which in many cases is a better light transmission than glass.
Typical Applications
Model making, Point of purchase, signage & display, furniture, models and display cases, glazing, forming and fabrication.
Laser cutting
Acrylic sheet is supplied to us with a protective plastic film on both sides. When only laser cutting is required, we leave the plastic film on. This helps to reduce heat marks and protects the surface from scratches.
Cut widths & Kerf
As a benchmark, we recommend that minimum cut widths be no smaller than the corresponding thickness of the material. For example, if cutting from 3mm acrylic, its best not to allow anything less than 3mm in width. We can go smaller (see cut width image above) but this can make your components quite fragile which might not be suitable for the application. “See more on laser Kerf (how much the laser takes away.)”:
Cut edge
Acrylic laser cuts with a highly polished edge. We achieve this using a high laser frequency (ppi. pulses per inch ) that melts the edges as it cuts. If you look closely at the edge it is not entirely smooth and is made up of lots of tiny vertical lines. This is caused by the pulses of the laser which is more evident on thicker acrylic.
Thicker acrylic
As with all materials thicker than 10mm we use a longer focus lens to help the laser maintain a clean cut. Thicker acrylic has a slightly different appearance than thinner acrylics where the pulsing of the laser is more evident. Read more cutting thicker materials and focal length.
Diamond polishing
For volume orders that require engraving from uniform sizes of rectangular or square acrylic sheets we also offer a diamond polishing service. Get in touch to find out more.
Laser engraving
Extruded clear acrylic engraves with little contrast so is more suitable for cutting purposes only. If you require engraving also it is best to specify to use clear CAST acrylic which engraves with a white milky finish.
Manufacturing tolerance
Perspex Extruded acrylic is manufactured in accordance with ISO7823-1, which means for the thickness range of 2 to 25mm, a manufacturing tolerance of +/-10% plus 0.4mm (e.g. 8mm cast sheet could vary from 6.8mm to 9.2mm).