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This is my first post here. I look forward to asking more questions, and eventually providing more answers on these boards. So here goes...
We commonly cut polycarbonate in thicknesses from 1/16" up to 3/8" thick. Often times the parts are required to be optically clear with no more than 1 blemish per square foot and that blemish cannot be more than 1/16" in diameter. The problem that we run into is that the normal surface coatings on polycarbonate do not adhere well enough to keep the parts protected after cutting. We know that using long lead-ins or leading in from the edge works well for parts with no internal holes or contours, but many of our parts have internal features. Does anyone know of a coating or a method to apply to polycarbonate to keep the surface coating intact after cutting?
I used to operate a laser and cut mirrored stainless steel plates from time to time. The high pressure nitrogen from the nozzle would blow the coatings off of the stainless and we had the same problem until we found a coating called LaserGuard. That stuff remained intact through cutting and was incredibly difficult to remove after cutting, but was worth it to keep the parts protected. As far as I know they don't make a coating for plastics, unfortunately.
Anyone have any ideas to try? Thanks in advance for any tips!
have you tried stacking a sacraficial sheet on top to protect the surface? you'll need to keep the material tight at the pierce point, don't let it just float on the surface or it just lifts off and allows the jet to sometimes "fog" the pierce point. slowest way, predrill the pierce points, if surface finish is critical.
have you tried stacking a sacrificial piece on top? material needs to be tight, secured to keep material so the water doesn't get between the parts and float the top sheet allowing water to fog the pierce points
My machine has an option for a drill head which pre-drills the pierce points, but we don't do enough of this type of work right now to justify owning it. We have tried the sacrificial sheet, but it still seems to blow the surface coating up pretty bad and get garnet under the coating.
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