Plexiglas laser cutting

Plexiglas, also known as Perspex, PMMA, and Acrylic, is very easy to laser cut. Laser cutting is cost-effective and precise. This allows you to create custom plates or designs. Plexiglas is available in beautiful colours, matte, gloss, and transparent. Upload your design and see the cost of laser cutting instantly. Then, your Plexiglas will be delivered quickly.

About the names

Plexiglas is the most well-known brand name for a material actually called Acrylic. The technical name is PMMA, or Polymethyl methacrylate. But nobody remembers that, so it's often colloquially referred to as Plexiglas. Other brand names include Perspex, Altuglas, Satinglas, greencast, etc. Lexan is a different material. That's polycarbonate, which is not suitable for laser cutting. We usually call Perspex acrylic, because we supply this material from multiple brands. However, it is all exactly the same material.

What is Perspex or Acrylic?

In short: a plastic sheet often used for design, lettering, model making, casings, etc.

Perfect for laser cutting

Acrylic is the most popular plastic for laser cutting. This is because it's a beautiful material that also comes out of the laser beautifully. With attractive glossy edges and no defects, thanks to a protective film on both sides. This allows you to create high-end, professional-looking designs.

Crystal clear, UV resistant, and suitable for outdoor use

Plexiglas is widely used for lettering (facade letters, logos, signs, etc.) and signage. This is because it remains attractive outdoors in various weather conditions and retains its colour. Clear is just as transparent/translucent and bright as real glass. Clear acrylic is available without colour or with colours. Additionally, we have semi-transparent acrylic and coloured acrylic.

Frosted, matte, gloss, opal, and milk glass

There's a lot of jargon in the world of Plexiglas. Let's explain:

• Frosted means it has a matte (granular) surface and is translucent. Frosted is available in colourless or coloured.
• Matte. This refers to non-transparent (opaque) sheets with a matted surface.
• Gloss. 'Standard' (i.e., if it's not frosted or matte) then the acrylic surface is glossy. You can get both colourless (clear) and coloured transparent as well as coloured opaque gloss acrylic.
• Opal is glossy, white acrylic that allows light through. It's also known as milk glass.
• Fluorescent. Fluorescent colours of transparent sheets. When held under blacklight (UV light), the edges, laser engravings, and the entire sheet glow brightly. This effect is also present in normal sunlight, albeit less intensely.
• Clear or crystal clear. This refers to transparent uncoloured material. In other words, the most glass-like.

Mirror

Mirror acrylic is crystal clear with a reflective layer on the underside. It's a beautiful material and visually indistinguishable from glass mirrors. It's available in natural (uncoloured) as well as gold (gold mirror), anthracite (anthracite mirror), and pink.

Mirror acrylic is also perfect for laser cutting into any shape you desire.

Sustainability

Plexiglas can be 100% recycled, and it is. Many of our acrylics are made from residual streams. We keep our acrylic cutting waste separate, and it's collected by a specialised party who returns it to the factory for recycling.

Thicknesses

Plexiglas is available in various thicknesses. The most common thickness is 3 mm. We also stock many colours of this thickness.

• 0.5 mm precision acrylic
  
• 1 mm clear acrylic
• 2 mm clear acrylic
• 3, 4, 5, 6 mm clear acrylic
  
• 3 mm extruded acrylic
• 3 mm mirror acrylic

Cast or extruded

There are two ways PMMA sheets can be made. Most acrylics we offer (and which are common for laser cutting) are cast.

Cast means that liquid acrylic is poured onto a large glass sheet and cools there until it hardens.

Cast acrylic has the following properties:

• easy to laser engrave (engraving becomes matte and whitish)
• varies somewhat in thickness.
• available in many colours and variants.

The other production method is extrusion. Here, liquid acrylic is pressed from a mould into a flat sheet. Our mirror acrylic and Extruded acrylic are extruded.

Extruded acrylic is also referred to with XT in its name and has the following properties:

• more consistent in thickness.
• difficult to engrave (no contrast is created).
• fewer variants available.

How much does Plexiglas laser cutting cost?

That depends entirely on your design. How large it is, how many pieces you order, etc. We have developed a handy online tool that calculates the precise cost for you as soon as you upload your design.

To give you an indication (prices ex. VAT):

• Cutting a small custom plate costs €15 - €20
• Laser cutting a complex design costs €30 - €200
• Laser cutting a small part in a series costs €0.50 - €5 per piece

Order Plexiglas laser cutting online

Do you want to have plates cut yourself or create your own design and have it cut? You can. For this, you need a digital design of what you want to cut. This is a 1:1 design in AI, DWG, DXF, SVG, STEP, or vector PDF format where each line simply becomes a cut through the sheet. More about the design rules.

Have a design? Create a free account on account.snijlab.nl and drag your design into the browser. Then choose your material, and you'll see the price for custom laser cutting instantly. Next, choose a delivery date. This can be as fast as the next working day, or same-day (if you collect in Rotterdam). Order and pay online, and get it delivered quickly.

Need help? Our customer service team is ready to assist you!