open top pickup cover inserts - laser cut?

[MWaldorf]

Is there anyone here who's made inserts for open top humbucker covers on a laser cutter? If so, are there plastics that have been more successful than others? I've tried ABS and HIPS, but they melt. Acrylic cuts nicely but the color selection is very limited.

Thanks, Mel

[Lollar Jason]

Ive used all sorts of plastics even nitrate which if you put a match to it youll get an almost explosive fire- sounds like its either a problem of trying to cut the parts in one pass instead of multiple passes and or a speed or power setting problem. Acrylic will cut in one pass but I would bet without looking at a file on 3/32 abs we take 3 or 4 passes.Its been a while since I laid out a file for cutting that type of plastic so I dont recall exactly but cut from the back with two or three passes then for the final cut through the front use a little less power and a little more speed than the first cuts- also dont lay your material against the honeycomb down draft table- put it on top of a thing piece of single sheet cardboard or elevate it- that last cut should only barely mark the cardboard underneath and youll get a nice melt free surface on the abs

[MWaldorf]

Wow, thanks Jason! I'll try lower power settings, and lifting the cover off the honeycomb.

[Lollar Jason]

I looked at a file and it looks like a few passes at 30% power but actually you lower the speed so maybe 20% speed. It depends on your laser power and the material so you have to play around with it and your settings may be quite different than mine. I spent alot of time fussing with that years ago and as your tube wears you may need to adjust the settings down the road.

[MWaldorf]

Thanks Jason! I tried a bunch of different settings, but having found anything usable yet. The laser is a 45W Full Spectrum Laser. It does a great job on vulcanized fiber, so hopefully I'll manage something.

Mel

[David Schwab]

Acrylic cuts nicely but the color selection is very limited.

Use clear acrylic and paint it from the back.

[MWaldorf]

Thanks David, I got myself some acrylic to test with.