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Laser Cutting Acrylic — edge finish, detail & cast vs extruded

CO2 laser cutting on acrylic gives you a glass-clear flame-polished edge straight off the machine — no second-step finishing for most signage work.

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Standard capability

Laser Cutting Acrylic
Process
CO₂ laser cutting
Machines
Thunder Laser Nova 51 · Production Laser
Material
Acrylic / Perspex
Stocked thicknesses
1.5–12 mm
Max sheet size
1220 × 2440 mm
Max cut thickness
12 mm
Standard cut tolerance
±0.2 mm

Job-specific details — yield, edge finish and lead time — are confirmed when we quote your file.

Cutting on the Gold Coast? Acrylic laser cutting — Gold Coast →

Materials

Industries

Browse the confirmed material list →

Laser Cutting Acrylic

Acrylic laser cutting is the bread-and-butter cut for signwriters, retail display fitters and shop-front fabricators across the Gold Coast and South-East Queensland. The polished edge means letter sets and faces come off the bed ready to mount, the same way every run.

We run a CO2 laser routine on cast and extruded acrylic. Cast acrylic gives the cleanest cosmetic cut and is the standard pick for retail letter sets, awards, plaques and decorative pieces. Extruded acrylic cuts well too but has a slightly different edge character — generally fine for backers, jigs and back-of-house work. If you're unsure which grade you've got on hand, send a photo of the supplier label and we'll confirm before cutting.

Intricate detail is where laser earns its keep. Inside corners stay sharp, small features hold up, and there's no tool-side compromise like you'd see on a router bit. We can engrave-then-cut in one job — useful for backlit signage where you need a registered logo on the surface before the outline gets cut out.

This is a trade-friendly cut. Files in, parts out, predictable turnaround. For repeat work — signwriters running standard letter ranges, display fit-outs with the same shape across multiple stores — set up a trade account and we'll keep your job files indexed for next time.

Good for

  • Sign faces, letter sets, plaques, awards, retail display pieces
  • Anything where a polished edge straight off the cut matters
  • Intricate logo cuts with small interior detail
  • Engrave-then-cut work in a single setup
  • Cast acrylic where the edge needs to read as glass-clear, not machined

Not for

  • Foam PVC — never lasered, the fumes are toxic
  • Polycarbonate — laser leaves a yellowed edge; we route it instead
  • Very large flat panels where bed-fit becomes the constraint
  • Heavy structural cuts that need a thick machined edge rather than a flame-polished one

Laser Cutting Acrylic — common questions

What file types can I send?
DXF is the cleanest — that's a single-line vector format the cutter reads directly. AI, SVG, PDF, EPS and DWG all work too. If you've only got a JPG or a sketch on paper, send it anyway and we'll tidy it for you (small file-prep charge applies).
How should I prepare a DXF?
Outlines only, no fills. One closed path per cut. Different operations (cut, engrave, drill) on different layers so we know what gets which tool. Convert text to outlines before exporting so we don't have to chase the same font. If anything's ambiguous, write it in the file name or add a note in the quote request.
Cast or extruded acrylic — which should I buy?
Cast for anything where the edge will be seen — retail letter sets, awards, illuminated faces. Extruded for back-of-house jigs, brackets and pieces that are painted or hidden. Cast is more expensive but cuts cleaner.
Can you engrave then cut in the same job?
Yes — that's a standard workflow. Put the engrave artwork on one layer and the cut path on another in your DXF and we'll run them in sequence. Saves you a second handling pass.
How quick is a quote?
Most quote requests reviewed within 1 business day. Simple trade jobs may be quoted faster during business hours (Mon–Fri 8am–4pm AEST). Complex, review-required, or unusual jobs may take longer. We'll tell you up front if so.
Can I pick up or do you deliver?
Both. Pickup is from Helensvale by appointment — we'll send the address when your job is ready. Local delivery covers the Gold Coast, Brisbane, Logan and Tweed Heads, quoted per job. Freight elsewhere in Australia on request.

Related

File-prep rules · How to prepare your artwork for cutting

Ready to quote laser cutting acrylic?

Quote back, usually within 1 business day. No card needed.

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