Hardened Polycarbonate

[pointless]

Hello, i am inda new to this forum stuff so please stay with me for a sec.

Mods. i did do a search for this but could not find what i was looking for.

I have a basic large format CNC router Table, the company i work for bought this system and hired me to run it for them. we primarily do plastics, (styreen, PVC, Plexiglass...) and foam boards in the printing industry. we had a customer recently ask us about a hardened polycarbonate. while i am sure that our machine is capible of cutting it with the right bit i am not sure of what type ans style bit we need.

if anyone can help it would be much apreciated.
if you need anymore info i would be glad to provide as i get it.

[DareBee]

Never heard of hardened Poly.
I have heard of glass filled (20% glass). Still machinable conventionally.

[Binski]

I also work in the plastics industry. mainly in perspex and polycarbonate but also other plastics.

I think what he meant about hardened polycarbonate is what General electrics calls lexan (polycarbonate sheets) Margard.

The term margard means that the surface ( besides double side uv protection) also has an extra coating to prevent scratching. Its a see through coating which is harder than the poly carbonate itself and with a thicknes of a few hundreds of a milimeter.

The "margard" version of lexan handles similar as the normal lexan so if you can manufactor products op that material you also can make something from margard


Best regards

Binski

[DareBee]

That would likely be what I order as "scratch resistance polycarb." coating is much the same as used on eyeglasses.

[Binski]

Yes
thats exactly what I meant.


I'm dutch so I could't find the words in english so quickly hahah. So I tried to explain it the best I could.

Other manufacturers also make pc sheets , e.g axxis, I believe they also make scratch resistant sheets like General electrics (lexan, margard)

[Geof]

Polycarbonate can be cut with regular tooling that would be used on acrylic or PVC. It is tougher so you need to make sure it is held down well or it tries to climb the cutter. Speeds similar to acrylic and feed can be a bit higher. Some type of lubricant is wise, I have used soap and beeswax rubbed along the edge to be cut or on the cutter.

Regarding the Margard you may find an up helix cutter tends to peel the Margard coating up leaving a fuzzy edge along the cut so straight flute may be needed. Also polycarbonate is normally very impact resistant, not at all like acrylic which can shatter if struck violently. Margard polycarbonate can behave like acrylic sometimes and is more brittle. I think it might be something to do with the hardened coating being brittle and causing cracks to enter the polycarbonate underneath.