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Cast acrylic

The laser's favourite: flame-polished edges, eighty-plus colours, thermoformable; carbon-expensive when virgin, so use it where nothing else will do.

also called Plexiglass · Acrylic · Polymethyl methacrylate · PMMA

100 mmCast acrylicPhotography pending

The numbers

Density
1190 kg/m3
Manufacturer datasheets
Tensile strength
75 MPa
Manufacturer datasheets
Flexural strength
116 MPa
Manufacturer datasheets
Flexural modulus
3210 MPa
Manufacturer datasheets
Elongation at break
4 %
Manufacturer datasheets
Vicat softening point
110 degC
Manufacturer datasheets
Thermal expansion
7.7 x10-5/K
Manufacturer datasheets
Refractive index
1.49
Manufacturer datasheets
Rockwell hardness
102 M scale
Manufacturer datasheets
Water absorption
0.23 %
Manufacturer datasheets
Fire classification
B2 (DIN 4102) · M4 (NF P92-507) · HB (UL 94) · Class E (ISO 11925-2)
Manufacturer datasheets
Light transmission
92 %
Manufacturer datasheets

No embodied-carbon figure is shown. We do not yet hold one we are licensed to publish, and an unsourced number is worse than none.

What works it

Thermoform
CNC route
Laser cut

In the library

116 variants on the catalogue · held as sheet · 2–5 mm

The laser cutter's favourite material: it cuts with a flame-polished edge, comes in eighty-odd colours from water-clear to soft pastels, and thermoforms with a strip heater into almost anything. The honest part: virgin acrylic is carbon-expensive: several times a sheet of plywood, kilo for kilo. That doesn't make it wrong; it makes it precious. Use it where nothing else will do, keep the offcuts, and reach for the recycled route (Green Cast) where you can.

Tips from the Lab

  • Never clean it with alcohol or glass cleaner: it crazes. Warm soapy water and a soft cloth. · cleaning
  • Sand to 1200 grit before you flame-polish: the flame amplifies whatever scratches are already there. · finishing
  • Cast acrylic laser-cuts to a flame-polished edge; extruded does not. If the edge matters, check which one you have. · laser
  • Leave the masking on until the last possible moment: a dusty bench alone will scratch it. · handling

Products

Brands of this material the Lab holds or has worked with.

Compare with

Editorial pairings: the comparisons worth making, on aligned scales where the figures allow one.

Come and work with it

The Lab holds this material. Visit to see it in person and talk to a Technologist about working it.

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Sources

  • Manufacturer datasheets
    Datasheet VALUES cited as facts with a link to source. Imagery all-rights-reserved by default — photograph our own swatches; manufacturer imagery only via per-manufacturer written permission.

Every value on this page names the source it came from and how firmly it is known. Where we hold no figure we are licensed to publish, we show none.