Acrylic Sign
"Rocket Motel"
Laser cut and engrave your very own retro acrylic sign. Use our "Rocket Motel" template or get inspiration for your individual acrylic sign.
Preparation
Required material
- 1/8" Red, yellow and orange sheets of acrylic or any colour of your choice
- Acrylic or all-purpose glue
Used Trotec Laser
- Speedy 400
- 80 watts
- 2.5 inch lens
Tip
Use the acrylic cutting grid table.
Step by step
Step 1: Design
Import the PDF file into Corel Draw and select the desired graphic (see the tabs below the working area in Corel Draw). Each tab contains the graphic for the different colours (red, yellow, orange).
Step 2: Laser settings
Cutting:
Power 100%, Speed 1%, Frequency 1000 Hz, Air Assist: ON
Engraving:
Power 70%, Speed 100%, Frequency 500 ppi, Air Assist: OFF
Step 3: Red - Laser cutting and engraving the main sign
We used red acrylic for the biggest part of the sign, but you can play around with your favourite colours. Please do not remove the protection film to prevent burn marks that may occur during the cutting process.
Cut out the main sign and the letters ("Rocket Motel") using the graphic from page 1. Remove the protection film and be sure to place the sign right in the corner of the cutting table to engrave "Color Cable TV" and "Low Rates". Next, remove the red letters that were cut from the acrylic for later use.
Step 4: Yellow - Cutting the background of the sign and the flame
Now we can move on to the yellow acrylic. To get a yellow background for the sign, cut out the frame of the main sign without the letters.
For the yellow flame of the rocket you can send the graphic on page 2 to the laser.
Step 5: Orange - Cut and engrave the rocket
For cutting and engraving the rocket use the graphic on page 3. You will also find markings in the template that will help you with placing the red letters of "Motel" on the rocket later. Just send the graphic to the laser and your rocket is almost ready for take-off.
Don't take the orange acrylic out of the laser just yet. Cut out the letters for "Motel" that will be inserted into the main sign next.
Step 6: Assembling the sign
After you're done with the cutting and engraving process, you have many parts that you can glue together with acrylic or all-purpose glue to create our "Rocket Motel" sign or your very own indivdual acrylic sign. Glue the red main sign onto the yellow background.
Gluing the letters:
Next, using a small amount of glue, stick the orange letters ("Motel") into the spaces cut for it on the red acrylic. The yellow background should stay visible behind "Rocket" but the small inner parts of the "R" and "O" are missing. To put them exactly where they belong, use the cut out letters like a stencil. Put the "R" and "O" inside "Rocket" (without glue!) and use a little drop of glue on the inner parts of the letters. Don't use too much glue or your stencil letters will be stuck as well. You can remove the stencil letters easily by using sticky tape. Just stick it across the "R" and "O" (but not on the inner parts) and remove the stencils carefully. As a last step, to finish up the main sign, you just need to insert the red inner part of the "O" in "Motel".
Get the rocket ready for take-off:
Now that the main sign is finished, let's get the rocket ready for take-off!
Use the engraved markings of the letters to glue the red letters ("Motel") onto the rocket. You should cover the markings completely with the letters. To give your orange rocket some fire, glue the yellow flame to the back of the rocket. Congratulations! You're almost there. Just glue the rocket to the side of the main sign and you're done. Of course, you can personalise this technique and create signs in all colours and forms. Have fun and be creative!
Hint - Cutting table:
Using an acrylic cutting table will prevent beam reflections on the backside of the material. It is especially important when cutting acrylics to extract the gases produced, in order to avoid flames and to get crystal-clear edges.