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Laser cutting Plexiglass 8mm: speed, time and cost
Plexiglass 8mm cuts at about 4 mm/s on a 100 W CO2 laser in one pass. Below: what that means in time and money on common machines, plus settings tips. Price your own file in the calculator — it runs in your browser, nothing is uploaded.
Open the calculator preset for Plexiglass 8mm →Plexiglass 8mm at a glance
| Material group | Plexiglass / Acrylic |
|---|---|
| Thickness | 8 mm |
| Reference cut speed (100 W CO2) | 4 mm/s × 1 pass |
| Air assist | low air assist (high air frosts the edge) |
| Diode lasers | no — clear/translucent acrylic passes the 450 nm beam |
Time and cost by machine (100 × 60 mm part, €60/h)
| Machine | Speed | Time | Machine cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| xTool D1 Pro 10W | cannot cut clear acrylic (diode beam passes through) | ||
| xTool D1 Pro 20W / S1 20W | cannot cut clear acrylic (diode beam passes through) | ||
| OMTech K40 (40W CO2) | 2 mm/s | 2 m 40 s | €2.67 |
| OMTech / Gweike 60W | 3 mm/s | 1 m 47 s | €1.78 |
| OMTech / Thunder / Gweike 80W | 3.6 mm/s | 1 m 29 s | €1.48 |
| 100 W CO2 (workshop reference) | 4 mm/s | 1 m 20 s | €1.33 |
Speeds scale from the workshop reference by machine class. Material, setup and margin come on top — open the calculator to add them and nest parts on your sheet.
Settings tips for Plexiglass 8mm
cast acrylic gives a flame-polished edge; extruded melts more. Leave the protective film on while cutting. Test-cut a small square first: dial speed, not power, until it just cuts through — cleaner edge, less char.
Can your machine actually cut this?
A diode laser cannot cut clear acrylic. This is a wavelength problem, not a power one: the 450 nm blue beam passes straight through transparent acrylic and deposits almost no energy, so a 40 W diode will sit there marking the honeycomb underneath. Clear acrylic needs a CO2 laser (10.6 µm), which acrylic absorbs almost perfectly. Dark, opaque and cast-coloured acrylic can be cut on a strong diode because the pigment absorbs the blue light — slowly, and with a rougher edge.
8 mm is thick, and it is where machine choice starts to matter. A weak diode will not get through this cleanly at any speed. On a CO2 machine, set focus to roughly the middle of the sheet rather than the surface, so the beam waist sits inside the material and the kerf stays parallel — focused at the top, the cut tapers and the underside opening comes out noticeably narrower. Expect a slower job and a darker edge, and expect the underside to need a light sand.
Buying the right sheet
Buy cast, not extruded. Cast acrylic (often sold as GS or Plexiglas GS) cuts to a clear, flame-polished edge straight off the laser. Extruded acrylic (XT) melts rather than vaporises and leaves a cloudy, slightly rippled edge that no amount of settings tuning will fix. If the seller does not say which it is, it is almost always extruded.
Safety — read this before the first cut
Never cut polycarbonate or PVC. Polycarbonate looks identical to acrylic on the shelf and is often sold beside it; in a laser it absorbs badly, burns yellow-brown and leaves a scorched, brittle edge. PVC and vinyl are far worse — they release chlorine gas, which corrodes the rails, mirrors and electronics of your machine and is genuinely harmful to breathe. If you cannot confirm the sheet is acrylic, do not cut it.
Getting a clean edge
Keep air assist low. Acrylic is the one material where a strong blast hurts you: it cools the cut face too fast and turns a glass-clear edge cloudy. Just enough flow to keep flame off the surface is right. Leave the protective paper on the top face while cutting to avoid flashback speckle, and peel it after.
Plexiglass 8mm FAQ
How fast can you laser cut Plexiglass 8mm?
On a 100 W CO2 laser about 4 mm/s in a single pass. Diode lasers are roughly 5× slower (and cannot cut clear acrylic at all). A 100 × 60 mm part (320 mm of cutting) takes about 1 m 20 s at 4 mm/s.
How much does laser cutting Plexiglass 8mm cost?
Laser cutting is priced by machine time: cut length ÷ speed = time, × hourly rate (€60/h typical for a small shop) + setup + material. At 4 mm/s a 100 × 60 mm part is about €1.33 of machine time before material and setup.
What settings do I use for Plexiglass 8mm?
Start from your machine's plexiglass / acrylic preset, use low air assist (high air frosts the edge), and do a test cut: if it doesn't cut through, slow down 10–15% before adding power. cast acrylic gives a flame-polished edge; extruded melts more. Leave the protective film on while cutting.
Where to buy Plexiglass 8mm
Cast acrylic engraves to a frosted white; extruded goes clear and gummy. For engraving you want cast, and the listing has to say so.
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Other Plexiglass / Acrylic: Plexiglass 2mm · Plexiglass 3mm · Plexiglass 4mm · Plexiglass 5mm · Plexiglass 6mm · Plexiglass 10mm