Sunnyrock acrylic laser bay

The brief we gave ourselves

Our AcrylicClear Cut router setup handles clear sheet nicely. Soft hold-down, cool single-flute bits, and faces that come off the table without a scuff. The trouble was the work itself kept shifting. Retail crews asked for tall shop letters with tight inside corners, exhibition builders wanted display parts packed overnight, and lodge and fitout clients wanted an edge that already looks polished when it leaves the bed.

Routing those parts and then flame polishing every edge by hand was swallowing hours on the bench. Fatima Kader, who runs our materials recipes, summed it up in one line.

“The router is great for thick plate and ACM. For 3 to 10 mm clear acrylic with fine detail, a laser edge saves us a whole step.”

Fatima Kader, Materials Lead

That gave us the shopping list: a CO2 laser that takes a full 1220 x 2440 board without trimming it first, and a supplier who still answers the phone once the machine is bolted down.

Choosing the supplier

We spoke to a handful of importers before signing anything. AM.CO.ZA won it on three points that matter on a cutting floor.

• Service within reachTheir Johannesburg team is a short drive from Sunnyrock, so a visit is a morning, not a week. They walked our floor before quoting and asked about extraction, air supply and how we stack sheet.
• Fair price for the buildOn a machine with a 1300 x 2500 bed the quote was straight, with no add-ons for things we consider basic.
• Build qualityA rigid frame, a steady gantry, and spares we could see listed on their site rather than just promised.

We picked the LC-1325 large-format CO2 laser from AM.CO.ZA’s CO2 laser range, in the 130 W tube configuration, because it cuts the acrylic thicknesses we see most in a single pass.

Getting the room ready

Riaan Oosthuizen, who leads our field engineering, ran the install with the AM.CO.ZA technician over two days. Most of that time went into the room, not the machine:

• its own extraction run through the outside wall, with a fan from AM.CO.ZA’s extraction range
• dry, clean air assist from a compressor, so the lens stays clear and the edges don't frost
• a closed water chiller loop that holds the tube at a steady temperature through long nests

Moving the jobs across

Lindiwe Mbatha converted our existing acrylic toolpaths into laser jobs. Kagiso Seleka rebuilt the nest templates so a full sheet goes from the rack to the bed with its protective film still on the back face, which keeps the underside clean when parts drop. Wikus Steenkamp put laser coupons into the shift log, so kerf gets measured and recorded the same way our KerfCheck routine already does on the routers. If you want the background on that habit, our note on kerf coupons explains it.

A month of live work

After the first month on paying jobs:

• Retail letters for a Sandton refresh came off the bed with glossy edges and crisp inside corners, and skipped the flame polish bench completely. It follows on from our earlier Sandton retail letters run in ACM.
• Clear screens and display trays for a Durban expo were cut overnight, interleaved with paper and crated by morning, much like the Durban exhibition pack.
• Router hours freed up for ACM, MDF and aluminium plate, which is the work our routers are really good at.

“Clients notice the edge first, that's what sells the part. Now it looks the same on the first sheet and the last.”

Fatima Kader, Materials Lead

Keeping the bay running

A laser bay only stays sharp if somebody looks after it every day. Ours starts with mirror and lens cleaning, a look at the chiller temperature and a sweep of the bed for small offcuts. Consumables come from AM.CO.ZA’s CO2 laser parts and laser tubes pages, and their team has been quick to talk us through anything odd. The AM.CO.ZA guide stays bookmarked on the bay PC for machine notes and contacts.

Bay at a glance

Where	Cut2Shape floor, Sunnyrock, Germiston
Machine	LC-1325 large-format CO2 laser, 130 W tube, from AM.CO.ZA
Sheet	Full 1220 x 2440 boards, loaded with backing film on
Typical parts	Shop letters, sneeze and counter screens, display trays, model parts
Room kit	Wall extraction, dry air assist, water chiller
Daily care	Mirrors and lens, chiller check, bed sweep, kerf coupon in the log

Laser or router for clear acrylic

Letters, screens, display parts and model pieces in clear or coloured acrylic now go to whichever machine suits the part better, the laser or the router, and every nest is planned for its yield from the sheet. The bay runs on our Sunnyrock floor. Other jobs are on the projects page, and our acrylic edge finish page covers the router side.