For anyone who has experience engraving acrylic for LED lamps, what spindle bit works best?
Square End Mill, Ball Mill, V Bit, etc…
I have done some of these. For creating a nice design, use a V-bit, and use a mirror image design, so that you look through the acrylic at the design when lit up. It looks much better that way. For cutting out the acrylic, use a single-flute bit (endmill) that is made for plastic. For the V carving and for cutting out the whole thing from the stock, cut at the lowest RPM and fastest feed rate you can to get chips and not melt the plastic. I use a 1/4 or 1/8" single flute carbide bit.
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Also: Old TVs and discarded computer monitors are a great source of clear acrylic. You have to buff off the diffusion pattern on it, but it is high quality stuff, often 6 or 8mm thick.
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