Print chipping away during rout

I am somewhat of a beginner with the multicam 1000 series router. I am routing out acrylic that has been printed on the reverse side (using a rastek flatbed printer), I have the back side (print side) masked and it is chipping away the print. Any suggestions on how to prevent this? Also, it is scratching the top side of the acrylic...Would you recommend a pre mask on the top side to protect the surface from getting scratched? Most sign shops I have worked at, we would rout the acrylic first, then paint it in a paint booth. I am wondering if I am doing this backwards by printing then routing.
Thanks,
Jason

hi there
I rout acrylic at work and then it gets printed. the acrylic should have masking on it when you rout it to protect it keep it on as long as you can as for it takes nothing to leave a mark

Premask both sides with paper after printing. Printing side down, upcut spiral carbide bit, that should have 0 chipping. Might work on topside printing too.

sure that makes more sense..

after cutting out, if outline is not a rectangle or square, I think you can print outline on another media and that shows where you have to place the cut acrylic fpor printing....

reynobond or sintra or coroplast works, but acrylic is different..

Thanks all for the input. All great advice!

Given you've got the CNC potion worked out, having the correct ink set will contribute to chipping also on acrylic. I know this is an older post, but digital UV presses usually struggle with acrylic and corrugated plastic specifically to get good adhesion.

always make sure that you cut into the material, so if your print is on top side, use a down cut bit, if the print is on bottom side use an up cut bit

but the safest way is to cut first print after - in case of a flatbed printer you can print a key line for positioning your piece