Lately I've been machining a few lithophanes out of corian. I've found that it gives a much better finish than white acrylic. but the cost of corian dictate the side of the finished product since i purchase all of my corian off of ebay. I can get almost the same look and effect out of the white acrylic, but the acrylic tends to get to hot and melt back on its self.
I'm using an engraving tool with a .03 radius with a stepover of .01. and i have compressed air blowing on the tool and acrylic while machining. My question is: Has anyone ever used a cold air gun in any fashion? to keep material cool or even the tool? i was wondering if they are worth the price.
Again I'm using a engraving tool with a .03 radius, and the feed on the x and y are 3" per sec. and 2" per sec on the z. I guess after proofreading my post i'm really asking has anyone found a way to keep the white acrylic from melting and still attemping to make it profitable?
Any input would be appreciated.