Contour cutting for sign material: Which materials and minimum sizes are possible?
Contour cutting involves milling signs or designs precisely along a custom shape. Depending on the material and shape, certain minimum sizes apply to ensure technically sound production.
Here you will find an overview of the possible materials and minimum formats for contour-cut elements.
Small cut letters and motifs
Small lettering or individual designs can be produced particularly well from Forex® in 1 mm or 3 mm thickness . These material thicknesses can be cut precisely and are ideal for delicate shapes.
Important:
The minimum size of a motif is 5 cm on one side .
Simple milled shapes
Simple shapes have a uniform, continuous contour , for example:
- circle
- oval
Various materials are available for these shapes:
- Aluminum composite panel
- Forex® 5 mm and 10 mm
- Acrylic glass
The minimum size for these shapes is: 12 × 12 cm
Smaller formats cannot be reliably milled from a technical standpoint, as the material cannot be sufficiently stably fixed on the machine during milling.
Complex milled shapes
Complex shapes contain multiple corners or sharp contours , for example:
-
star
-
triangle
The following materials can be used for these shapes:
- Aluminum composite panel
-
Forex® 5 mm and 10 mm
-
Acrylic glass
The minimum size here is: 16 × 16 cm
With smaller designs, there is a risk of the material slipping during milling. Especially with shapes that have many corners, the milling cutter has to change direction several times, which can make very small parts unstable.
Technical notes on milling
The milling machines work with tools of different thicknesses.
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Standard milling cutter: 4.1 mm
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For certain materials (e.g., plywood, Forex® 5/10 mm and acrylic glass 5/10 mm): 6.1 mm
The tool thickness affects how fine the contours can be. Very small details are therefore not achievable with every material.