I need art printed onto acrylic

[jasonbar]

Howdy-

Long story short: an any of our arcade art/printer/etc. vendor friends print directly onto .020" thick acrylic? I need artwork printed that has an opaque black region & 3 transparent red/green/blue regions. Artwork needs to be printed on one side only. Acrylic sheet needs to be laser cut (either before or after printing) into a simple circle with a couple of simple features.

I figure that printing onto Acrylic isn't too unlike printing onto a Translite or a video game bezel/marquee, so I hope that this is feasible.



Long story long:

I'm attempting to make reproduction color wheels for the Vectrex 3D Imager.

I've modeled the central plastic hub & am getting 3D plastic rapid prototype parts printed.

The disk that I will bond to the hub is .020" thick Acrylic & will be cut to a diameter of 3.747" (either before or after printing). Perhaps the discs can be *mostly* cut out on a sheet (leaving a handful of bridges connecting the disks to the sheet), printed, & then snipped out of the sheet & deburred. The 3D Imager sync with flickered images on the Vectrex & the black part of the disk blinds one eye while the other eye sees images through one of the 3 colored transparent portions. There are 2 different disk color schemes that work for 3 different original Vectrex games & a handful of newer homebrews.

Another option, though less desirable, is to laser cut the disks, print the art onto adhesive-back clear decal material, & then adhere the decal to the disk. My worry here is that the decal will peel up over time & then rub the inside of the Vectrex 3D Imager when spinning--there's not much clearance in there!

More info:

http://vectrex.wikia.com/wiki/3D_Imager


Thanks,
-Jason

[jasonbar]

Howdy-

I've made some progress on this project & found that printing the translucent colors or laying down translucent adhesive-backed film doesn't make for a very see-through glasses wheel.

Multiple sources have led me to inquire about silkscreening. Does anybody have experience with silkscreening translucent art onto a clear plastic wheel with enough clarity to look through it at a screen a few feet away? Think red/blue 3D glasses--that's the sort of quality that I need.

Thanks,
-Jason

[selfie]

I cut acrylics for clients that print directly to the material regularly so it is certainly a possibility. I can't comment on how it looks though as I never see the finished product.

Printing and cutting requires two different machines and the alignment is where the problems occur. If you print first you can print registration marks but those marks mean nothing to the cutter. Cutting first and cutting a fixture to align the piece in the printer.

There is "optically clear" print media available but you will have to talk to a printer or a sign shop to get some printed.

Silkscreening won't give optical quality, it will be "pixelated" due to the nature of the screen. I believe printing from a high quality digital printer will do this also but not to the same extent.

My suggestion would be to get the discs cut and then use signwriters vinyl cut and applied by hand.