Engraving and cutting keychains from mirror acrylic

Nov 07, 2026 Last reply: 3 days ago 4 Replies

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IronHound397 3 days ago

When everything is dialed in, this project turns sheets of extruded mirror acrylic into engraved and cut keychains, run on a 60 watt Epilog laser. The finished pieces carry a half-gear outline that flows into a smooth circular edge, plus a stylized monogram and a small starburst engraving. Samples are shown in silver, pink, and blue, and the reflective side of every sheet arrives covered by a protective film with a flat matte backing behind it.

The maker walks through two ways of machining the material. One route places the sheet mirror-side down so the artwork is engraved inverted through the back. The other flips it mirror-side up with the film peeled away first. The laser is shown rasterizing the gear-shaped logo and then cutting out the keychain outlines.

The results comparison is where this shines as a learning resource. Working from the reverse side keeps the front face smooth and yields a sharp, high-contrast graphic. Going through the front is noticeably worse: the pieces show visible raster scan lines, surface imperfections, and weaker contrast against the reflective face. The maker also notes that some etched finish will always remain because of the machining itself, which is a fair expectation to set for anyone attempting this.

A couple of loose ends stand out. The audio in the presentation came through low and garbled at points, which makes the already dense process harder to follow. And spraying a color onto the backside after engraving is something the maker has not attempted yet, so that remains an open avenue for anyone experimenting along the same lines.

Project by Maker Experiment. Watch it on their YouTube channel:

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LanternShop861 3 days ago

This looks like a fun one to replicate. One thing I could not pin down: during the final cut pass that separates the keychain from the sheet, does the protective film stay on the material or does it need to come off first? I would worry about it scorching right at the cut line, so knowing the setup would help before I run a test job.

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HarborSage_1978 3 days ago

Engraving through the backing with the sheet flipped mirror-side down seems like the smart call here, and the results back it up. You trade a bit of setup fiddling for a smooth front face and a sharp, high-contrast graphic. The front-side route shows scan lines and weaker contrast, so the extra flip step looks well worth it in my view.

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summit_lynx_1960 3 days ago

Since spraying a color on the backside after engraving has not been tried yet, that feels like the obvious next experiment. A dark coat behind the reverse-engraved graphic could deepen the contrast even further and give the keychains a more neutral backing. It would pair nicely with the high-contrast result the reverse method already produces, and it seems like a cheap test on scrap before committing a full sheet.

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storm_mule_1989 3 days ago

The maker has addressed part of that. For the example shown, the film was not on the piece when it was cut out of the preform. Separately, the maker says there have been no problems masking the underside to prevent backflash on the cut. So the film question for the final pass is answered by that example, and the backflash concern appears to be handled with masking.

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