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Tim Bateson
04-18-2009, 9:59 PM
Has anyone tried cutting Rowmark using this tip?:

"If the bed is sprayed with a light misting of water and the material is placed face up, the water will act as a cooling agent and absorb some of the heat, thus preventing warpage."

Rowmark is saying to cut on a flat surface rather then the cutting grid. They also suggest cutting face down on a misted surface.

Sounds time consuming, but is it worth considering?

Joe Hayes
04-18-2009, 10:13 PM
I have not tired the mist water idea. Rowmark has always suggest cutting from the back side for as long as I can remember.

I have found that just getting my vector settings tweaked to the right point stops and warp problem. We do a lot of plastic in our shop and we use Rowmark and New Hermes plastics. Warping is not a problem. I also would find cutting from the back to be a pain. We layout, auto focus, send over as a combo engrave then vector. We do this with all thicknesses.

Hope that helps some.

Joe Pelonio
04-18-2009, 10:40 PM
I use transfer tape and mist when I cut the non-laser stuff, as I did yesterday (not all colors are available in laserable, and in this case, it was ADA material and they wanted the harder rotary stuff)

Tim Bateson
04-19-2009, 12:10 AM
I did some tests with misting the front prior to cutting - WASTE of time. The moisture evaporates the instant the laser hits it and the result is the same as no masking.


I need to get some good masking - I've always used painter's tape & it works great, but on Rowark it's hit & miss.

Mike Null
04-19-2009, 5:48 AM
Tim


I agree with Joe. Settings are all important. Too many people want to use all their laser power and a somewhat faster speed than is optimal for cutting. On some materials I use two passes to get a clean smooth cut. An extra minute or two here will save many minutes in cleanup and beveling.

I do not get warpage except on 1/32" stock which is after the cut. The name tags for my highest volume customer are made from this material and I would not use it if it were a problem.

Bill Cunningham
04-19-2009, 10:13 AM
I did some tests with misting the front prior to cutting - WASTE of time. The moisture evaporates the instant the laser hits it and the result is the same as no masking.


I need to get some good masking - I've always used painter's tape & it works great, but on Rowark it's hit & miss.

Tim, a great source of masking (transfer tape) is your local vinyl sign shop, particularly one that does mostly large signs. There are always roll ends that are all but useless to the sign maker, and often they will just get thrown out (you can only collect and keep so many for smaller jobs). I'm sure most of them will be glad to give you some ends with a few feet left on them. My next door neighbor is a signmaker, and keeps me well supplied with not only transfer tape, but many acrylic cutoffs (mostly white, but they make great long lasting templates) I always put transfer tape on any plastic before cutting. For Romark etc.. I never cut all the way through. After etching the face, (I don't put the tape on until the face is etched) I set the speed and power to just score the material about 3/4 through. This keeps the entire piece together making cleaning, and polishing (a good polymer car polish - I use Nu-Finish) much easier. Once cleaned and polished I just snap the pieces apart. They pretty well always snap clean, with no rough edge. If you get one, a very slight rub with some fine emory cloth does the trick