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Terry Swift
05-13-2010, 3:22 PM
All,

I've had issues with taping materials like granite, that the tape doesn't seem to stick all that great and in certain cases I have to overlap the tape and at that junction with the tape engraved out, paint runs into that area and creates a mess and trying to clean it without affecting the engraved area with paint has been very hard to do.

Any and all ideas about how the tape needs to be laid on larger pieces that are wider than the tape will be appreciated.

I bought the tape from LaserBits, so thought I was getting the right stuff to engrave with.

Gary Hair
05-13-2010, 4:31 PM
Terry,
I don't know what tape LaserBits sells, but "lasertape" from just about anywhere should work on granite. You could use sandblasting stencil, it comes as thin as 10mil, but that's way overkill just for painting. I would suggest you check with Judi at Innotec, she has some tape I have been using for several years and it works fine for me. I don't have her direct number handy, but their main number is 800-776-7194 - tell her Gary from Laser Image sent you!

Gary

Dan Hintz
05-13-2010, 6:13 PM
Also consider making very light sprays of the paint... several light, almost dry coats are much better than one heavy one that is so wet it slips under the mask.

Dee Gallo
05-13-2010, 7:42 PM
Terry,

It might not be obvious but it is imperative to rub down the edges of the tape just to make sure you have good contact before spraying. The laser can cause small gaps you can't see especially if your air assist blows just the right place at the wrong time. A few seconds of running a credit card or similar around the edges will help a lot.

As said before, several light coats applied at a right angle will also help to avoid unwanted underspray.

Good luck, dee

Terry Swift
05-13-2010, 8:29 PM
All,

Thanks for the advice. On my next project I have to do, I am making sure that small crease is tight as can be and I'll watch it on the paint too.

You guys and gals are great.

Bill Cunningham
05-13-2010, 10:32 PM
A 'helper' once cleaned a piece of granite for me with a wax based furniture polish.. It had a real nice shine, but transfer tape would not stick to it, and I doubt if masking tape would either. Had to use a wax stripper to get it off.. Did you clean your granite with something 'before' you tried to tape it?

Rodne Gold
05-14-2010, 1:35 AM
the "tape" to use is Vinyl sign application tape - the paper based one - you can get it from any vinyl supply house/signage supply house and it comes in low medium and high tack and in rolls up to 1m+ wide and its cheap. Its the stuff used to lift the cut and weeded vinyl letters off the backing and then transfer it to the object to be lettered , its less tacky than the vinyl itself and tthus the letters get left behind and the tape peels off.
At the same time buy a squeegy or rubber roller to push it down after applying it.