Troble with IPI plastic

[sal shepherd]

I just got some IPI plastic ( lep12 & lep15 ) it has a cap sheet of .001. I am having a hard time engraving through the cap. I am running Epilog 60watt my settings are 75 speed and 95 power 600 dpi. Iam on my 4th run on the same piece. I ran a peice of romark for trophy plates it runs fine. I cleaned lenses what next?

I should have gotten rowmark

[Sandy Henry]

Any chance they sent you the rotary stuff instead of laserable material? Happened to me once.

[sal shepherd]

it labeled laserable

[Larry Bratton]

Try this..100s/25p. Thats the Epilog recommended setting and I find them to work most of the time.

[Dan Hintz]

Sal,

At that speed, you should be closer to 20P... you either have the wrong material or something is wrong with your laser (loose lens, bad alignment, etc.).

[Larry Bratton]

There is such a thing as getting it too hot.

[Joe Pelonio]

Is the entire sheet doing that? I found IPI to ALWAYS be warped, so you have to take extra care to get it to lie flat or it will be out of focus.

[Mike Null]

I agree it's way too much power and the dpi should be 400 or 500. 600 dpi is not necessary.

I use IPI exclusively and have never seen those numbers. Where are you buying your material? All the stuff I use for my laser begins with LZ.

[Larry Bratton]

Yes, I use some IPI also. I checked their website and it looks like everything they sell for laser is preceded by an LZ designation. 300dpi is plenty for plastics

[Rob Bosworth]

Try flipping the sheet over!

[Mike Null]

Rob

That thought crossed my mind as well.;)

[Larry Bratton]

Huh? If he's engraving through a cap, that would have to be the up side..am I missing something here?

[Ross Moshinsky]

I engrave both the Romark LZ and IPI LEP's at 70 power, 80 speed and 600 DPI with my 30 watt laser I've found when rastering text I never go below 500dpi and rarely go above 600dpi.

[Rob Bosworth]

Larry, if he can't get through the cap with all the power he is using, maybe he is trying to engrave the wrong side of the sheet. I don't know, but the new caps take very little power to get through. If his laser is good, and his optics are good, then maybe he is trying to engrave on the wrong side of the sheet.

[Larry Bratton]

OIC..hahaha..I suppose it is possible that he is trying to engrave the WRONG side. I just assumed he had it right. (know what you do when you ASSUME). I thought the reference was to the material being warped posted by Joe.

[sal shepherd]

Well I finished the job, I actually got tired of cleaning mirrors and lense. 5 passes on material , it vector cut with ease. This was a strange problem. I ck material and I was engraving the proper side. I thought it could have been my art not thick enough lines. So I engraved on Romark with .001 cap sheet, no problems with text or a shaded graphic. Should have taken off the plastic mask and use paper mask? I am taking a piece to another shop and let him engrave on it. He has Epilog also. Thanks for your replies, I will let you know the out come.

[Ross Moshinsky]

Well I finished the job, I actually got tired of cleaning mirrors and lense. 5 passes on material , it vector cut with ease. This was a strange problem. I ck material and I was engraving the proper side. I thought it could have been my art not thick enough lines. So I engraved on Romark with .001 cap sheet, no problems with text or a shaded graphic. Should have taken off the plastic mask and use paper mask? I am taking a piece to another shop and let him engrave on it. He has Epilog also. Thanks for your replies, I will let you know the out come.

Yes, remove the mask. The mask will take A LOT more time and effort to engrave through. There is no reason to mask laser friendly materials. Masking when vector cutting isn't a huge deal, but rastering makes the project way more difficult.