Stencils

[Ian Franks]

Hi Guys
Another newbie question we make food stencils from PVC sheets on our plotter cutter. I would like to do this on the laser out of Mylar or equivalent. I have been phoning around for Mylar and none of the sign supply shops stocks this. I have sent an email to the local Dupont office.
Are there any other trade names that are used for laser safe material?

[Larry Bratton]

This company sells it. I got a quote from this once and best I recall it was reasonable. Check it out http://www.grafixplastics.com/laserpro.asp?gclid=CNeCpbyI76gCFRFj7AodPGesJA

Oh, and you could also use oilboard. It works well for stencils. U-line sells it.

[George D Gabert]

We get our Mylar film for making blue prints from a local engineering / drafting supply house.

[Ian Franks]

This company sells it. I got a quote from this once and best I recall it was reasonable. Check it out http://www.grafixplastics.com/laserpro.asp?gclid=CNeCpbyI76gCFRFj7AodPGesJA

Oh, and you could also use oilboard. It works well for stencils. U-line sells it.
Thank Larry,
I am in South Africa so am looking for a local supplier. Would oil board be suitable for food stencils?

[Ian Franks]

We get our Mylar film for making blue prints from a local engineering / drafting supply house.
Thanks George will try that just will it be stiff enough to hold above a cake and sprinkle?

[Dan Hintz]

How big is the cake? For powdered sugar/doily type of work for anything other than a cupcake, I would want 20mils+ for stiffness.

[Richard Rumancik]

Drafting film usually stops at .007" as there is no need for thicker material for that application. Not that many people actually draw on Mylar anymore. The thickest industrial polyester I have found is .014" (not sure why - must be a technical limitation in the process.) That would probably be marginal for what you want to do - it might flex, especially given that it will have lots of cutouts. What thickness of PVC have you used in the past? You might consider PETG. It won't cut with a beautiful edge but for this application I think it could work. Since PETG is often used for food (bottles) you should be able to find sheet that would pass.

[Bill Cunningham]

You might also check with commercial screen printers in your area. Many over laminates for membrane switches are screen printed Mylar, and some of it is quite stiff..

[Larry Bratton]

Thank Larry,
I am in South Africa so am looking for a local supplier. Would oil board be suitable for food stencils?

No, I just meant stencils in general..probably too thin, although I think the stuff is just cardboard.

[Andrea Weissenseel]

I make cake stencils out of 10mil Polyester film, Mylar I only use for wall stencils - mylar is not food safe

[Al Bray]

If one is looking for thicker/rigid material that cuts well in the laser, I have been using the 60 mil ABS blank industrial sheets from Stencil Ease.

http://www.stencilease.com/db/display.asp?input=2334

They also reference a 40mil sheet material, at this link http://www.stencilease.com/milhelp.asp , though there on-line store doesn't have it as an ordering option.

[Ian Franks]

Thanks for the replies everyone I will see if this rings some bells with the suppliers

[Ian Franks]

Has anyone cut a polyproplene sheet. I am getting samples on Priplak and is TCF (Total Chlorine Free). So will report back when tests are done.

[John Noell]

Living on an island in the middle of the Pacific, we improvise. For stencils we use old x-ray films. They cut beautifully and are nice and stiff. Now my neighbor has expanded her tiny digital photo and typing business by doing custom t-shirts with the stencils I cut and my airbrush.

[Andrea Weissenseel]

Ian, Priplak is a great material and I ran y couple of tests with it - unfortunately I could not get any good results with my laser. It cuts but it remelts :( I'm curious about your results

[Dan Hintz]

It cuts but it remelts
Did you use air assist? You need to blow any remelt out of the kerf...

[Ian Franks]

Ian, Priplak is a great material and I ran y couple of tests with it - unfortunately I could not get any good results with my laser. It cuts but it remelts :( I'm curious about your results
Andrea,
My results are the same, it won't burn through. The material was 0.8mm and speed was 200mm and power 100%. I use a 50w chinese laser. I will see if I can get a thinner sheet. But will have to keep looking. My air assist is on all the time.