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Terry Swift
06-09-2011, 6:10 AM
I've lasered onto some walnut, a childs name in a fairly frilly script font. After lasering the piece and covering it with Laser Foil, I vector cut the foil; but it did not stick well. Is there a good adhesive to use before laying the foil down in the engraved part so that the foil will stick.

I had tried some polyurethane to help seal the wood and the laid the foil over it; but that didn't help any; especially in the very small / thin areas of the frill script lettering.

Maybe Gold rub~n~buff may be better; but I like the look of the metallic foil.

Thanks

Dan Hintz
06-09-2011, 6:14 AM
There may be some "special" glue people use, but I see nothing wrong with spray adhesive, especially for smaller lettering... mask, laser, spray, remove mask, apply foil, vector.

Rodne Gold
06-09-2011, 7:43 AM
Most self adhesive Foils and Vinyls are "pressure sensitive" , IE require pressure to burst the little "bubbles" that encapsulate the adhesives , so you really need to use a roller after inital vectoring to "anchor" the foils properly , it also takes a while for the adhesives to cure to max strength. The issue is of course that wood is not smooth , so you have to apply extra rollering and pressure to ensure the foils stick in all the grain valleys , furthermore , most foils are not elastic at all so they struggle to conform to the micro peaks and valleys. If you trying to stick the foils in a part you laser rastered , you will have even worse results as the surface is real bad.

Mike Null
06-09-2011, 8:31 AM
I use foil fairly often and I think you should apply it to the smooth unlasered surface then vector cut your outline. The adhesive is not strong enough to adhere to the rough engraved surface. If you want to engrave first then use a paint colorfill.

Here's an example of foil applied to a piano finish plaque.