application tape question

[Doug Lynch]

We have a customer that we engrave plywood panels for inserts into cabinets. He furnishes the wood and we have the power settings that he wants us to use to get the depth he wants. We put a layer of application tape then engrave and cut it out. He wants us to leave the app tape on it because he paints the engraved parts. Now the problem. The engraved areas still have a sticky residue left over from the app tape. Is there a different way or a better app tape we can use to get rid of this problem? We are using the EnduraMASK brand of app tape.
Thank you
Doug

[Dan Hintz]

Are you sure it's the tape? Once the laser hits it, the tape (and adhesive) are pretty much vaporised. Are you sure it's not resin/glue in the wood that's sticky after being hit with the laser?

[Doug Lynch]

Yes we tried one with out the tape and it was not sticky.

[Mike Null]

If it's not too much trouble try a clean up pass with the laser.

[Scott Shepherd]

I had that exact same problem years ago. I kept reading where people where using transfer tape and I tried several different brands and all did the same thing. It melted the adhesive from the transfer tape down into the burn and would never get cleaned up, even with a repeat pass. It was a mess.

I fought it on several projects that were masked and finally just abandoned the idea of trying to make it work. I read where people do it all the time, but I never had any luck with it.

[Steve Clarkson]

Is the design such that you could vector cut the tape, weed and then engrave? It would probably work for text but not a detailed image.

[Duncan Crawford]

For what it's worth, I use a different/medium tack paper tape-- "H & H Sign Supply's GT Paper Application Tape" and find no residue issue. I use it on smooth (220 grit sanded or finer) maple, unfinished, to protect the wood from cutting residues. I also use it for signs-- paint the blank with the background color, apply the tape (using roller), engrave through and paint fill the lettering. Of all the many signs I've made there's yet to be a residue issue, nor residue on unfinished maple (or other wood). As Dan Hintz noted, the tape and adhesive is just gone when hit with the laser. Looks to be about the same price as what you're using.

duncan

duncan

[Joe Pelonio]

Too much speed or not enough power, or the thickness of the adhesive on the transfer tape. I have had good luck with R-Tape and TransferRite. The high tac does a better job as mask for painting, but doesn't engrave as cleanly.
The heavier weight paper medium tac is best, like TransferRite 582U 4.3 mils. If the wood need a lighter engrave and you can't make the transfer tape work, run it in vector mode, fast and low to cut the paper first. It will make for a cleaner edge but you will have to remove the cut letters with tweezers.

[Doug Lynch]

Thank you all. I will order the "H & H Sign Supply's GT Paper Application Tape" and/or the TransferRite582U 4.3 mils. Both sound like it would work a ton better than what we have. But as I wait for that to come in I will do the vector cut thing and weed it out. On some of them it will be a job but worth it. These are Military patches that are right at 14 inches tall but some have a lot of detail. We did think about a second quick pass but the customer has a very tight torerance for the depth of the engraving.

Thanks again.
Doug

[Chuck Stone]

I'll second the R Tape. before I found that I was testing different masking tapes.
all left residue like that until I got an actual transfer/application tape. They look
the same, but they're not. (hey.. I'm still new!)