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Doug Novic
12-24-2011, 9:14 AM
I just finished engraving and cutting a lot of little mailbox ID plates with Rowmark LaserMax... a lot. Plus they are only 1" wide by 1/2" tall. No problems but now it is time to peel the protective plastic off of the fronts. A whole bunch of fronts. There has got to be an easier way. With all of the good minds and knowledge on this forum I am hoping someone has a cure for my ailment.

Thank you in advance for your help.

Doug

Mike Null
12-24-2011, 10:48 AM
You should peel the plastic off before engraving.

Doug Novic
12-24-2011, 11:04 AM
Trust me, that thought occured to me but Rowmark has it labeled all over the sheets to leave the plastic on while engraving and cutting. Being curious I tried some with the plastic off and they were a mess. An absolute mess. So with the quantity I had to do I did what Rowmark said I should do. I left the protective cover on.

Scott Shepherd
12-24-2011, 11:22 AM
The Rowmark I have here says to leave it on while shearing, cutting, profiling, or something like that, meaning while cutting to shapes, not while engraving.

You need something like an eraser (maybe a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser) that's got a little friction to grab it.

You should not be engraving through that, just vector cutting through it if needed.

Doug Novic
12-24-2011, 11:57 AM
I will give that a try. After engraving a few hundred I did the cutting and some were not just rectangle, Oval, square, trapazoid and this is why I left the protective cover on. They all came out great and precise. I just do not want to deliver them to the customer and tell them they have to peel the plastic off. Not too professionsl.

Scott, thanks again for the tip. I'll jet you know how it turns out

Martin Boekers
12-24-2011, 1:06 PM
Try using
some tape. Wad a bit up and rub the sticky side across the surface.

Neil Pabia
12-24-2011, 10:20 PM
Hot water may help, but careful not to melt the tags.

Mark Sipes
12-25-2011, 6:59 PM
I use Naphtha (ace hardware) also known as lighter fluid. $12.00 a gal or so. cleans the clear cover and residue off the LM products with little effort.

Mark Sipes
12-25-2011, 7:04 PM
After engraving a few hundred I did the cutting and some were not just rectangle, Oval, square, trapazoid and this is why I left the protective cover on. They all came out great and precise.


I don't understand why leaving the plastic on effects your precision when cutting the tags? if the laser is scoring the plates they should be spot on to the size you need. I only get erratic shapes when I cut at too high a velocity ... over 2" a second. hard to make a 90* when your flying at mach speed.

Emma austin
12-26-2011, 2:26 AM
I know it's too late now but I always take the plastic off but put on my own low tac signage tape. Still have to peel it off but is comes off easy and protects well.
I think once I cut through with the plastic still on an it seemed to melt it. I dont think you are meant to!
Hope you find a solution :)

Doug Novic
12-26-2011, 6:52 PM
I didn't get a chance to try the naphtha bit I will keep that in mind.

Mark, the plastic has nothing to do with the precision at all. Only the cleanliness of the pieces after they're cut. I have no problem engraving and cutting. It was just getting the protective cover off of so many little pieces.

Well I did it. I tried soaking, erasing, everything suggested plus a lot more and to no avail. So I just started picking. My son came into the shop, looked at what I was doing, tossed me a guitar pick and it worked great without damaging any Romark. Who'd a thunk? Ten stories of ID tags done.

I want to thank everyone for the ideas and suggestions. What a great resource of knowledge and experience.

Thank you.

Ernie Balch
12-26-2011, 7:29 PM
For future reference....I found that "Rapid Remover" dissolves the rowmark deposits with a single wipe. It is sold to sign shops as a vinyl remover. I follow it with a water rinse because it would probably dissolve the Rowmark substrate given enough time.

ernie

Chuck Stone
12-27-2011, 9:44 AM
My son came into the shop, looked at what I was doing, tossed me a guitar pick and it worked great without damaging any Romark. Who'd a thunk?

Dee mentioned plastic razor blades a while back and so I tried them. They're great, and
cheaper than guitar picks. Last time I checked, a 100 pack was under $3

Larry Allred
01-07-2012, 2:22 AM
Here's a little tool I use to get the adhesive paper off small parts. Should work for the plastic, doesn't scratch and is easy to hold and manage.

Cut from 1/8" acrylic and then bevel the small end with a file. If it gets dull just file the bevel sharp again.

Darryl Hazen
01-07-2012, 1:09 PM
Larry,
If you post cdr files it's best to post them in a lower version (ie Version 10) so others can open them.

Doug Novic
01-08-2012, 8:44 AM
Here's a little tool I use to get the adhesive paper off small parts. Should work for the plastic, doesn't scratch and is easy to hold and manage.

Cut from 1/8" acrylic and then bevel the small end with a file. If it gets dull just file the bevel sharp again.

Larry,

I tried it out. Cut the tool, cut some pieces of Romark and it worked perfectly. Great idea. Thanks for sharing.

donald bugansky
01-08-2012, 12:51 PM
When doing Rowmark, especially engraving white letter on blue background, I remove the plastic and I engrave bottom to top so blue removed doesn't hit the white letters and then when I'm done, I just spray some goo be gone on a rag and give each tag a wipe.

Works real well for me. I find it's better than trying to take the plastic off after the fact.

Bugs

Larry Allred
01-08-2012, 1:21 PM
Darryl- Good advice. I'll try to do that from now on. Thanks!

Doug- Thanks for trying it and the nice words. We make acrylic earrings and accessories for universities, along with the other normal stuff. The front paper comes off first, but it was always a pain to get the back off those small parts after lasering. It's fun to come up with solutions.