Grid Holdowns

[George M. Perzel]

Hi gang;
I laser a lot of thin plywood-sometimes pretty big sheets. These tend to warp and are difficult to lay flat for even engraving or cutting. Those of you who use eggcrate grids with 1/2" holes may find that 1/2 inch nylon screws work great for holding the edges down-also can be used in cutting applications by drilling a large hole in a waste area and using the screws to hold down the material. The threads on the screws provide just the right amount of gripping power yet can be easily removed-available at McMasters and various other hardware suppliers.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts
218324

[Gary Hair]

Great idea, thanks George!

[Ron Chapellaz]

Awesome idea George! I'm going to give that a try!

[Larry Allred]

I've been using flat steel weights and blue tape, but this sure sounds like a great solution. Thanks, George!

[Dewey Schramm]

I'm still using the standard epilog honeycomb grid for most of my cutting and have the same issue with quality of plywood. I spend a lot of time readjusting and using corian cutoffs as weights (and judging where to put them to not interfere with the laser head) to resolve the problem. Anyone else solving this in a way that make sense? I believe I read long ago someone using a mechanism to hand weight from underneath the honeycomb.

I'm open to other ideas, because I'm spending way too much time with lesser quality plywood (yes, I know - solve the plywood problem and the warpage goes away on it's own!). As I get down in my supply my next call is to Michael Kowalczyk for an attempt at increasing plywood quality.

In the meantime, any help with a generalized solution to being able to quickly hold down the material would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Dewey

[Denver Shearon]

Hi gang;
I laser a lot of thin plywood-sometimes pretty big sheets. These tend to warp and are difficult to lay flat for even engraving or cutting. Those of you who use eggcrate grids with 1/2" holes may find that 1/2 inch nylon screws work great for holding the edges down-also can be used in cutting applications by drilling a large hole in a waste area and using the screws to hold down the material. The threads on the screws provide just the right amount of gripping power yet can be easily removed-available at McMasters and various other hardware suppliers.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts
218324


Pardon my ignorance, but what are egg crate grids?

[George M. Perzel]

Hi Denver;
What I call the standard aluminum grid with 1/2" square holes and 1/2" thick.
Best Regards,
George
Laserarts