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View Full Version : Laser_ProtectMask_5900 vs. Laserbits LiquaMASK



Steve Clarkson
05-02-2012, 3:56 PM
So I wanted to try out a liquid mask that people had been discussing on here in other threads.

LaserBits sells a gallon for $120 and someone else suggested that General Chemical had something similar (http://generalchemicalcorp.mybigcommerce.com/products/Laser_ProtectMask_5900.html) for $60 gallon.

Mike Fruciano, from Laserbits, replied once in a thread on here when asked if they were similar products:

"If a Ferrari is like a Toyota, then yes they are similar. The best form of flattery is to have someone copy your words and make them theirs."


So I contacted General Chemical and asked how their product compared to Laserbits product......their reply was that they are the same product.......Laserbits is one of their distributors.

So I purchased a gallon off of General Chemicals e-commerce website yesterday. Today my money was refunded. When I called to ask why, I was told that they would not sell to me directly, that I had to buy it from Laserbits.

No thanks.......I don't need to try that badly.

Mark Sipes
05-02-2012, 4:55 PM
Strange I don't see anything on their website that states they only sell to their distributors. Pay with credit card and fill out credit terms.

Steve Clarkson
05-02-2012, 5:06 PM
I did pay with a credit card yesterday.......even got a confirmation e-mail that the transaction was completed........then today, I received another e-mail that the status had changed and that my money was refunded.

Gary Hair
05-02-2012, 5:22 PM
Mike Fruciano, from Laserbits, replied once in a thread on here when asked if they were similar products:

"If a Ferrari is like a Toyota, then yes they are similar. The best form of flattery is to have someone copy your words and make them theirs."


So I contacted General Chemical and asked how their product compared to Laserbits product......their reply was that they are the same product.......Laserbits is one of their distributors.

And vendors wonder why we distrust them...

Mark Sipes
05-02-2012, 6:05 PM
When would you apply this material....under what conditions........why? thanks

Glen Monaghan
05-02-2012, 6:15 PM
Looks like they make a variety of other liquid masks for acrylic, marble, etc., several for even less money than the "laser" mask. Wouldn't surprise me if they are same/very similar/close enough formulations and might work just as well for less money. Strange that they'd list the laser mask if they'll only sell it to Laserbits, but maybe they'd sell you one of the others such as the acrylic mask...

FWIW I bought a quart of the Laserbits product last year, I think it was about $20 on special sale, and finally got around to trying it on a fairly intricate engraving. Very thick and viscous from the bottle. I was worried because it was so uneven looking when I brushed it on and it didn't look like it responded well to rebrushing, but an hour later it had evened out quite nicely. It lasered well and large contiguous areas peeled off easily, while I removed the small, disjoint areas by soaking in water a few minutes and then rubbing/washing away the residue. Worked well enough, but the prep time (particularly drying) is a lot longer than taping, while cleanup time is a bit less if your tape doesn't soak or cleanly rub off and you have to weed all the little bits individually.

Mark Sipes
05-02-2012, 6:27 PM
I guess the venturist could shell out the 19.95 for a pint from LaserBits to try it out. Always looking for new materials to make the job easier.

Mike Null
05-03-2012, 5:33 AM
I would be inclined to go to a hobby/art supply store and buy a small bottle of liquid frisket first.

http://www.wetcanvas.com/ArtSchool/Watercolors/SimmonsTips/usingfrisket.html

Martin Boekers
05-03-2012, 9:52 AM
Steve try calling them again, but ask for a distributer close to you, or even a list of them.
I'll bet one sells them less than LaserBits, as different markets have different pricing structures.

Marty

Steve Clarkson
05-03-2012, 5:37 PM
I'm just dumbfounded by this situation.

I found a different General Chemical distributor earlier today......one that also sells a gallon for $60......he was very happy to take my order. However, he doesn't stock the stuff, so he contacted General Chemical to have them drop ship it to me. Well........late this afternoon, I get a phone call from the new distributor advising me that General Chemical will only ship the stuff to me......IF.......I contact the Sawmill Creek administrator and ask them to delete this thread!!!!!!

Are you kidding me? Obviously, someone is reading this thread and I'm sure it isn't someone from General Chemical.

Don't these people know that if I REALLY wanted a gallon of this stuff that I could have my brother in Tennessee or my sister in Iowa or any of the people on here who have offered......just buy it for me?

This is akin to a "distributor" contacting Rowmark and telling them that Johnson's Plastics, or Delvies, or any other company that sells Rowmark.......can't sell to me because I once bought something from them and now I am their "captive" customer.

Is your reputation really worth 60 bucks?

Martin Boekers
05-03-2012, 6:12 PM
Steve WoW and WoW! If General Chemical is doing something that is wrong (legal or illegal) it makes
no sense that they WILL ship to you if you "pull your weight" and get this thread deleted. Seems
they could acomplish that on their own and not ship it to you. If find this stuff happens in many areas.
Take masking for example, we use little quantities and for a specialty, so they charge us lots, sign and vinyl shops
use lots and it's standard product. It's cheaper to buy from those vendors than an awards vendor. (opps, maybe
I shouldn't have said that :) SMC gets around!

Steve Busey
05-03-2012, 8:57 PM
I'm just dumbfounded by this situation.
...
Is your reputation really worth 60 bucks?

David Bowie phrased it well: "Dumbfounded with amazement which brodered upon stupefication!"

I wonder if Mike F knows about this thread - he hasn't logged in since the end of Feb.

Lee DeRaud
05-03-2012, 9:02 PM
David Bowie phrased it well: "Dumbfounded with amazement which bordered upon stupefication!"David Hemmings actually, narrating Rick Wakeman's "Journey to the Center of the Earth", presumably (translated) from Verne's text.

But yeah, any stupification in this situation is probably on the part of Laserbits.

Mike Chance in Iowa
05-04-2012, 2:54 PM
Hmmm. As I type this note, there are 63,063 members signed up on SMC. Not only will General Chemical need to go through that list to see if any of those members (i.e. potential customers) should purchase their mask from Laserbits, but they'll also need to verify if any friends or family of members of SMC are trying to purchase the mask from General Chemical or their other distributors. Then of course there are the thousands of lurkers who never even post on SMC who could be potential customers of either General Chemical or Laserbits. I guess that means General Chemical can't sell their Laser Protect Mask 5900 at all.

Neil Pabia
05-04-2012, 3:17 PM
If their customer service is dealing with things in this manner I may not want anything to do with this company. So GC, if you are reading this, speak up and lets hear your side.

Scott Shepherd
05-04-2012, 3:49 PM
I don't read this as anything to do with general chemical. Maybe I'm wrong.

Lee DeRaud
05-04-2012, 4:09 PM
I don't read this as anything to do with general chemical. Maybe I'm wrong.I'm reading it as Laserbits bullying their supplier (GC) into doing something short-sighted, distasteful, and counter-productive. GC has to take some blame for wimping out, but they may have contractual obligations we don't know about. (Although, if so, you have to wonder why they had the stuff on the retail side of their website to begin with.)

Mike Chance in Iowa
05-04-2012, 4:45 PM
I do not purchase products from Laserbits, so I have no idea how their customer service is or how large of a business they are, but I find it hard to believe they purchase such large volumes of LiquaMask (a.k.a. ProtectMask 5900) from General Chemical that they can dictate how and who GC can sell their mask to. It doesn't say much for either company.

No matter who, someone is clearly reading this forum and wanting to delete this thread and hide the whole issue as if it never happened. That person(s) would like it so that when someone types "liquamask" in the search engines, it will list links only to liquamask.com and laserbits.com instead of this thread on sawmill creek. Darn search engines and key words! Now when someone types in the words LiquaMask or Laser_ProtectMask_5900 this smc thread will already show up in the results! :D

Gary Hair
05-04-2012, 4:59 PM
Are you kidding me? Obviously, someone is reading this thread and I'm sure it isn't someone from General Chemical.

I'm sure that the fact that GC confirmed that Laserbits is buying from them, and that Laserbits lied to you about their source, is the real reason that they want this thread dropped. It surely started from laserbits and made its way to GC. Perhaps if Laserbits hadn't out and out lied about their product, AND weren't raping customers with extremely high prices, this would not have happened... It's not the first time I have found things at laserbits way overpriced.

Mike Null
05-04-2012, 5:10 PM
I don't recall having occasion to close a thread previously but I am going to close this one as it appears to be deteriorating into supplier bashing. It is ok to point out unacceptable practices by suppliers but I think that has been done sufficiently.

Dave Anderson NH
05-08-2012, 12:18 PM
My take is slightly different Mike. I don't like bashing vendors, and I don't have a laser so my dog isn't in this fight. I would close the thread but leave it on the forum though you might decide that a bit of editing is necessary. We don't want manufactureres and distributors thinking they can control SMC. Additionally, this kind of behavior by a vendor always raises my hackles though there might just be a legitimate contractual reason for their behavior.