Cleaning Engraved Magnets

[David J Dustin]

Greetings....
I thought I was a member of this great forum, but then realized I no longer used the original email address.

Anyway,
We are engraving magnetic sheets for a very niche product.
Engraving looks great, but cleanup is a "challenge".
Regardless of the approach we use, there is a small amount of magnetic residue that is difficult to remove.
The "Enginerd" in me thinks we may need to use a stronger magnet to pull the particulate away from the engraved items.
Are there any easier methods?
Kindest regards,
David

[Bob Davis - Sturgis SD]

Hi David,

I'm interested in the magnetic sheets you are using. I have some big rolls of flexible mag material, adhesive on one side, that I wanted to attach to wood. I thought I could make magnetic wood-engraved refrigerator magnets. Then I figured out the mag sheet is pvc and vinyl, so all of a sudden it didn't seem like a good idea. Have you found some good mag material to laser?

Thanks,

Bob

[Kev Williams]

I assume you have a good wet-dry vac, or maybe a Shark? Go to your local second-hand store and pick up one or two brush attachments that will fit your vacuum hose. (Don't mess up the good ones at home!) - take a good pair of scissors and trim the brush bristles so they're really short, which will stiffen them up. But leave them long enough, say 1/4" or so, so the vacuum airflow won't be blocked. The brush bristles should loosen the particles, hopefully enough the airflow grabs them...

[Dan Hintz]

The "Enginerd" in me thinks we may need to use a stronger magnet to pull the particulate away from the engraved items.

The enginerd in me suggests any particulate removed from the magnetic sheet has done so through high-heat vaporization... which means they are unlikely to still hold a magnetic charge of any appreciable level. You could put them in an MRI machine and still not remove the dust that way. I would suggest some minor level of scrubbing with a "magic eraser"-style of cleaner bar is in order, and that might be helped to some degree by a spritzing of a cleaner/wax (e.g., Pledge) before engraving.

[Joe Pelonio]

Colored magnetic sheet is vinyl over magnetic, and is not recommended for laser, but if you buy the thinner stuff from Laserbits it's made for that purpose. My suggestion is to cover the sheets with paper transfer tape before engraving. You may have to do two passes or set you speed slower/power higher to get through the paper but then when you peel it off there is only minor residue on the magnetic itself, and you can brush it off before peeling the transfer tape.

[Rich Harman]

I haven't engraved magnetic sheeting but I have had to clean up lots of magnetic debris. Tape is what I have found works the best. Masking tape, blue tape, packaging tape, duct tape or gaffers tape - whichever works.

[glenn bradley]

Rich beat me to it; tape.