Lasermax Black/White leaving residue

[Robert Tepper]

Good Evening all,

I am using 1/8" thick, Black/White Laser max from Row mark. I keep getting residue that will not clean out when I raster engrave.

I have tried several power settings, the best I get is 45 watts of power and raster at 80 ips.

I try washing it out with soap and water but I just don't get a clean letter where I have engraved.

Any help would be appreciated.

Robert

[Mike Null]

Robert

Have you tried Magic Erasers? Have you tried a second "clean-up" pass? Sometimes when using red/white I have to do a clean up pass to make them perfect.

[Tony Lenkic]

Robert,

Laser Max should not leave any residue. Rotary engravable sheets will do that to some extent.
Also, I would bump up the speed to 95-100% ( what speed is Rayjet running at max?)

Try cleaning with DNA rather than water and soap.


Mike.........I used to run second pass on Red/White as well until I tried defocusing by about 1/32" and it comes out crisp and clean.
BTW I work with Trotec ply only for laser sheet stock. Anyone else tried them?

[Mike Null]

Tony

Thanks for the tip. I use IPI from Johnson for almost everything I do.

[Robert Tepper]

Thank you for the input. Where does one find a "magic eraser".

Thanks in advance,
Robert

[Kev Williams]

Magic erasers work great, but beware, they actually quite abrasive and can scratch the top surface--

As for DNA, sometimes it works, most times it makes it worse by embedding black ash into the white worse than it was in the first place.

My favorite chemical for this type of cleanup (and sticky edges after cutting) is turpentine. But it's not perfect either.

One of reasons for the residue is airflow thru the machine. My old ULS had PERFECT airflow- when engraving from the bottom up, the smoke would never touch the plate, it was pulled uphill slightly. 2" letters on red/white were perfect.

For my other machines, if I want "perfect" I'll run one pass, wipe the soot off with DNA then run a second pass. A pain, but when perfect is needed, it works.

[Mayo Pardo]

Magic Eraser is a Mr. Clean branded product available at most major retailers (Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc.)
It's a foam sponge of sorts that you use dry (most of the time) and it seems to have some kind of micro abrasive within the pores of the foam. It feels almost like a memory foam pillow kind of foam.

When they first came onto the scene my wife got some and went crazy "cleaning" the walls in the house where there were dirt smudges here or there. What she didn't realize was that in addition to removing the smudges from the painted walls, the Magic Eraser also put a sheen to every place she used it. So now when sunlight hits the walls, you can see these glaring semi gloss marks on the otherwise flat or eggshell painted walls.

I suspect the same buffing effect will happen on whatever material you try it on. As long as you do the entire surface it may not be an issue...

[Jay Hendrickson]

I've been using Rapid Remover with good results since 2009.