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Darrin Davis
08-19-2016, 1:48 PM
Any tricks to eliminate or minimize the colored engraved dust that settles in the white engraved areas? Right now I just take the finished piece out, put it under some water and use a toothbrush to clean it as good as I can. Any suggestions?
342580

Keith Winter
08-19-2016, 1:57 PM
What type of laser do you have? Please add to your signature helps with issues like this. Depending on your laser you might be able to tell it to engrave from the bottom up instead of top down which may help depending on the laser and where the exhaust vents are located. You can also try turning off air assist while engraving

Kev Williams
08-19-2016, 2:27 PM
Only way I've found that works with RED/WHITE (sucks, but it works)

First, make sure you have stops in place so you can put the material back in it's original position, or tape it down real good--

Engrave once, just deep enough that it's fully thru the red.

If you can remove the plate and put it back, then wash off with soap and water.

NEXT, take turpentine, wet a paper towel, and wipe all the engraving, this will get MOST of the red out, and WILL get any soot off the surface.

Then, simply engrave it again. The second pass will remove any remaining soot in the white, and there won't be any red soot to spoil the final cleanup, which should work with soap & water.

As for turpentine- denatured alcohol or mineral spirits will also work- but I've found turpentine to be the best 'happy medium' for my needs.

I just haven't found another way around this problem that works... :(

Chris Achtschin
08-19-2016, 4:46 PM
I have found medium hot water works better than chemicals.
I have the same problem with Blue/White.

John Noell
08-19-2016, 5:19 PM
This has come up many times before. Red/white is the most difficult. Having done a gazillion school tags (very popular here, for Head Boy/Girl, Prefect, etc.) the quickest and easiest way we found was engrave from bottom up, engrave a 2nd time at lower power and/or higher speed, then drop the tags into water with good dish detergent. Agitate them for a couple of minutes, then rinse in clean water, and lay them out on a towel to dry. Never had a complaint. :)

Kev Williams
08-19-2016, 5:26 PM
Black can be bad too. And my LS900 won't engrave bottom-up, wish it would! My old ULS did, and with good draw from the blower I had very little trouble, even with red.

As for water, maybe it's the minerals in ours, but it won't clean out the lettering at all. With dishsoap it'll clean most of the soot off the surface, but usually just smears what's in the engraving, making it worse.

Mike Null
08-19-2016, 7:19 PM
You can run a low power "clean up" pass but I generally put mine in water and use a Magic Eraser to clean. Never try to dust out or wipe the piece with a dry rag. That just embeds the red powder.

Martin Boekers
08-23-2016, 12:32 PM
I found that if you put masking over it after you engrave it, then squeegee it tightly. This will pick up much of the dust that settles in
the engraved area before you clean it. Also engrave bottom up that way the engraving area is behind the air flow.

Mark Sipes
08-24-2016, 12:55 PM
Better Life Through Chemisty............ Naphtha VM&P and Magic Eraser cleans all the sticky resin, dust and crude yet does not damage the plastic surface like many of the solvents.

Robert Tepper
08-24-2016, 9:43 PM
I do a lot of red/white 1/8" Rowmark Laser material.

I clean everything with denatured alcohol and have good results for cleanup.

Robert

Kev Williams
08-24-2016, 10:39 PM
I stumbled onto a 'combo' concoction yesterday that worked well, at least with gooey edges and soot from cutting-

My Turpentine wasn't within reach, but Mineral spirits was nearby, so I used that to rub the edges and clean the face (white/black Rowmark). Mineral spirits takes forever to evaporate so I followed up with a dose of DNA-- The pieces dried almost immediately, and no soot anywhere...

Not sure about cleaning out red yet, but I like how it worked on the black edges and white top surface--