Photobrasive Laser Tape

[Bob Belt]

A question for all that use PhotoBrasive laser tape. I have been using it for a little while now and like how it holds up to sand blasting. However I always seem to have a fight on my hands when applying the resist (removing the clear cover) and cleanup after blasting. I was curious how others are dealing with this mask, how you apply it it smoothly to curved sufaces such as bottles and getting rid of the air bubbles, and in general how you use Photbrasives laser tape.
Thanks.....
Bob

[Rodne Gold]

We use polyester based vinyl or paper based vinyl transfer tape and often when a surface is really complex use cast polymeric vinyl (you can wrap a soccer ball with this) but it is a PVC based solution and not laser friendly. We also used to use that stuff used to rubberise tool handles but its difficult to achieve a smooth even layer.
Paper based tapes come off with water , polyesters and vinyls come off easier with heat, the rubberised stuff needs agressive solvents. We generally apply and then laser and then blast (often using the rotary attachment )
We do a lot of acid etching using this process .