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Ed Maloney
02-04-2008, 6:43 PM
This is the first time I'm experimenting with this material. The stuff I have has a black cap and gold below that. The reverse side of the material is a nice bright gold color. When I raster it the color comes through as tan rather than the gold I was expecting. I tried high settings and low, but haven't got the color like on the back. Looking closely at it, it seems the substrate isn't a solid gold color, but translucent in the middle with a gold cap on the reverse. So I have a black cap on the front, gold cap on the back, and something else in the middle. Obviously I'm doing something wrong.

Any suggestions folks?

Joe Hayes
02-04-2008, 7:08 PM
Ed - What you have is the Standard matte black to gold Lasermax.
You will not get the same shiny gold look that's on the back after lasering through the black to get to it. What happens is some of the black is falling back in on your lettering (engraved area). Adjusting power so that you are getting through but not over powering will help but you will still end with a more tan look. You can clean it some with lighter fluid and it may help.
My personal favorite to clean engravable plastics is Mr. Clean Eraser. Wet it and rub it over you engraved area.
Sadly lasering the black to gold does not ever end up with as much shine as you have on the back side. When I can I prefer to rotary engrave this color combo.

Hope that helps some.

Mike Null
02-04-2008, 8:58 PM
IPI makes a similar material which I use quite a bit. It may be a bit more gold but it is still dull in color.

Ed Maloney
02-05-2008, 8:12 AM
Thanks guys. I wonder why the material is marketed as laserable. Sure you can laser it, but don't expect the substrate to be the right color.

Is this problem just with certain colors? I will be ordering some more Rowmark to make customer samples but I want to stay away from the problematic ones.

Bill Cunningham
02-05-2008, 11:03 PM
The laserable plastic is acrylic and the core colour is never as good as the core colour in the rotary engravable plastic.. I find if I back off about 1/8" in the focus, it smooths out the engraving a bit, and eliminates most that 'scuffed' look you get with a sharp focus and slight surface striations.. The closest to gold on black is reverse engraved black, and colour filled bright gold enamel or lacquer..

Brian Robison
02-06-2008, 10:00 AM
It's probably not right for your application but check out the Spectrum Lites (S65 through JDS). It engraves a beautiful gold textured look. Love it!

Mike Klafehn
02-13-2008, 7:44 PM
Re Rowmark LaserMax. Is it typical for the vector cut piece (I cut a .5 x 4") to bend up slightly when cut. It bends UP slightly because of the heat of the laser. I don't see anyway around this. Even after they cool, the little tags are slightly bowed. Maybe this is why people say to vector from the back side.

Comments...

Brian Robison
02-14-2008, 9:09 AM
Mike,
I have more of a problem when rastering than cutting as far as warping. Are you using JUST enough power to cut through the piece?

Bill Cunningham
02-14-2008, 9:20 PM
For small pieces, don't bother cutting all the way through.. Just use enough speed and power to score it, then simply snap them apart.. I've scored as close as 1/16" to the cut edge then simply gripped the thin score piece with a pair of pliers and snapped it off...They snap clean, with a perfect edge..
I lay out badges full sheet at a time, then score all the cut lines between them.. I can then lift the whole sheet from the machine, wash it off with a hose, wipe it down with a polymer wax, snap them apart, stick on the pins/magnets/clips/whatever.. done...