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Scott Shepherd
06-11-2008, 7:21 PM
I have some 1/16 cast acrylic I bought a 4' x 8' sheet of and apparently it's the cheap stuff (not acrylite). There are no markings on the paper at all and the paper is a real bear to get off (brown paper). It's stuck too well and the paper just tears into pieces. It can easily take 20 minutes to get the paper off a 12" x 24" piece of 1 side. Anyone got any tips or tricks on how to get this paper off easily?

Doug Griffith
06-11-2008, 7:48 PM
What about the old trick where you peel up a corner, grab it with a clip, and then hang overnight (or days or weeks). It's a slow process, sometimes not even visible, but gravity usually does the trick. Clamp weight to the pieces to speed it up and make sure it has a safe place to land.

Cheers

bruce cain
06-11-2008, 8:00 PM
I let it warm up on the heat press.

Pete Thomas
06-11-2008, 8:04 PM
Try this stuff "Maskoff" it's used to remove stuck on paper mask. Works for me.

http://us.st12.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/yhst-92284169562666_2001_1930031

-pete

Craig Hogarth
06-11-2008, 8:21 PM
I bought some a while back where the glue was stronger than the paper. It'd end up ripping in narrow strips often leaving glue behind while the paper came off. If it's the same stuff, I found that rolling the paper off works best. Start at the corner, peeling it just a bit and use your thumb to make a roll. Eventually as the paper builds up, it gets easier to roll. Not quick by all means, but faster and less frustrating than trying to pull it off.

Barb Macdonald
06-11-2008, 9:32 PM
Just get the paper slightly darker coloured using a rag with some lacquer. Just moisten the paper with the lacquer thinner. Works great for older pieces that should have been peeled way back when they were purchased.

Of course, it's a lovely chemical combo to work with:rolleyes:
HTH

barb

Joe Pelonio
06-11-2008, 10:54 PM
That usually means it's old, and has been sitting on the shelf for years. The same thing happens if you store it where a lot of light can hit it. With thicker stuff hitting it with the hair dryer helps, but with 1/16" you might warp it. Other than the roll from corner that Craig mentioned there's no easy way I know of.

Bob Davis
06-12-2008, 5:15 AM
I've tried all sorts of methods, but Kerosene works the best for me.
Wipe on a fairly liberal amount on a wet rag, let soak for a few minutes and the paper will come off fairly easily.
You'll need to wipe the surface again to remove the rest of the glue.

Gary Hair
06-12-2008, 1:24 PM
Two people mentioned kerosene and laquer thinner - if you use either of these after you cut with a laser then you will have crazing problems. It's best to use something that isn't solvent based.

Gary

Ed Lang
06-12-2008, 1:33 PM
I just tried my air hose at 175PSI which my shop compressor is set to. Blows the paper off after I start a corner. Hold air hose close and use a small tip blow gun to get a good jet of air. Hold close to the plastic surface so you are blowing under the protective sheet, not down at it.

Or, just give all of that old stock to me and I'll use it.

ed

Scott Shepherd
06-12-2008, 2:10 PM
Or, just give all of that old stock to me and I'll use it.

ed

Use it for what? You'd probably glue it to your thumb :D

Thanks for the tips, I'll have to figure out which one is the best for me with all those options.

David Brasfield
06-12-2008, 4:28 PM
Try vegetable or mineral oil. Rub it on the paper and let it sit for a while. Then regular dish detergent to wash it off.

David

Ed Lang
06-13-2008, 10:11 AM
Use it for what? You'd probably glue it to your thumb :D

Thanks for the tips, I'll have to figure out which one is the best for me with all those options.


I already have plenty glued to my fingers, how do I get it off?:eek:

It is hard to take someone who has years of experience getting Tightbond glue on them and just wiping it off to using this water thin Weldstuff that causes finger prints to become a "feature" on clear acrylic. But I am still trying!

Larry Bratton
06-13-2008, 5:35 PM
Scott:
Did you get that unmarked stuff from PP? I got some black 1/4" extruded with that plain brown wrapper on it, and it was undoubtedly the worst acrylic I ever worked with. I told my salesman to NEVER ship me anymore of it, whatever it is. When a mfg doesn't put his name on it, I would say beware.

I too would like to find an easier way to get the paper off. If you find one, let us know.

Scott Shepherd
06-13-2008, 6:13 PM
Yes Larry, from Piedmont. My sales rep and I have an understanding- he doesn't sell me non-brand name plastics unless I ask for them.

This order wasn't something that was stocked and was passed to another location out in the midwest. Looks like it's the made in Mexico stuff.

I finished what I needed to do, so I'll come back in the next few days and try out a few of the mentioned methods.

Larry Bratton
06-13-2008, 6:17 PM
Scott:
I use the cast from Mexico all the time and I like it. It's marked. This stuff was badddd, about as brittle as any I have had experience with.

martin g. boekers
07-08-2008, 4:37 PM
Here's what I do, I find a good solid cardboard tube. Then I pull up the paper at about a forty five degree angle from one corner (carefully) after I get a couple inches free I hold it tight to the core and slowly roll it away from the corner. This works with most of the plex, if it's real old it's much harder to do, but still better than a rip here and a rip there. The hardest thing for me is keeping this tube in shop (like all of my other jigs that basically look like trash) someone always seems to throw it away!

Hope this helps,

Marty

Angus Hines
07-08-2008, 5:18 PM
Just because it hasn't been mentioned .

What about the old peanut butter trick like you use to get labels off jars.

:D:D:D

Joe Pelonio
07-08-2008, 5:53 PM
Just because it hasn't been mentioned .

What about the old peanut butter trick like you use to get labels off jars.

:D:D:D
Mayonnaise works the same way, but peanut butter smells better.

John Noell
07-09-2008, 3:51 PM
FWLIW - I just used some 8 year-old perspex and the paper was totally stuck, and brittle. No peeling possible at all. I ended up running the finished pieces under very hot running water and used a brush to scrub and scrub. Worked quite nicely and only took 20x as long to clean the paper off as to cut the acrylic. ;-)

bob perk
07-10-2008, 2:24 AM
lighter fluid, (naphtha). well soaked will dang near slide off.