Rowmark Thoughts and Tips?

[Erik King]

I've always has better luck with rotary engraving than with laser engraving when using most Rowmark products. In many instances it seems like it's hard to get good quality results even when using the laser specific materials. A few of the recurring issues we keep seeing include:

1) Bleeding of the secondary color along vector cut edges.

2) Inability to get reverse engraved material to leave a completely clear inset so that the filled colors are vibrant and not cloudy or muted looking.

3) Dull, muted colors showing where engraved to reveal second layer on front engrave material - seems like the laser leaves them dulled.

4) Poor edge quality on vector cuts - no matter how you adjust power/speed/ppi it seems like the edges don't cut cleanly or smoothly.

Even after searching the archives here, consulting Rowmark, etc. it seems like these issues remain to some degree. And, most people I talk with seem to feel like this is just "how it is".

So, I'm curious - and thought this might be a good thread topic. Are others also having these issues? Do y'all use Rowmark materials much? How about alternatives to them? Any great tips you've discovered to work around the above issues?

I've always found that shared group wisdom is invaluable - so maybe we can all help each other here...

[Mike Null]

I have used IPI plastics for years because I believe they cut better than Rowmark. But I'm quite sure Rowmark is the dominant brand.

Joe Hayes, who is a member here says he can reverse engrave and get a clear surface by defocusing his machine. Maybe he'll join in with some tips.

[Dan Hintz]

I'm sure the defocusing technique helps to remelt the plastic for a smooth, clear surface rather than microscopic rows... it's a very good idea.

[Scott Shepherd]

I do a lot of reverse engraving on Rowmark. I switched over to their product about a year ago due to quality issues I had repeatedly with IPI products. I still use some IPI products when I have to, but for the most part, my racks are full of Rowmark.

I had the settings tuned in where the reverse engravable was almost clear. I mean it was really close. I was quite happy with it. I've used those settings for almost a year now. I took a fair amount of time making that happen and getting it perfect because it's for a product we produce almost daily.

About 2 weeks ago, I got a batch of Rowmark reverse engravable, put it in, engraved it. Crud. Frosty surface, not clear. I checked my lens, it was clean, checked all my settings, everything is the same as it always is. Put the piece back in, and began to try and tune it back in to get it clear. I couldn't do it. I took it out of focus (I was already doing that to some degree), I took it in focus, I varied the speed and power while it was running and nothing I did would allow me to get the results I've gotten for the last year.

I ended up making multiple passes, one final pass with very light power to try and clear it up. Didn't get good and clear, but remained cloudy. While cleaning it up, I noticed a piece of trash embedded inside one of my engraved areas. It was deep in the plastic. I also noticed that the plastic protective sheet had pulled off small bits of the backing. I got another sheet, pulled the lining off, same thing. I found a good place on the material and engraved it. Same issues.

Went through 4 sheets, no luck. Called Rowmark to see what has changed and they said they weren't aware of any changes.

I firmly believe something has changed because what's worked for me for an entire year no longer works. I've checked my laser and it's settings on other materials and I can find no similar issues with other materials. All my settings still work perfectly on other materials, so I don't believe it's a laser related issue. I honestly believe they have changed their product recently.

I'll probably have to switch back to IPI for the reverse material just to get the clarity I need.

[Mark Winlund]

Can you say "made in china"?

Mark

[Joe Pelonio]

I still cannot use IPI because the sheets are always warped and I do not have a vacuum table.

The Rowmark quality does seem to have deteriorated lately, causing me to use a few tricks to get around it. The worst problem is red surface particles from engraving getting onto the white letters, but I have also seen small defects on the surface of the sheets, that I have to avoid or redo the piece.

I have mentioned this before, but if you spray and polish first with Sprayway glass cleaner, then do the same again after cutting, the white letters and cut edges look nice and clean. I still have to use denatured alcohol, eraser or sanding pad to remove the stickiness from the cut edges.

[Doug Bergstrom]

If you mask it with a paper vinyl mask before etching everything works great. We cut hundreds of tags without any issue now without any issues.

[Scott Shepherd]

Before rastering or vectoring Doug? I'd tried transfer tape prior to rastering before and it fused the adhesive into the melting plastic and allowed all the burning particles to stick to the hot plastic. When it cooled, you couldn't clean the residue out, since it was embedded into the plastic.

That wasn't on reverse, it was on normal front engravable plastic.

Did you use transfer tape or something else?

It was over a year ago when I tried it, maybe I need to give it shot.

One thing I have found is that I had been using WAYYYYYYY too much power when rastering a lot of materials. On a 45W, it's only taking about 20-25 to break the surface clean. Prior to that, I was typically using in the 50-60% power range. I noticed a lot less smoke damage when I changed that.

[Joe Pelonio]

I too have used transfer tape and it works great if you apply it AFTER rastering, before cutting. The problem is that if you are doing several hundred or a thousand tags you still have to peel each one. If you use it when engraving, it may leave some of the adhesive though it breaks the surface so it's hard to get cleaned off. If you use an adhesive remover or denatured alcohol to remove adhesive it will turn the surface colored residue into paint-like permanence and it will not wash off.

[Darryl Hazen]

A lot of our business is laser engraving Rowmark for name badges. The best thing we've found for cleaning the material after lasering is Mr Clean Magic Eraser. They come 2 to a box. Cut them up into 1" squares. Wet the sponge and then squeeze out most of the water. Scrub lightly around the surface edges and then rinse with water. It also works well to clean residual dust out of the rastered portion. The cut sides of Rowmark is another story. We've had good results wiping down the edges with Goo Gone. It's citrus based and doesn't appear to harm the Rowmark. I would however advise you to use it sparingly. We use a paper towel dampened with the Goo Gone.

[Erik King]

I really appreciate all the ideas, and I'm looking forward to trying them out. To some extent they are things I have already tried and still not been able to get the really clean results I was hoping for...but perhaps with more experimentation it will go better.

I do suspect I am using too much power (based on the numbers that others are giving). My ULS is 120 watts so I'm probably going to need to dial it down even further given the settings folks with less powerful machines are using.

Thanks to everyone for sharing!

[Rodne Gold]

The reason you get trash in the engraved areas is cos the air assist is not on or is not working effectively. If you can direct air assist , then direct it away from the engraved section onto unengraved sections , ie if you engraving top to bottom , direct the air jet to the bottom.
However one must also keep an eye on material , cos whats so called laserable might not be IE has an ABS core rather than a acrylic core. No matter what you do , material with an ABS base will not do well.
A few tips for any angraving
1) Engrave solid colours as a dark shade of grey using raster mode , this engraves very close spaced dots and lessens heat affected zones and secondary 'melting"
2) Use Air assist
3) When cutting engraving plastics , air assist + dropping pulses per inch or frequency will often give a really nice clean edge
Sometimes the only way to "clear" the edge is to use a duburring tool after.
We had some issues with rowmark soem years ago , especially metallics , cos they put some clear protective coating over it (I think they called it Nomark" and this used to come off leading to a sort of crazing or fracturing effect , after rotary engraving and cutting.
Apart from metallics or "effects" type laminates ,we make all our own engraving lams in house , we either use ABS (for rotary) or Acrylic based substrates and we merely use a matte automotive type spray paint to coat em , seems more durable than the traditional flood coated caps.

[Scott Shepherd]

The reason you get trash in the engraved areas is cos the air assist is not on or is not working effectively.

Hi Rodney, not sure if that was a response to my comment about the trash or not. If so, I wasn't clear enough in what I said. The trash is embedded deep in the core of the material. I actually took a razor blade and picked at it until I got to it and it was just floating in the middle of the material. Probably a good .020"-.030" into the material.

[Rodne Gold]

Ok , I misunderstood , I would send that material back , seems unacceptable to have foreign objects embedded in the sheet...what if you were doing a large sign .....that would be an expensive proposition to do it again.