Rayzist vs. Ikonick's Rapidmask Photoresist

[Travis Centers]

RapidMask 2mil "No Washout" vs. Rayzist 3mil "Wash Needed"

I was researching this a little more and seen that Rapidmask has an even smaller film that doesn't require a wash out.

Since I will be doing small items the 2mil sounds like a better idea if it can hold up. Plus no wash will save a lot of time.


Has anyone used this and what were the results from using Rapidmask instead? Is one superior over the other?

[Scott Shepherd]

For most of our sand carving, we use the RapidMask products. Only time we don't is for larger things where the rubber type mask is more economical. Me, personally, I don't like the 2 mil. I have a job right now that's very intricate and my first thought was to use the 2 mil. I didn't have a successful test in the 3 times I tried it. I put the 4 mil on and it worked first time, perfectly. We use 4 mil all the time and it's what I'm comfortable with. Maybe I need more time with the 2 mil, but for me, 4 mil all the way, even on the smallest detail.

They will give you samples of both. Give them a try and see which one you like the most. I can't comment in reference to the wash out films. We don't have a wash out setup, so we've never used it, other than to blast through some premade samples Rayzist gave us. Both Ikonics and Rayzist make and support great products.

[Travis Centers]

Yeah I got the sample pack from Rayzist and then found RapidMask. So I emailed them this morning.

It is defiantly going to be a learning experience.

[Braden Todd]

I have always had issues with the no washout resist. The blasted area becomes hard and brittle and blasts away, and in my tests it took the pattern with it. You most likely can use the 3mil and be fine, hard to say without seeing your designs. I've done photo etchings using 4 and 5mil, just perfect the art of washing out and you should be good.

[Travis Centers]

Does it require a lot of practice to get a good washout every time?

My patterns will be mostly line drawings converted to black and white stencil in Paintshop. Then I want to shrink them for very small jewelry art. I seen that the presidential logo Rayzist sent has very small lines above the eagle.

So if lines that small can be done then I think I will be alright.

Did you try more then once with the "No Washout" resist? I just wonder if it could have been under or over exposed to not work correctly. Did you use a wirebrush on it also?

[Braden Todd]

It does take some practice and patience to learn how to do it properly, but once you learn how to do it you can "cheat" on some designs to get them to work better. But first you'll want to be sure you're washing them out right.

You our can get a lot of detail from washout, I've never needed more so I quit trying to get the no washout to work. I did try everything but it never worked as I needed. Plus you use a lot more printer ink and have to expose the images longer, I can washout faster compared to the other method.

If if you want I can run a test on your image for you, just shoot me a pm.

[Kristian Matz]

I have never had much luck with Rapidmask. I do not feel it is the right product for us in our production environment. If you are doing small runs of a one to a few pieces, it may work better. We do a fair amount of glass and crystal and find that 3mil washout material from either supplier works better for the way that we work.

[Ross Moshinsky]

I'm glad to see people struggling with Rapidmask because I've never had any real luck with it. The 2 mil stuff is horrible. I've never gotten it to work at all. The 4 mil stuff is hit or miss.

[Scott Shepherd]

Interesting, we use the 4mil rapidmask for a lot of detailed work and have done 1000's of glasses with it, most crystal glasses.

[Michael Fuller]

I'm with you Scott, We use the 2mil rapidmask all day long and have never had a problem with it. In fact, we are able to etch much finer details than most of our competition and suppliers. We switched from the wash out film about 7 years ago and never looked back! The only time we use washout is if we need to have a deep etch for color fill.

[Travis Centers]

Well, With all the decisions in equipment I have had to make in the past few weeks. I can see how someone could get total different results.

So many factors in all of this. Now that I have ordered a configuration of physical stuff, I now have to figure out settings and techniques.


I just hope if I do have issues that I can figure out where the problem is and what has to be done to solve it.


I will say that I like the mask that they develop for you. It seems like it is a lot cheaper to get pre-developed mask done from Rayzist if you make sure your art is correctly converted.


The most expensive part is having their art department fix up your images. If you do your own designing then you probably only have to pay the minimum $40 + 10cent per square inch.

Would be worth it if you had all of the art and dimensions figured out for one single order.

Any custom stuff would be cheaper to develop on your own at around 60-70 cent per square inch.

Now to go work on some more art while I wait on my order. I messed up and got the cone shaped nozzle instead of the kind that goes in the deadman valve. I will have a ballvalve though which may be better for lowering/raising pressure on the fly.

I am about to push this Rayzist to its limits with this jewelry size stenciling.

[Ron Hamilton]

I have been a sand etcher long before I got a laser and I agree the washout 3mil is the best, key is the black content of the velum artwork you use to expose the resist.