Full Version: Help! Residue on versaflex

From: PenTrophy (PENINSULATROPHY) [#4]
 23 Apr 2007
To: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#1] 23 Apr 2007

What are your setting P, V, HZ for the vector cut?

and your laser size (watts)?

EDITED: 23 Apr 2007 by PENINSULATROPHY

From: Mike (MIKEN) [#5]
 23 Apr 2007
To: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#4] 23 Apr 2007

Lisa:

Here's a case where being able to look at your profile and the equipment you have would help us to help you.

The residue you're talking about is normal when engraving and cutting laminates. Adjusting your settings so that you get a quality engraved image but not too deep and so that you just barely cut through the material will reduce, but not eliminate residue.

You can try bottom up engraving which may help a little.

I clean mine with denatured alcohol. Don't stack them wet but DA will do no harm. If I'm engraving something with a white core I may soak them in a citrus/water solution before attempting to clean them.

Leave your air assist on, especially when cutting.

From: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#6]
 23 Apr 2007
To: ALL

Thanks for everyone's reply. I will try the denatured alcohol and see what happens. I'd like to not have to clean the plates at all if possible.

I have updated my profile (thought I had already done that!).

My settings are P=20, V=7, Hz=10000 for the cut.

I have a Trotec Speedy 100, 45 watt.

Any ideas on the settings I might try?

Thanks in advance for everyone's help!

From: Mike (MIKEN) [#7]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#6] 24 Apr 2007

Lisa:

Thanks for filling out your profile. There is a laser wizard right there in your hometown. His name is Paul Proffitt. If you're able to make his acquaintance I'd pay close attention to what he says.

I also have a Trotec 45 watt and I use 95p, 85s, 600ppi, 500dpi for engraving and 35p, 1.5s and 3000 hertz for cutting that material.

From: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#8]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#7] 24 Apr 2007

Mike -

Thanks for the info! Don't know Paul. Would love to meet him. Do you know his company name?

So, you don't use the settings that come by default for the Flexibrass? I will try the settings you specified and see how it works.

Thanks!

From: Mike (MIKEN) [#9]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#8] 24 Apr 2007

Lisa:

The name of Paul's business is Whispered Images. He is quite an artist.

I do not use all the Trotec settings as each machine varies a little. I even find myself tweaking these from time to time depending on color. Red and Black seem to be harder to engrave than gold and silver.

On very thin material engraving too deeply can cause the material to become brittle.

Another thing to watch for is the cap thickness. It takes more power to engrave .003" than .001".

EDITED: 24 Apr 2007 by MIKEN

From: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#10]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#9] 24 Apr 2007

Thanks, Mike!

Have a great day!

Lisa
The Awards Shop

From: JHayes55 [#11]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#10] 24 Apr 2007

Top Secret Cleaning Tool for Plastic - "Mr. Clean Magic Eraser"

Works very well on lots of things but is super on plastic
Key issue is to keep the power as low as possible and still get you cut.
Everyone else has said that but I just wanted to reiterate it.

Mike Null is the EE forum Trotec Wizard.

From: PenTrophy (PENINSULATROPHY) [#12]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#5] 24 Apr 2007

Mike .. What is the procedure for engraving from bottom to top on a Trotec. Have tried every thing in the Job Control but can't seem to find the correct setting??

From: Mike (MIKEN) [#13]
 24 Apr 2007
To: PenTrophy (PENINSULATROPHY) [#12] 24 Apr 2007

Mark

When you're in Job Control select "plate" from the menu. In that window are several options; one of which is start position. Select bottom.

I guess I should confess I've never felt the need to use it.

EDITED: 24 Apr 2007 by MIKEN

From: PenTrophy (PENINSULATROPHY) [#14]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#13] 24 Apr 2007

Neither Have I. with air assist and a good vacuum draw. the residue is a dusting........and wipes off. For the hard residue, whenb it does occur, Naphtha takes it right off (ace hardware, home depot)

From: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#15]
 24 Apr 2007
To: JHayes55 [#11] 24 Apr 2007

Joe -

Thanks for your feedback.

I saw that information (about the Mr. Clean eraser) from some other posts and ran out and bought some. Unfortunately, it scratches this engrave stock. So, that's out. <sigh>

However, I did try it on other things and it worked quite well. Just not these trophy plates!

Thanks!

From: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#16]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#7] 24 Apr 2007

Mike -

Not sure I understand this, but when I used the settings you use, my results were worse than normal! Now I get the residue at the bottom of the plate and at the top of many of the letters.

So, I tried using my same settings and just downing the power by 5 (to 15) and unfortunately, that didn't help. I'll try it with less power when I'm not so busy, but in the meantime, I'll buy the denatured alcohol and give that a shot.

I do have air assist on... but my vacuum is turned down fairly low. I'll turn it way up and see if that matters.

BTW, I do get the dust residue as well. That just wipes off like powder. Then you see the other residue.

From: Mike (MIKEN) [#17]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#16] 24 Apr 2007

Lisa:

Maybe I didn't have the material thickness right. I gave you my setting for .020" material. I also use that for .030" for engraving but slow it down for cutting.

From: JHayes55 [#18]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#16] 24 Apr 2007

Lisa - sorry it scratched. I have used it on Rowmark, IPI and New Hermes plastics in the color combination you mentioned. Could it be the material your using is not quite as "tough"? Have you had the same residue problem with other brands??

From: Mike (MIKEN) [#19]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Lisa (DUNKAFIFE) [#18] 24 Apr 2007

Lisa:

Sorry, I should have been paying more attention. While our machines are the same wattage they operate at different speeds.

One of these days we'll all get on the same page as far as adjusting the power settings and speed setting to actual watts and inches per second.

For example on our machines if we're at 80% power that would be 36 watts, if you know the raster speed of your machine and it's 100 inches per second, at 50% speed you'd be at 50 inches per second. Therefore if we related just actual wattage and actual speed in IPS we could relate better to the settings offered here.

The real answer will lie in the test results you personally find to work best.

EDITED: 24 Apr 2007 by MIKEN

From: Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY) [#20]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#19] 24 Apr 2007

I made that suggestion strongly two years ago. While it is not perfect, in my opinion it will get everyone closest to the goal.

From: Mike (MIKEN) [#21]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY) [#20] 24 Apr 2007

Harvey

It seems to be about the only way to communicate laser settings with any degree of reliability. I've recommended it on another forum as well without comment.

Maybe we could have a pop-up on the new site.

From: Carl (CSEWELL) [#22]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Mike (MIKEN) [#21] 24 Apr 2007

Measured power or percentage of rated power?

From: Mike (MIKEN) [#23]
 24 Apr 2007
To: Carl (CSEWELL) [#22] 24 Apr 2007

Carl:

OK, I give! Never again will I mention it. :S

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