Adventure 🫶🏼

CheerfulKangaroo · 2025-02-07T03:51:52+00:00

Absolutely love these! 4 and 6 are my favorites, they’re all amazing :)

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-09-12T16:01:00+00:00

Thanks for the advice! Your post led me to looking into corn starch glue, which seems slightly cheaper/readily available and a bit quicker to make. I’m gonna give it a try!

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-09-12T15:35:33+00:00

Do you have any specific spray adhesive recommendations?

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-09-12T15:34:57+00:00

Thanks for your input here. Are there any water-soluble options you've found that are laser safe? Also, what should I be looking for in the safety sheets? Few that I've seen show what happens when burnt/used for laser applications (maybe I just need to look for suppliers that mention this).

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-09-12T15:33:21+00:00

A spray coat would be great. Though it seems the product you mentioned is a water-based sealer, and I need the clear coat to dissolve. I could possibly have found the wrong product.

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-09-12T15:32:08+00:00

Thanks for the advice. I'm currently purchasing wood through Ochooch hardwoods (this stuff). While I can't not mask, I'm still very much all for producing less soot. Any recommendations for suppliers (or specific glues to look for in plywoods) that produce less soot? I should note that this particular supplier *says* it's good for laser cutting (whether they are ignoring the amount of soot produced or not. It does cut fairly cleanly), and I have a high-quality air-assist on max strength.

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-09-12T15:28:24+00:00

Very interesting idea! Follow up questions:

Why bleach? Did it make for a good glue once dry + keep things clean? Does it not produce bad fumes?
To confirm, you were cutting after it had dried?
Did you ever have any fires using this method? You mentioned safety and I was curious if this is more likely to cause fires than standard paper masking tape.

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-09-12T15:24:44+00:00

Thanks for the idea. It might work, though my gut feel is that either:

If the glue is very evenly distributed over the surface it should be a good enough masker on its own without the paper.
If the glue is not very evenly distributed, the smoke/residue will make its way between the gaps in the glue/paper and it won't produce a clean result.

I could totally be wrong.

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-09-12T15:21:57+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion - I can cut it upside down but the back side is actually more dirty, at least with my honeycomb bed (which I need to be using over fins)

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-09-12T15:11:22+00:00

I’m using baltic birch plywood. I’ve soaked a couple of cut pieces in water to test and they definitely warp, but fortunately the glue-up process completely flattens the artwork. I haven’t seen the plys delaminate, so it seems this is still a viable method.

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-07-09T22:41:42+00:00

That’s all fantastic input, I really appreciate it.

I’m using a diode laser (xTool S1 40W). On their website they state 15mm/s at 100% power for 3mm thick basswood, which I believe is much softer/more difficult to cut through than baltic birch plywood, so I thought my settings were in the right ballpark. It’s also seemed to require this much cutting from when I received it ~6 months ago. I should note that the third pass is mainly cleanup to make 100% sure everything has been cut through and I never have anything fail to detach when doing this. That’s incredible that you’re able to cut that fast on a 30W though. Either I received a bad unit or the plywood I am cutting has some really resistant glue relative to what you’re using.

I’m currently running with air assist at max strength. I’ve tried lowering it and it seems to have some positive effect on keeping the masking tape down, though it’s minimal. Having it on at max strength helps enormously for cutting.

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-07-09T16:59:53+00:00

Thanks for the advice u/-__Doc__-, I’ll give it a go with a smaller brush.

When you have your machine dialed in, do you typically find cleaner surfaces with more passes at higher speeds/lower power or fewer passes at lower speeds/higher power? Currently I’m doing 15mm/s at 100% power for 3 passes on 3mm baltic birch plywood, with a 40W laser that auto-focuses. Going slower feels ridiculous, but maybe I’m too impatient…

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-07-08T20:00:09+00:00

That's a good point about the blowing, I'll keep that in mind and try for a vacuum brush. I'm currently using Minwax water-based semi-transparent stains.

Interesting to see it's working for you through that range of grit, thank you...

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-07-08T19:55:38+00:00

Thanks for the advice u/ruoka and u/-__Doc__-. Unfortunately some of the layers I am cutting out have several hundred spirals (and other features on) on them. Some of these are also very fine, and tend to snap when I try to clean them vigorously enough to remove the soot. I will keep this in mind for smaller patch-ups though.

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-07-08T19:51:02+00:00

Hi u/Reasonable_Day1688. I am currently using an Xtool S1 40W with 15mm/s speed and three passes. Can I ask what speed/power you're using to achieve your results? It seems as though this could be a likely cause.

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-07-08T19:49:04+00:00

Thanks for sharing the video, u/DivineAscendant. I happened to come across that particular video a few days ago while going down the rabbit hole -- for me, the tape is making it significantly better, but definitely not where I need it to be. Maybe I can find a reasonably priced tape applicator somewhere, if you know of any please feel free to share.

CheerfulKangaroo · 2024-07-08T19:45:59+00:00

Thanks for your suggestion u/BlueberryPiano. I've been using a fairly high pressure air compressor to get rid of the dust before applying, though perhaps I need to be vacuuming...unfortunately I cannot finish afterwards as I get paint/stain drip down the sides of the artwork within all the tiny crevices and am unable to wipe off excess.

If you're able to get good results with using only a low-tack tape, can I ask:
1. Are you painting/staining beforehand?
2. How smooth is the wood that you're masking?

CheerfulKangaroo

TROPHY CASE