Full Version: Cleaning Rowmark Texture
From: Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY) [#11]
31 Mar 2005
To: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#1] 31 Mar 2005
White cap/blue core, textured. Bad combination.
The blue never burns in the laser, just redeposits. Textures make it even more difficult to clean. Since it is blue core you cannot do a low power cleanup pass.
The good news is that paint thinner with a hard toothbrush may get you out of trouble with what you have already done.
The better news is that the advice given will work well on fresh pieces. Anything that will leave a waxlike coating on the piece that can be removed with a solvent after lasering will take 95% of the residue with it. You may have to use a hard toothbrush with the solvent to get it out of the textured surface.
The blue is the worst, red second, the other colors I have tried were far better than those two.
From: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#12]
31 Mar 2005
To: JHayes55 [#7] 1 Apr 2005
Joe,
Thanks. WD-40 I have. Towels I have.
From: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#13]
31 Mar 2005
To: ALL
WOW!! Ya gotta love this forum.
Thank you to everyone for their ideas and suggestions. I'll try them all and report back what works the best.
Hopefully I can get what I have done clean, if not the school fees have gone up again.
Thanks again
From: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#14]
31 Mar 2005
To: Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY) [#11] 31 Mar 2005
Harvey etal,
Ok, the end is near. ( of the job that is ). Here is what I have learned on THIS job:
1. Charge more when using Rowmark Textures because it takes a double pass and is more difficult to clean
2. Apply a light coat of paste wax to Rowmark Textures to make it easier to clean.
3. Use Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to clean Rowmark Textures. It works WONDERS, especially if the wax was applied. If the wax was not applied it still works WONDERS.
4. Diligently read, absorb and contribute as you can to the Engraving Etc. Forum.
5. Always play nice in the sandbox, and SHARE.
Thank you all for your help.
From: JHayes55 [#15]
1 Apr 2005
To: Nick (KOZASNJZ) [#8] 5 Apr 2005
Nick
I think Mark had me covered but just to follow up
No flame problem with the laser and the WD-40.
From: LaZerDude (CHUCK_BURKE) [#16]
1 Apr 2005
To: JHayes55 [#7] 2 Apr 2005
Joe,
Today I tried the WD-40 Trick. A light coating before engraving. Two passes on the rowmark texture. Wipe off with WD-40, rinse in cold water.
Done.
Works like a charm.
Thanks
From: Ken D. (KDEVORY) [#17]
2 Apr 2005
To: LaZerDude (CHUCK_BURKE) [#16] 2 Apr 2005
From: LaZerDude (CHUCK_BURKE) [#18]
2 Apr 2005
To: Ken D. (KDEVORY) [#17] 2 Apr 2005
Ken,
I based the price on $65.00 /hr shop time. I got that figure from reading some of Don Bellerby's articles in A&E magazine, things I picked up on this and other forums, and past business experiences.
If I have done this correctly, the $65.00 per hour, covers my wages, rent, utilities, etc. ( overhead).
Since I am currently home based, I do have some flexibilty if I made an error in calculations. (Which I did by not know that the Rowmark Textures require TWO passes to get a "clean" product. It still works out to a bit over $45.00 per hour.
The loss because of the second pass, and any other money I may have left on the table, will be attributed to school fees ( Thank you Rodney for the term ).
The quantity was 800.
Sorry if this was a long answer to a short question.
From: Ken D. (KDEVORY) [#19]
2 Apr 2005
To: LaZerDude (CHUCK_BURKE) [#18] 3 Apr 2005
Thanks Chuck,
Don't apologize, I like long answers; they usually contain more information.
I'm looking to use price=(material cost + material profit) + (time x $rate)
time = my time + engraving time.
Now all I need is 40 billable hours a week.
From: JHayes55 [#20]
2 Apr 2005
To: LaZerDude (CHUCK_BURKE) [#16] 3 Apr 2005
Ok - so now you have taken one of my little tips and it worked. I am going
to offer up another one for you.
Using textured plasics - spend some time adjusting your power an speed to
get it to where one pass will get it done. First you will need to tweak
your focus a bit. I have found that pushing the focal point into the texture
a little (thus wideing you beam slightly) and adjusting the power/speed will give
you clean engraving on one pass. This is what I have found with my
laser in my shop - I think you can do the same thing but I can say that
for 100% sure. I suggest you do some testing - the savings are
quite nice.
From: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#21]
2 Apr 2005
To: Ken D. (KDEVORY) [#19] 2 Apr 2005
Ok, Ken,
Now that I understand what you are going for, I took my shop rate of $65.00 an hour, divided it by the number of badges I could do in an hour, ( I ran a blank run on a mock up in my laser to determine this time), and that gave me a price per tag.
The material cost was determined by dividing the cost of the material by how many tags I could get out of a sheet, then I multiplied that by 3. That gave me a figure of $2.13 per tag. I rounded that up to $2.25 for a little extra bonus to cover freight.
Because of the school fees, I did not make as much money on this job as I will the next time, BUT I did make money.
I hope I have helped you some.
From: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#22]
2 Apr 2005
To: JHayes55 [#20] 3 Apr 2005
Joe,
Do you mean that you are rationing your tips? If I use one I get another? And if I don't, you keep them to yourself? Sheesh ...(insert laugh here)
I did try adjusting my power. I'm using a 25 watt laser and I figured that if I had to make two passes with power at 100 and speed at 50, I could just do one pass at 100 with speed at 25. Didn't work.
What I have done to reduce the time of both passes is to, increase the speed to 60 which helps. I'd still love to be able to do this in one pass though.
With the IPI plastics that are NOT textured on pass does it and the clean up time is WAYYYYY shorter. However, I went with the Rowmark textures because of what I perceived to be a product that would last longer in the element..... sun, salt air, tourists etc.... Do you have any thoughts on this?
Thanks again for the tip. :-)
From: Ken D. (KDEVORY) [#23]
2 Apr 2005
To: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#21] 3 Apr 2005
"I hope I have helped you some."
Always, along with a lot of others on this forum.
I've never had a problem with school fees, but I still appreciate it when someone else is paying. (I'm trying to contribute for others too.)
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#24]
2 Apr 2005
To: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#22] 3 Apr 2005
Chuck,
Your choice of a textured plastic for this job was a wise one, in spite of the extra work required. As you deduced, this material will offer you some extended wear and help hide scratches that would have been visible very quickly with the satin or matt platics.
From: JHayes55 [#25]
3 Apr 2005
To: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#22] 3 Apr 2005
The only way you get them all at once would be a Vulcan (sp) mind melt. :)
Or you could just hire me to come to the island for about a month or two and
I might be able to pass along a tip or two per day. :o)
As far as the number of passes - I use a 75 watt so I was not
sure what power laser you had - as I said you would have to test for
your laser - it may not work with every laser.
As David said for the project you described the textured
material sounded like the best solution. We use texture
for produceing a dash panel for a ski boat attachment .
From: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#26]
3 Apr 2005
To: JHayes55 [#25] 3 Apr 2005
What do I get for room and board? :-)
So how many passes do you need to make with a 75W? I have a 25W.
Another lesson learned. Buy more watts than you need. You'll need it.
From: JHayes55 [#27]
3 Apr 2005
To: LaZerDude (C_BURKE) [#26] 3 Apr 2005
Maybe a tip or two a day - depends on how well I am treated - I need my
rest time :)
It is a one pass with my laser. There are times I wish for even a more powerful
laser
From: LaZerDude (CHUCK_BURKE) [#28]
3 Apr 2005
To: JHayes55 [#27] 4 Apr 2005
There is only one time I wish for a more powerful laser. That ALL the time
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