" Rooster " said:
Cliff Jennings said:
Thanks for sharing this build with me guys,
===>Cliffy
No… Thank You !
Suck up. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Today was painting day,
Per Dennis’ advice, I used an “Adhesion Promoter” first. Not Bulldog (couldn’t get it in the People’s Republic of Maryland), but Duplicolor had something similar (like Bulldog, also from an auto parts store). Anyway, you shoot it on, and spray your paint within 10 minutes, and that’s it. I did 2 coats of black on the interior, and some browns under the eaves. Also browns on exposed bases.
Then came the unmasking, including peeling of the paper from the clear “glazing” panels. That was fun.
I strung lights through it, and the light-blocking paint wasn’t great. The paint sure looks black and opaque, but not enough. So I didn’t bother with pics for that.
However, with the sheathing & shingles performing the main light blocking over all this, the paint will help at sheathing joints for doors, windows, corners; and between shingle strips. So I’m not too worried.
Tomorrow I hope to start the engraving / cutting for sheathing.
===>Cliffy
Very, VERY impressive, Cliff! Nicely done.
Does the wife know you used her bed sheets as drop cloths? I bet that took a while to paint. Nice work,
Chris
Blue plastic with a black undercoat. Now its really looking a bit freaky. But sometimes projects do, right before they go from ugly duckling to beautiful. Keep at it, you are impressing the peanut gallery here.
David, yep, it’s as ugly as all get out, for sure. Another motivation to get some siding on it. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
Chris, good eye as always, but fortunately those were the one’s she was going to replace. I think.
Hey Bruce, thanks a lot, I sure appreciate it!
She is going to replace them now.
HahaHA! Yep.
Today was supposed to be all about the sheathing cutting. Kinda discouraged, but am looking on the bright side. In other words, the first attempts have been a crash, burn and learn scenario, with the hope meter quite high.
I took Mick Benton’s suggestion to heart, and used double-sided tape to secure the material to an underlying cutting board, in order to prevent curling while engraving. I set up a decent base plate (itself of 1/4" acrylic), and used carpet tape to secure the thin pieces.It worked awesomely!! Engraving (at two depths) and then cutting went well, and the material stayed flat.
But, I screwed up. I’m not familiar much with double-sided tape; and the only versions that Lowes had were really heavy-duty. The lightest version they had was an indoor carpet tape. So I used that. Anyway, long story short, it took two hours and too much acetone to get the pieces off the base plate. Pieces broke up, and the acetone (the only thing that would cut that adhesive) worked through and did damage. So, crash and burn on that one.
However, I “discovered” a very lightweight double-sided tape, and am using that as I type to cut a second panel. It’s almost done, and there has been no curling at all. Here’s the product. It’s not easy to find (I searched for where I could buy it via the Scotch website). Lowes didn’t have it, nor did Home depot. But ironically my little corner Do-It-Best hardware store had it. And Amazon does. I bought the only 2 rolls they had.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0178XLL2W
I mean, the flatness and everything was phenomenal. Kudos to Mick.
In the end though, that didn’t quite work either: the tape didn’t want to come off the base plate, at all. Seemed like the engraving heat fused it; but that’s just a guess. But the tape did come away from the cut material quite well, so I’m tempted to try using just a few pieces of tape next time, vs. long strips. Also, I’ve just learned that there is a “removable” version of this tape (vs. the “permanent” version I bought).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006IF63
A larger issue though is that my cutting acrylic on an acrylic base isn’t working great, because it’s tending to fuse the two together. Should have expected that, because the laser vaporizes the material downward; and if there’s no exit, the particles will just accumulate, and in this case, bond. Furthermore, on the last panel, for some reason my “board seam” layer, which was supposed to just engrave, cut all the way through. So now I have a panel’s worth of pieces that have to be stick-applied, plank by plank. Between this, and some edges sticking the the base, and all the tape doing the same, it was hard getting wall sections off. I had to pre-tape the planks together, to keep them whole in the pry-up process.
Have to call it a day with this for now, but I’ve learned a lot. Mainly in the “what not to do” department. On the positive side, I had some success with tests on bringing out the “grain” in the engraved “wood.” Here’s two identical sections.
The right one has been brushed with printer toner powder, wiped off with a paper towel, then sprayed with flat clear coat. For the latter, I used this product:
If anyone can suggest something better that I can get locally and doesn’t cost too much, please let me know.
Well, that’s about it for this weekend on this project.
===>Cliffy
Cliff 1st thing how much room will clear under your nozzel, mine has over 3/8"
I use 3/16" x 1.5"and 2" flat Bars, I have them of various lengths, if you add an extra 1/2" to the length(Sacrificial/waste) lay the bar on the about 3/8" of that, it will hold the acrylic flat.
Maybe 1/4" thick Bars will be needed. Laying bars on the surface and plot around the bars, move the bars and then plot there.
When I use double sided tape, it is 1/4" wide really strong industrial tape. Tape half of the edge to be cut, then 1/8" is easy to remove.
Sacrificial tabs or edges can help you with tape and/or steel Bars for weight.
If you cut 3/16" acrylic and lay 3/16" steel bars right next to i,t and tape the joint with masking tape, that works good in many cases.
Dennis
Dennis Rayon said:
Cliff 1st thing how much room will clear under your nozzel, mine has over 3/8"
I use 3/16" x 1.5"and 2" flat Bars, I have them of various lengths, if you add an extra 1/2" to the length(Sacrificial/waste) lay the bar on the about 3/8" of that, it will hold the acrylic flat.
Maybe 1/4" thick Bars will be needed. Laying bars on the surface and plot around the bars, move the bars and then plot there.
When I use double sided tape, it is 1/4" wide really strong industrial tape. Tape half of the edge to be cut, then 1/8" is easy to remove.
Sacrificial tabs or edges can help you with tape and/or steel Bars for weight.
If you cut 3/16" acrylic and lay 3/16" steel bars right next to i,t and tape the joint with masking tape, that works good in many cases.
Dennis
Hey Dennis!
I sure appreciate your getting into the nitty gritty of the hold-down subject. I have about 1/2" beneath the nozzle, and have used small steel plates (1/4") for weights. They have worked well, as long as there is room to park them. I don’t have any steel bars yet, but that sounds like a great idea.
Last resort for me is to cut one panel at a time, and keep moving the plates (and changing the cutting file, for what to cut and not cut). But since that’s a lot of baby-sitting, I was hoping the tape-down method would work.
I suppose I could plan the file layers like you said for bar lay-down regions, and alternate what to cut / not cut. That would get things to 2 major passes for a given sheet. Interesting idea. I think that would work particularly well with the shingle strips.
I sure agree that not much tape is needed. I guess I was a little worried about a piece not having a tape square, and then popping up. So I over-did it.
When you use the tape, what base plate material do you use? I assume not metal; and if acrylic, do you have trouble with fusing?
My next attempt will probably be minimal tape, using the same acrylic base, and lower power on the seams between boards.
Thanks again Dennis,
Cliff
[later…]
I tried the minimal tape approach, and it went so much better. The tape came off easily, the seams didn’t cut through, the edges didn’t fuse. Sun’s shining, birds are chirping, all’s good.
Something I want to convey though is that I’m using 3 “layers” for this. At least on my software, you can set each layer (which is based simply on color) for speed, power level, and other things. So in Autocad I have a green layer for very light grain engraving, blue for heavier wood seam engraving, and red for cutting. It’s taken me quite a while to determine the settings for these. But upon importing into the cutting software, it remembers those by-layer (that is, by-color) settings.
It also allows you to determine the order. So, red (cutting) runs last. A few bits of tape held the sheet down for engraving. But when the cutting happens, the edges want to really come up. So, on this test run, I really baby-sat on the last cutting layer. And on three occasions, I paused the cut, stuck a small bit of tape beneath an upturning corner, and then continued. And that worked very well.
On full sheets, I’ll turn off the cutting layer, and let the engraving run its course. The machine beeps when it’s done. So that will allow me not to fuss with the bulk of the job. Then, for the final cutting, I’ll watch it closely and be ready with bits of tape if needed. At least, that’s the plan.
Cliffy,
Since your material is fairly thin, how about laying a metal sheet under it and using some magnets to hold it down? You could drop them in several places where you weren’t cutting. Set your cut depth to just cut thru the plastic so you can reuse the metal backer.
Not sure if it would help the curling issue. When we made the prototypes of the water cars, Doug used masking tape on the backside of the wood sheet so when it cut thru to make boards it stayed together for installation. He had so much control he cut thru the wood and didn’t even brown the masking tape. Maybe just a taped back would help your issue?
Chris
Hey Chris, good thoughts. Though magnets would be awesome for this, the problem with metal sheet is that (from what I’ve half read) the laser can reflect off of it and do some free surgery on an eyeball. Maybe there’s a coated steel sheet that would work, but I’ve not looked into that. Would be great though.
That’s pretty impressive, what Doug did. I haven’t had that precision, because of a) lifting of the material and b) inexperience. Maybe c) cheap laser cutter. I like the idea of running masking tape across the back of the sheet, and using that to help things hold together against the base. I’ll keep that in mind, as precision improves.
BTW, I have been using an acrylic base. The laser does scribe it some (on the cutting layer), but not much. It should be ok for the rest of the project.
I’m cutting (as I type) the next full panel of parts, seems to be going ok with the engraving.
[half hour later] All seemed good, except for the plank seams being too deep near the bottom of the sheet. So some planks wanted to separate (circled in red). Other than that, it the results were fine.
So I added painters tape to hold the bits together for now.
Cliffy,
I bet if you read your manual you will find a warning not to stare at the laser while it is running. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-sealed.gif)From work experience, I think the reflection mostly comes from stainless and other metals that would have a natural reflection to them. If you used plain old Carbon Steel you shouldn’t have an issue. Would be something to Dennis to chime in about.
The people who installed our lasers at work (very expensive models) stacked two sheets of paper together and cut the top one and didn’t damage the bottom. Pretty neat trick.
Chris
Some further notes.
Re. plank separation. I’ll keep backing off on the seam depth (by increasing the laser’s speed) until that doesn’t happen. Preaching to myself: all I need to do is create an opportunity for the ink to catch, not make a 3d texture. The material is only 1/32" thick, and doesn’t take much engraving depth before it wants to break.
Re. “pre-grain”. It takes about 5 minutes to belt-sand one sheet (1’ x 2’). It’s slow, because it’s so easy to make deep belt-sanderish depressions that won’t look great across a wall panel.
Re. “laser grain”. I’ve been backing way off on the depth, because this is only to catch the ink. The deeper it is, the more the curling, and greater the fragility (with this particular material, at least). Also, note the following. When the laser head reverses, the deceleration / acceleration is not perfectly instantaneous; there is a minuscule dwell time. What that means is that with every vee-shaped “grain” bit (which is everywhere with my patterns), there is a tiny hole at the apex. This is lessened with shallower engraving for grain.
Re. inking. I had expected to pre-ink and spray individual pieces before adhering to the structure. But with initial pieces tending to break up, I now have to tape them from the front, adhere to structure, and ink/spray after that. The up-side is that I’ll be able to ink across mating pieces with consistency, maybe varying the darkness from top to bottom.
Re. clear coat spraying. Because of that sequence, I realized during yesterday’s fail that I should have kept all the paper on the clear glazing of windows on, because that will definitely haze them. I learned that the hard way on my first loco detailing project… I actually lost some sleep over that last night. This morning though, I found that I saved all the blue cutouts from those walls, and they still have their paper. So a transfer of those paper bits should work fine for re-masking.
I’m mainly writing all this out to have a record to refer to later. But if someone else learns from my thrashings, that’s great. Either way, thanks Bob!!
===>Cliffy
Chris Kieffer said:
Cliffy,
I bet if you read your manual you will find a warning not to stare at the laser while it is running. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-sealed.gif)From work experience, I think the reflection mostly comes from stainless and other metals that would have a natural reflection to them. If you used plain old Carbon Steel you shouldn’t have an issue. Would be something to Dennis to chime in about.
Chris
Touche, mon amigo. (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)
My experience is limited. Now, my laser is said to have the proper filter in its window, and I need to see what’s going on. That’s the whole point of the window. But since I’m not quite sure I trust my eyes to an e-bay salesperson from another country, I blew $50 on a certified pair of goggles for this wavelength. Unfortunately, I’ve become lazy in using them; need to get with it.
Regardless, it’s the reflections that can damage the eyes, as I understand. And a low-wattage laser, though it won’t cut steel (or other common metals), it can surely eat the rust off of said steel’s surface, and I would suspect create for itself a nicely reflective surface. That’s what I recall hearing, though I’m afraid I can’t cite chapter and verse.
Yes, I’d also like to hear Dennis’s opinion on steel sheet as a cutting base.
Don’t, Do Not, get lazy with the use of safety equipment. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-yell.gif)
Just ask Stumpy, Lefty and Gimpy. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
We have been using galv. steel under our laser lite brushed brass for years, we use industrial 1/4" 2 sided tape about 2-3" apart on the galv, sheet and we lay the laser lites on it, sticks good for about 20-25 sheets, the galv sheet soon gets covered with tape residue, a sharp wood chisel will remove tape residue every 4-5 months.
FYI, aluminum cover sheets have been used for years, to laser off top cover/coat exposing the shiny aluminum under it. Great for outside signs,
we have used it for years. reflection is not serious unless your laser is an open model.
The windows on our lasers are protective plastic, preventing dangerous laser emissions that are dangerous for the eyes.
If your plastic is 1/32" thick i would use two side tape on galv steel. we laser over 1000 sheets a year on galv, steel, for the last 8 years.
We use a very safe cleaner and a brillow pad, type pad with the clearer to clean all of our engraved plastic, to remove any residue left during lasering, really cleans it up. on your clear, it cleans it very clear. glass cleaner works fair, it is smoke you are cleaning off during vector cutting.
I have also bought a roll of 2 sided tape dots, 3/4" , they work great on the galv steel sheets, peel off a few of them stick on the steel ,good for a few good sticks.
IMHO,I think you are over thinking this,
Dennis
Thanks for the comments guys, and for the further insights Dennis.
Like I’ve said, I don’t have much experience with lasers, especially regarding a sheet metal base. But Dennis it sounds like you’re saying it’s fine with a properly enclosed machine. So in that sense, I may well have been overthinking it, due to lack of information. But if all that checks out for my setup, eventually I’d sure like to get a sheet of galvanized steel for a cutting base, and then use magnets like Chris suggested, or just stay with the tape. But in the mean time, I’m moving ahead with the current setup.
I’ve been adjusting the settings, and have been achieving a result that gives decent grain and seams without causing brittleness; and cuts, with almost no fusing to the acrylic base plate. I was going too slow on the cuts, with this acrylic base. Anyway, all seams ok now. And the tape is coming away fine. Here’s the last sheathing sheet (of 9).
So except for a few early pieces I’m remaking, the sheathing is complete, and I hope to start applying it on Saturday.
Thanks again for the further insights Dennis, and thanks all for hanging with me on this.
===>Cliffy
Here’s the sheathing pile,
I had an extra sheet, and I sure needed it! (despite my rant earlier about over-buying…) I re-cut the earliest bad pieces, which had some bad melting-smearing going on (thanks to acetone and… nah, long story). I’ll make do with the ones that are sort of coming apart, the ones with blue bandaids. But no big deal, should work ok.
The remaining pieces, in various colors / thicknesses, are about the same amount. But I’ll cut them as I get to them. This is enough to chew on over the next weekend or two.
===>Cliffy
David Maynard said:
Don’t, Do Not, get lazy with the use of safety equipment. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-yell.gif)
Just ask Stumpy, Lefty and Gimpy. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)
And Squinty, Patch and Deadeye! (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-foot-in-mouth.gif)
