{"id":17511,"date":"2010-11-25T20:11:38","date_gmt":"2010-11-26T03:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ponoko.com\/blog\/?p=17511"},"modified":"2011-08-01T12:57:27","modified_gmt":"2011-08-01T19:57:27","slug":"add-colour-to-your-laser-cut-detail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ponoko.com\/blog\/ponoko\/add-colour-to-your-laser-cut-detail\/","title":{"rendered":"Add Colour to Your Laser Cut Detail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Paint filling and masking laser engraved parts.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Painting in engraved detail gives your design an additional unique factor and makes less likely to scream \u201cI\u2019m laser cut!\u201d\u00a0 In the old days of hand cutting materials, you would have to sit there for hours, carefully applying masking tape of fluid in strategic areas to ensure a crisp paint edge.\u00a0 Like trying to paint straight stripes on a wall, only on much smaller scale.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, should you choose to try paint filling your laser cut engraving, your can mask required areas with laser cut precision.\u00a0 The acrylics are cut with protective paper on, and all engraved areas are ready to be painted.\u00a0 Other materials can have transfer tape applied to top surface on request.\u00a0 The exceptions to this are leather and felt because transfer tape does not stick well to those.\u00a0 Some woods can present the same problem also, so experimentation is always advised.\u00a0 Protective paper and transfer tape are not the same thing.\u00a0 Protective paper is the brown film on both sides of acrylic sheets and is applied at point of manufacture, which means that, by default, all our stocked acrylic has protective paper on both sides.\u00a0 Transfer tape is the light-coloured adhesive sheet that is stuck on to keep all the parts in place when the cut design is removed from the lasercutter.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Transfer tape over white acrylic<\/a>, over bamboo ply<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

There are two main factors in this process: digital, which is your design; and physical, which is the actual painting.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the digital.\u00a0 Whether you\u2019re using a raster fill or vector engraving, you need to use the heavy lines\/fills, which you can also read about here<\/a>.\u00a0 A vector outline around your raster fill will also give a crisper edge, which works well on larger, less detailed areas.\u00a0 Small details end up too cluttered, and the extra engraving time adds to the making cost.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Vector outline on the right, and how it comes out (after painting) \u00a0on white acrylic and Eurolite<\/a>
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em><\/p>\n

You can see that there\u2019s some paint bleeding on the plywood resulting from insufficient adherence of transfer tape to wood surface.\u00a0 Don\u2019s say we didn\u2019t warn you!<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re using vector engraving only, experiment with doubling or even tripling your lines to make the detail more obvious, like in the Sammich Midi boxes<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Top to bottom: raster fill, raster fill with vector outline, single vector outline, multiple vector outline created using the \u201cexpand\u201d command.\u00a0 Left to right: file, Eurolite, white acrylic<\/em><\/p>\n

At this point you will upload your file and enthusiastically wait for your \u201canother exciting shipment from Ponoko\u201d with all its Yippee! goodness.<\/p>\n

The real work begins once you open you package.\u00a0 Firstly, very very carefully peel the transfer tape off the top of the sheet.\u00a0 Now if this is acrylic, it should be pretty straight forward because the protective paper is stuck firmly to the material, and there is little risk of it lifting off.\u00a0 If the material is anything else, i.e. it is protected by transfer tape, you need to peel off the top layer with caution, as not to raise off the masking layer.<\/p>\n

Once the transfer tape is off, vector engraving is ready to be filled in.\u00a0 Use a blower brush to get rid of the residue from raster engraving first.\u00a0\u00a0 You can either use Indian ink or spray paint.<\/p>\n

This is how you do it with a paint brush:<\/strong><\/p>\n

If your engraving is detailed and close to the edge, do no spray directly out of a can, as it will result in overspray.\u00a0 Options in this case are ink with a fine brush, or you can spray a little bit of paint into the lid and dip your brush into that.\u00a0 Usual spray painting safety rules apply.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Middle shows overspay from using spray paint.\u00a0 Ink and brush are best for small, detailed designs<\/em><\/p>\n

This is how you spray paint your engraving:<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can safely use spray paint if your engraving is limited to centre of the sheet, the edges of which can be easily masked.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The next step is waiting for the paint\/ink to dry, and then you can gleefully spend hours grinding down your nails as you peel off all the tiny bits of paper.\u00a0 Good luck!<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/a>
\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a broad topic with lots of ifs and buts, so post your questions in the comments section, and we\u2019ll use them for more blog posts dealing with the specifics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Paint filling and masking laser engraved parts.<\/p>\n

Painting in engraved detail gives your design an additional unique factor and makes less likely to scream \u201cI\u2019m laser cut!\u201d\u00a0 In the old days of hand cutting materials, you would have to sit there for hours, carefully applying masking tape of fluid in strategic areas to ensure a crisp paint edge.\u00a0 Like trying to paint straight stripes on a wall, only on much smaller scale.<\/p>\n

Fortunately,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nAdd Colour to Your Laser Cut Detail<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ponoko.com\/blog\/ponoko\/add-colour-to-your-laser-cut-detail\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Add Colour to Your Laser Cut Detail\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Paint filling and masking laser engraved parts. Painting in engraved detail gives your design an additional unique factor and makes less likely to scream \u201cI\u2019m laser cut!\u201d\u00a0 In the old days of hand cutting materials, you would have to sit there for hours, carefully applying masking tape of fluid in strategic areas to ensure a crisp paint edge.\u00a0 Like trying to paint straight stripes on a wall, only on much smaller scale. 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