Warping on Rowmark Textures Exterior?

[John Bion]

This is the first time I have used Rowmark 'Textures Exterior' and am having it warp as I laser engrave it.
I have never had problems with Rowmark materials before and wondered whether this is a common problem or whether I am hitting it a bit too hard. I did find it difficult to get through, I normally use 20 P and 320 S on my 60W machine,at a scan gap of 0.085 however I had to go up to 45 P to get through the surface of this product. No matter whether the sign being engraved was small or larger it still warped and would not stay down with two way tape on the back.
Appreciate your comments.
Kind regards, John

[Mike Null]

John

Textures is best engraved with a rotary machine due to the thickness of the cap. If i were doing it on the laser I would take two or more passes to avoid the warping.

[John Bion]

John

Textures is best engraved with a rotary machine due to the thickness of the cap. If i were doing it on the laser I would take two or more passes to avoid the warping.

Thanks Mike, I was wondering wether I had caused the problem. Expensive mistake!
kind regards, John

[Phil Noakes]

John,

This is Phil Noakes with Rowmark. We concure with Mike's suggestions. We would also suggest bottom up lasering for Textures.

Thanks for using Rowmark products. Please contact our Technical Help any time we can assist.

Regards,

Phil

[John Bion]

Hi Phil,
Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. Please would you clarify what you mean by “bottom up” lasering on Textures.
Kind Regards, John

[Rodne Gold]

You start the engraving from the bottom up , mostly to avoid "staining" the already engraved sections by the vapour released when engraving
Ostensibly , vacuum will pull fumes from the front of the cabinet to the back , thus the vapours will only travel over unengraved sections and wont transfer stains or heat into the already thin engraved bits

[Tim Bateson]

John - Laser from bottom to top. By default most lasers go from the 0/0 position down, but can be set to bottom up in the driver.

[John Bion]

Rodney and Tim, Thanks for clarifying that. That makes perfect sense and my machines are pre-set to do this. Why I did not understand what Phil meant can only be due to my being a bit on the ’thick’ (dim) side
Rastering this twice will certainly tie laser machines up but it seems like a good product.
Thanks again for your help.
Kind Regards, John

[John Bion]

Reviving this old thread for a material update:

I have just used Trotec’s own brand TroLase Textures for the first time and decided to give it a test on the laser instead of taking it straight to the router as usual.

I gave it two passes, blasting it with compressed air after the first pass. Needless to say I will probably use the laser for smaller signs on this material from now onwards. So far, this material is more user friendly, not sure of longevity etc though. The test sign in the image is 17” X 2.5”:
IMG_0293.jpg

Kind Regards,
John