What is a brand of spray paint that will not cause cracking on acrylic mirror that has been engraved from the back and then the engraving spray painted.
What is a brand of spray paint that will not cause cracking on acrylic mirror that has been engraved from the back and then the engraving spray painted.
Epilog Mini 12 x 18
Acrylic spray (depending on where you are) Plasticote works well as does spray enammel (but takes longer to dry)
cheers
Dave
You did what !
Small town Kansas which means not much available. No acrylic in solid colors and no Plasticote. Even the Krylon Fusion causes cracks in the engraving. Has anyone used latex paint for coloring engraved areas.
Epilog Mini 12 x 18
Could you post a photo of the piece as well as
your settings? that may help us figure it out.
Martin Boekers
1 - Epilog Radius 25watt laser 1998
1 - Epilog Legend EXT36 75watt laser 2005
1 - Epilog Legend EXT36 75watt laser 2007
1 - Epilog Fusion M2 32 120watt laser with camera 2015
2 - Geo Knight K20S 16x20 Heat Press
Geo Knight K Mug Press,
Ricoh GX-7000 Dye Sub Printer
Zerox Phaser 6360 Laser Printer
numerous other tools and implements
of distruction/distraction!
Check for Plasticote at the automotive shops. I'm in a small town too and they had a wide selection.
Regarding its durability, I just used it to refinish a 1911 slide. I let it cure over the weekend and it looks great.
Last edited by Chris DeGerolamo; 10-09-2014 at 4:07 PM.
Epilog Legend 36EXT ~35W
30W Fiber Laser
Ender 3 PRO
Corel X6
AutoCAD 2019
FFL 01
Will do Chris in about 30 minutes.
Epilog Mini 12 x 18
Yes, latex works fine on acrylic as long as you protect it. I will let it dry well then apply any color of scrap vinyl over the paint and trim the edges. Then you can use double sided tape/silicone or other adhesive and noy damage the latex.
Sammamish, WA
Epilog Legend 24TT 45W, had a sign business for 17 years, now just doing laser work on the side.
"One only needs two tools in life: WD-40 to make things go, and duct tape to make them stop." G. Weilacher
"The handyman's secret weapon - Duct Tape" R. Green
Krylon Fusion is loaded with harsh chemicals (propane, butane, MEK, xylene, acetone, etc)...the reason it sticks so well to plastics is most of those ingredients will melt plastics! These chemicals will likely make the acrylic cracking worse instead of better-
Rustoleum acrylic latex is simply Di propylene glycol monobutyl ether (sounds like RV antifreeze) and a bit of titanium dioxide and carbon black. Might work, and Home Depot should have some...
You might try different mirror-- IPI plastics has their own version, "Lazr Mirr" I think it's called, comes in different colors and thicknesses, and I believe it's extruded acrylic and not so prone to the edges cracking. I have some of the blue mirror, haven't done anything with it yet, but it looks nice!
========================================
ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
FOUR - CO2 lasers
THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
ONE - vinyl cutter
CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle
Krylon Fusion is my "go to" for acrylics. So far no issues with it but I have to use multiple coats to get sufficient opacity. Dutch Boy latex has also been ok.
I have acrylic paint for my airbrush but it's too much trouble to use for small jobs.
For certain jobs I also use the vinyl cover over the paint.
Mike Null
St. Louis Laser, Inc.
Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
Gravograph IS400
Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
Dye Sublimation
CorelDraw X5, X7
Here is what I would like to do. Mirror acrylic engraved from the back and then color in the engraving. So far every spray paint I have used cracks the engraving. I will run to the next town and look for Plasticote at the automotive stores. I have attached a picture of the cracking.
WP_20141010_06_14_07_Pro.jpg
Epilog Mini 12 x 18
I just could not give up on this and I finally found a solution that works. Laser settings that just barely go through the mirror coating and the Krylon Fusion = no cracking. I did find like Mike Null point out that the coverage of fusion is not that great. Mike what is the vinyl cover that you mentioned in your post.
Epilog Mini 12 x 18
Alan
I use a plain white sign vinyl which I apply to the back of the piece then trim to fit with an exacto knife. This is for name tags. For signs I do not apply vinyl.
Mike Null
St. Louis Laser, Inc.
Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
Gravograph IS400
Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
Dye Sublimation
CorelDraw X5, X7
If I may, another word on Krylon Fusion paint--
In 2006 we bought our houseboat. This pic was the first day we saw the thing. The port side of the boat faces west (and does where I have it too)... Notice the window screens, pretty sad looking, the front room window screen in particular appears nearly threadbare...
This pic is the newest I can find handy, taken in August 2011:
Notice the screens look like new? To this day they look the same, after 8 years of 24-7-365 facing towards the west sun. The material keeps shrinking from age, but that's about it.
--- every 2 years I pull all the screening, and I spray paint them with Patriotic Blue Krylon Fusion. I can't praise this stuff enough. Everything should work so good! BIG thumbs up!
========================================
ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
FOUR - CO2 lasers
THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
ONE - vinyl cutter
CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle