Kevin Futter

Welcome aboard, Rick! I'm very interested to hear about your experiences with laser cutting masks, so please keep us informed! Kev

They're not super small, Max, being around 6mm in overall height. The border though is a fraction of a mm, and it seems the root cause of the issue is that there's not enough surface area underneath them to maintain adhesive contact with the backing sheet. I'm going to try the hybrid approach on a mule, and see how well it works. Kev

Yeah, they were the settings I used for the first attempt. They've worked pretty well up until now for simple outline masks, but not so much when I introduced the very thin border. I also discovered that there were sections that hadn't cut through at all - especially around the S characters. Hence my increasing the blade depth a notch. Kev

Well, blade depth certainly wasn't the issue, as when I pulled the vinyl off the cutting mat, I discovered that in some areas it had cut right through both the vinyl and the backing sheet! Kev

Woody pointed me to the following article, where point #1 seemed to be the best fit for what I'm experiencing: https://silhouetteamerica.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/35000206362-vinyl-lifting-off-backing-during-cut-job So the first thing I did was check the blade, and lo and behold, there was a big ole chunk of vinyl stuck to the assembly: This was from the immediately preceding cut job, however, and not the cause of the original problem. The next thing I did was slow the speed down to the lowest setting as suggested in the article, and use the 'test' function to see if the triangle-in-a-square was behaving properly - and it was not. So I slowed ratcheted the blade depth up a notch and tried again, but initially couldn't get the test cut to locate properly (hence the cut lines in the mat in the photo below). After sorting that out and doing a successful test cut, I decided to try printing the design, and if anything, the result was worse: At this point I'm going to abandon this approach, as even if it's solvable, I don't feel like wasting the time and vinyl on it. Instead, since the outside border needs to be white, I'm going to use the successful outside cuts I've already done to paint in the white, and then use the inside designs to print decals to go over the white painted sections. As long as the decals print at the correct size relative to the masks (and I locate them properly on the model!), it should do the job. Thanks everyone for your input! Kev

Thanks for your input, fellas. A bit of adhesive build-up on the blade certainly makes some sense, as it only has to happen once for the problem to be self-compounding. All my other cuts on that same sheet so far have been fine in that respect, and it's only the latest cut involving the thin border that seemed to trigger the issue. I'll take a look at the blade in the morning and check it for detritus. Stand by! Kev

I managed to figure this one out for myself: basically, the settings in the "Send" panel had defaulted to 'cut edges' without me realising it, and making sure that it was set to 'cut' instead, fixed that particular problem: However, the cut still had some issues, with lots of lifting and displacement of the cut shapes: I'm not sure if this is completely salvageable to be honest, but also don't know what caused it, or how to prevent it happening again. I suspect I might be better served printing these particular examples as decals, rather than masks. Kev

Some of you will be aware of my 3D-printed BOMARC build happening on LSP. I'm at the point where I need to create some paint masks for its various markings, but have hit a bit of a wall with regard to creating the required US Air Force text. Creating the text itself was easy enough: just download the required Amarillo font and get the sizing close enough. The problem started when I tried to create the thin border that needs to go around most of the text. I used Silhouette Studio's 'offset' function to create the narrow border to produce what you see in the image below: The problem is that only the offset border gets cut! The internal lines are ignored completely. Then I read somewhere that if I use the "release compound path" function, I can separate out the internal elements (bottom example in the image above). This worked, but I had the same issue with the internal lines not cutting (i.e., the open elements in A and R). So, I'm at an impasse now. Ideally I'd like the upper version to cut with all lines in situ, but have no idea how to get Silhouette Studio to recognise all lines as cut lines. Can anyone offer any suggestions? Kev

Welcome aboard, John! Good to see you here. Kev

Welcome aboard, sir! Kev

Welcome aboard! Kev

Welcome aboard, sir! Would love to follow your investigations into laser cutting. Kev

Thanks, Danilo. I've added a screenshot of them to the upload. Kev

Thanks for posting this. Can you let us know what's in the file? I have this kit, so an overview or description would be handy. Kev

Welcome aboard, Benoit! Kev

Welcome aboard, Lime! I think @Mozart might be our most experienced practitioner here, so we might beseech his wisdom and expertise. Just to clarify, however: are you experiencing difficulties with cutting the blue mask due to the 0.593mm size, or are you having trouble placing them once cut because they are 0.593mm? Kev

Welcome aboard, sir! Kev

Excellent work all round, chaps! Kev

Welcome aboard, Rob. Hopefully someone will be along to help you out soon. Kev

Welcome aboard, Jake! Kev

Thanks for posting these, Dave. A bit late for me, unfortunately, but very useful all the same! I do have a second builder's kit, so you never know... Kev

Welcome aboard! Kev

Another forum software update, another test post! Stay calm, carry on. Kev

It's worth a try, and probably what I'd try first. If you've got a spare panel to test it on before 'going live', I'd certainly recommend that. The problems will be twofold: getting exact size matches for the recesses, and keeping any glue smears out of the equation. But any kind of water-soluble glue that dries clear would be your best bet. My preferred method for constructing instrument panels is the 'sandwich method', where a clear acetate layer is sandwiched between a backing piece and the front part containing the dial holes. To me this not only produces the most realistic result, but also obviates all the difficulties with trying to produce an effective glass look for the dials. Here's one I scratch-built for the Matchbox Tiger Moth: Of course, a lot of kit and even aftermarket panels don't lend themselves to this approach, and it also has nothing to do with cutting masks, either! Though I could imagine designing and cutting out the front part of the panel from thin styrene. Kev

Interesting idea, Guy. I think it's workable, but finding the right material is the key. I would worry that the adhesive backing would cause some cloudiness or lack of clarity - especially if disturbed during application. I've made landing light covers out of clear office tape, and had to be very careful not to touch the adhesive side, or all you'd see was a giant fingerprint. And of course, that type of material doesn't lend itself to being used on a cutting machine. I'd be curious to hear what ideas other members might have. Oh, I've used clear resin for this application too, and the secret is to use the UV curing gel, and hit it with the UV light after shaping it flat, and before it gets a chance to 'dome out'. Kev