Fabricate panels with a LASER

[m0ng00se]

Hi
Just like to add..
Acrylic paint dries from the inside out. So spray thin coats, dry each coat with an infra red heater.Spray enough coats to get the opacity. Leave finished result for at least 2 weeks before engraving.

two weeks, wow, I haven't got the patience for that, but I'm going to try it thanks

[John_B]

two weeks, wow, I haven't got the patience for that, but I'm going to try it thanks

I make these panels all day long now ...trust me just let the paint 'flash off' plus a bit of time...for cellulose 20 or so mins is fine.

Boeing build the whole dam plane in 2 weeks LOL ..(ok there are a few of them!)



John

[jonesthesoftware]

I make these panels all day long now ...trust me just let the paint 'flash off' plus a bit of time...for cellulose 20 or so mins is fine.

Boeing build the whole dam plane in 2 weeks LOL ..(ok there are a few of them!)



John

My post was aimed at using cheap water based paint with no solvents. Yes i agree cellulose or synthetics will flash off and dry quickly. Strangely enough you can only buy water based paints in the county i live in. The local council gave banned cellulose, 2 pack, basecoat etc, yet if i go outside the area i can still buy them?
Regards

[John_B]

My post was aimed at using cheap water based paint with no solvents. Yes i agree cellulose or synthetics will flash off and dry quickly. Strangely enough you can only buy water based paints in the county i live in. The local council gave banned cellulose, 2 pack, basecoat etc, yet if i go outside the area i can still buy them?
Regards

Heya Jonesthesoftware

How strange?
I have often used standard emulsion (buy it as a tester from B+Q if they have them over there) it dries within the hour though the finish is not as tough unless ya seal it after.

Ebay sells celly paints in an spray can maybe you can get around the rules that way? mind you they do work out expensive @ around £17 a can!

I have a car refinishing supplier two mins from me and can get it all (horrible, nasty, 2 pack included).

John

[jonesthesoftware]

Heya Jonesthesoftware

How strange?
I have often used standard emulsion (buy it as a tester from B+Q if they have them over there) it dries within the hour though the finish is not as tough unless ya seal it after.

Ebay sells celly paints in an spray can maybe you can get around the rules that way? mind you they do work out expensive @ around £17 a can!

I have a car refinishing supplier two mins from me and can get it all (horrible, nasty, 2 pack included).

John

Hi John
strange indeed. The council is Rhondda Cynon Taff(lets name and shame!). At first I thought the supplier was kidding when he said he couldn't sell me solvent based stuff.

I force dry the emulsion with an infra red heater but I have found that the longer I leave it the harder it becomes and I get a crisper engraving after 2 weeks-ish
I am using the B&Q paint as I took apiece of real 767 brown and had it colour matched in matt emulsion, Looks pretty good too.

I use the emulsion mostly because of the colour match but it's so easy to clean up and the overspray is so heavy you don't get clouds of paint in your garage workshop. I went to an auto paint supplier previously and had 1 litre of water based car paint colour matched at £46 and I thought it was rubbish as it never seemed to dry and was soft to touch. It also required a top coat of clear laquer.
It was simpler and cheaper to use B&Q emulsion and coat it with rattle cans of matt clear laquer from ebay.
regards
geoff

[John_B]

Oh Geoff that's insane! is there a punishment for driving somewhere you can get it then using it??

Yeah the b n q stuff does work /..I buy 1ltr cellulose for about £17 or so but at the moment do not have my spray shop (as we are hoping to move soon so most is boxed away.)
I find with "softer" paint I get a nicer edge as it kind of heals on the very edge

I made these today for a guy left them for around 40 mins (this cheap satin black is magic.)

hmm I uploaded a picture but heaven knows where its gone LOL


Ho hum

John

[Flight Sim Parts]

White Acrlic, Spray RAL 7011 paint, Allow to dry then imput into the laser and it will etch the text leaving the white background of the plastic to show through!

edit,
Sand with some fine sandpaper and use plastic primer!

[Flight Sim Parts]

Hi John
strange indeed. The council is Rhondda Cynon Taff(lets name and shame!). At first I thought the supplier was kidding when he said he couldn't sell me solvent based stuff.

I force dry the emulsion with an infra red heater but I have found that the longer I leave it the harder it becomes and I get a crisper engraving after 2 weeks-ish
I am using the B&Q paint as I took apiece of real 767 brown and had it colour matched in matt emulsion, Looks pretty good too.

I use the emulsion mostly because of the colour match but it's so easy to clean up and the overspray is so heavy you don't get clouds of paint in your garage workshop. I went to an auto paint supplier previously and had 1 litre of water based car paint colour matched at £46 and I thought it was rubbish as it never seemed to dry and was soft to touch. It also required a top coat of clear laquer.
It was simpler and cheaper to use B&Q emulsion and coat it with rattle cans of matt clear laquer from ebay.
regards
geoff

I'm from Cwmbran and use cellulose! Move down here haha!

[budman9mm]

I'm late to the discussion here, but on the topic of painting the acrylic panels...I mix my own and it comes out looking quite good imo every time. I use Liquitex Basics Acrylic Titanium White and Mars Black and add a very small amount of the blue (I don't have the exact name handy) and match it by eye to my previous batch (you can find color samples and use those too). I also add some paint adhesion medium to help it bond with the acrylic a little better. I then apply with an airbrush in thin coats until bright light no longer bleeds through. I've had no trouble engraving or cutting after an overnight drying and even less. At first it can be a little susceptible to nicks or scratches, but it becomes pretty resistant after a week or so, so I'm just careful with it until then.

Hope this helps someone. If you already have the airbrush, then it is a lot cheaper. YMMV