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Anyone used a laser cutter for templates

8K views 52 replies 11 participants last post by  hi-nrg-joe 
#1 ·
I'm thinking of getting in to the rhinestone transfer and template making, i was wondering if anyone was cutting templates for rhinestone with a laser cutter and what were the results?
 
#3 ·
You can use styrene engraving material such as Rowmark to make stencils. They work great and are reusable almost forever.

It is the "C" in PVC that is bad. Burning PVC plastic gives off chlorine gas which is very damaging/corrosive to some of the metals in laser engravers.
 
#6 ·
I use whatever unsellable rowmark we have had forever. We have an inventory of about 100 different colors, thicknesses, & types (lasermax, lasermark, ada, reversibles, etc.. We make trophys & awards so there is always some color you bought 3 years ago for some job that there is still 3 sheets left.

raster engrave the holes to the depth you desire for the stones.
 
#13 ·
Willy, I have a cutter and generate release liner that we toss. I was just thinking the template needed to be thicker than than that. I have not done this before, so I am looking for a way to utilize my equipment. I am thinking like Jay about the 2mm acrylic. It might be that the release liner could be bonded to the acrylic and then either engraved or vector cut for the template. I am thinking -drop the stones in the holes and cover with the tape, then pick them up as the transfer.
What are other people using to make templates from? I saw some on e-bay but they did not say anything about the thickness etc.
 
#16 ·
the engraved rowmark becomes sorta like screens (for printing)... one template for each different stone/color. The transfer tape is to lift them off the template. You need a jig to hold the transfer tape & templates so registration is good (if doing multi-color or multi size transfers)
 
#20 ·
when making a template with a laser from rigid plastic stock (acrylic or rowmark) you would not cut through the material like you do with a plotter and sandblast film. You would raster engrave to whatever depth you need so the stone sticks up enough for the tape to grab.
 
#23 ·
We have used oilboard to make our templates with the laser. We cut the holes a little bigger than the sizes of the stones and then glue the oilboard to a piece of card stock, brush the stones in the holes, use transfer tape to pick up the stones and go. If we have different colors of stones you can print the colored picture on the card stock before you glue the oilboard to it and then you know what colors to put in each hole.
 
#34 ·
Hi guys,

I'm also interested in making some rhinestone templates with my laser, but not sure which method to use. Here are the methods I've read about:

1)Embo tape or oilboard, double sided tape to a piece of chip board, with another piece of double sided tape. Then vector cur the design, and pull off the cover of the 2nd layer of double sided tape and use another piece of chipboard as the backer.

2)Rowmark acrylic with adhesive. Vector cut the holes, remove the protective cover of the adhesive and put on a piece of chipboard as the backer.

3)Rowmark acrylic and then raster engrave the holes to a certain depth with no other material.

I've never tried any of these methods, but am about to. Does anyone know which method works best with the transfer tape? I'm hoping to find a method where the stones sill stick easily, but the tape will be easy to remove from the top of the template.

Thanks!
 
#37 ·
The thickness of the material is the difference. If you are vector cutting a rigid material with your laser you have to ensure that enough stone is poking up so the app tape can grab it. If you raster cut the holes then the substrate thickess does not matter. If you have a bunch of 3/16 or 1/4" acrylic then you can't vector it...

On a plotter the stencil material is pretty thin. For a 1-off design I'd use stencil mask & the plotter.. but for a design you use over and over a laser cut one will be more durable... although harder to make initially.
 
#39 ·
LB...I haven't tried any of those methods yet, I'm still in the investigating phase of stencil creation. I have read that someone doing this currently is using 1/32 Rowmark ADA Alt Applique Value with Adhesive and vector cutting all the way through. Then they just use a backer board behind it.

I guess the key to any of these methods is to make sure the transfer tape is easy to remove from the substrate when picking up the stones. I'm going to have to try to find some "sample" packs and try the different methods until I find out what works for me. My ultimate goal is:

1)Material easy to work with...easy to remove with transfer tape when lifting the stones.
2)Rigid material so I can save my templates for re-use later in time
3)Less materials and labor for assembling the stencil...The single layer plastic with holes rastered down seams like an easy 1-piece solution, but I'm not sure how the cost of the material compares to the other methods.
4)I'm not too concerned with speed right not since my lasers not running 100%. I'm hoping that rastering a design will still be less than 10 mins for a 1sqft piece, but then again, I have no idea since I've never made a rhinestone patter so I don't know the timing.

Maybe this weekend, I'll take a peice of scrap plastic and make something....Does anyone have any premade templates they'd like to share?

I also, need to pick up some rhinestones and transfer tape. Do you think the type of transfer tape will depend on the method used?..For example, embo tape top vs acrylic top vs cutter material top?
 
#40 ·
Joseph:
I also have not made a template yet. However, I am learning a lot about it. I found the Winpcsign Pro 2010 demo yesterday. This would be an ideal software tool to use, as you can print the created designs directly to the laser. It is also a cutting program that can be used with a plotter ( I have both, but I am thinking the laser will be faster and cleaner,plus my Epilog is very accurate) Vector cutting those holes will be faster than raster engraving them.
Yes, the 1/32" ada applique would be a good product for this purpose. That is .03 thick. Since the transfer tape is probably fairly low tack, I would not think it would be an issue with the plastics.
 
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