JPPlus Saddle Collection Black "Leather-Like Sheet" Settings

trually · October 11, 2021, 4:36am

In case anyone else struggles with this one, I am hoping I can share my experience to save you some pain.
I searched here for settings for JPPlus faux leather and had been working with that info and tweaking things to get the right settings. But when I got to the black, I completely messed up. The black engraves to silver, and I was engraving too deeply and it was showing as black. Scoring also seems to need a little tweak to get the optimal color.

So if anyone else searches and needs this info:

Cut: 400/75

Engrave:
450 / 8 / 195 LPI (this is what gave me the pretty silver engrave in the test pic)

Score:
black: 500 / 10
browns/grays: 500 / 15

There is more than one way to skin a cat, and i know I can slow down the speed and lower the power, but this is just what worked well for me.

My messy test engrave scrap. lol Not very organized with this one.

dklgood · October 11, 2021, 11:57am

Thanks for this. I have also found that the black in the Saddle Collection behaves differently than the browns. This includes the keychains and other items with this product, not just the sheet product. For small text on the black sheet material I used 450/10/170.

evansd2 · October 11, 2021, 12:17pm

Did you mask it?

rvogt · October 11, 2021, 12:18pm

Thanks for the info!

trually · October 11, 2021, 1:37pm

Nope! It wipes clean really easily.

trually · October 11, 2021, 1:40pm

I think 450/10/170 is the setting that gave me almost the same results as the 450/ 8/195. They were really close. It was just not quite as solid of color in the test. But I doubt you’d even see a difference in an applied situation. lol

evansd2 · October 11, 2021, 3:06pm

Can you amend your post to be more specific?

I assume 8 is power, but lpi and speed are less clear.

wesleyjames · October 11, 2021, 8:06pm

That’s zooms, pews, and wees.

evansd2 · October 11, 2021, 8:13pm

English, please.

evermorian · October 11, 2021, 8:51pm

I guess I never posted most of my JPP stuff. It’s mostly just some simple journal covers I didn’t think people would find all that interesting:

I am engraving at 1000 speed, 30 power at 225 or 270 LPI (depending on detail).

Cutting at 245 speed and 60 power.

Scoring at 500 speed, 30 power.

I am using the same settings across all colors, including the black.

I optimized my cut settings at a slower speed to get consistency on some detailed cutting.

Note that my machine seems to be consistently under-powered compared to average, requiring a slowdown of 10-15 units off Proofgrade settings to get through Medium Proofgrade Draftboard. This highlights the need to do materials tests on your own machine.

trually · October 11, 2021, 9:29pm

Yes - I started to mention that (about tweaking settings for your specific machine) in my original post too and then got sidetracked. lol

I wanted to go back and test at full speed too but I was spending all my time testing and needed to get some actual items done. LOL I don’t know what happened to the test designs I made before.
I need to go re-do my test files and make them more complete/inclusive of everything I need, and just have them already ready to go and then I wouldn’t have wasted all this time.
Telling myself: must work on this this week lol

ptodd · October 12, 2021, 12:05am

A valuable post. Thank you.

trually · October 12, 2021, 1:32am

It’s a long shot, but - has anyone used anything made from these sheets and washed it?

I am going to do some tests but if anyone else has experience with this, it would save me some time! I didn’t find any info on the JPP site when I searched.

dklgood · October 12, 2021, 1:39am

I got one of my projects fairly wet, but I wouldn’t say it counted as washing. I didn’t notice any material changes. From the composition of the material it isn’t clear what would happen over time to being washed.

saddle

trually · October 12, 2021, 1:44am

I looked at all of these attachments, too! And came to the same non-conclusion

dklgood · October 12, 2021, 1:46am

What do you think would be a fair test of whether or not is could be washed? Soaking overnight? Running through the washing machine? A simple dunk in a water bath?

I’m willing to help with testing.

trually · October 12, 2021, 4:55pm

I was thinking that I would try a few small test pieces of material glued onto probably 3 pieces of clothing with fabric glue (I’ll probably just use an old towel or t-shirt or grab something out of my donate bin lol). (I’ll make sure to follow the fabric glue instructions, if it needs to cure or something first.)

toss two in the washing machine a few times.
let one air dry and toss the other into the dryer (I just want to see what happens lol)
handwash another one (which I expect to be fine).
I might also get a small laundry bag (for delicates) and put a patch in there just to see what happens, without adhering it to anything.)

For now that’s my plan anyway. I am probably going to go glue the test pieces on at lunch time and read how long it needs to set before I wash it. lol I’ll update you if I learn anything significant. lol
I also have at least 2-3 types of fabric glue… If I have time, I’ll do one for each scenario with each glue.

Don’t feel obligated to test also but if you do, that would be awesome!

dklgood · October 12, 2021, 5:05pm

I have stitched some of the sheet material, so I’ll wash some without glue.

trually · October 12, 2021, 5:10pm

I can’t hand-stitch at this point, so that is perfect.

ETA: I just glued 3 black patches (and it’s roughly 12:20pm my time Tues) with Aleene’s. 24 hrs till it’s washable so making this note so I don’t forget. LOL (I’ll do other colors later.)

dklgood · October 12, 2021, 6:38pm

I am soaking two of my tests. However, I just engaged in a chat with a rep from Johnson Plastics Plus. In answer to my question regarding laundering the Saddle Collection sheet material, the answer was that they recommend not getting the product wet.