Protective Film for wood

[rjg1966]

I thought I read on the forums somewhere that there is a protective film sold by Amazon that I can put on wood to prevent the burn marks. What is everyone using?

[Jules]

Most folks use a paper transfer tape…something along the lines of TransferRite Ultra or this stuff:

https://www.amazon.com/Greenstar-Application-Transfer-Classic-Adhesive/dp/B00C131Y04/ref=pd_lutyp_hf_spx_1_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00C131Y04&pd_rd_r=9ba90070-1621-4e40-8cd2-2f245c76ee87&pd_rd_w=bL0DS&pd_rd_wg=L8fvE&pf_rd_i=desktop-typ-carousels&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=08920622-ebe7-4973-880b-3517b54709ce&pf_rd_r=7N7C382ZG0K6JDZ88ZHQ&pf_rd_s=desktop-typ-carousels&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=7N7C382ZG0K6JDZ88ZHQ

You need to brayer it down to activate the adhesive, so get a little scraper or something along those lines.

[gamn1958]

You can use pretty much any masking tape you want. I use the blue painter tape for small project and Glassguard masking tape i got form Johnson Plastics for the larger projects…

https://www.johnsonplastics.com/glassguard-6-x-100yd-paper-mask-for-laser-engraving

[evansd2]

Cheapest 12" wide masking tape

Like @jbmanning5, I get perfectear plus from signwarehouse.com for $40 for a 300 foot roll, shipped. I’ve used both perfectear and transferrite, I prefer perfectear, but they aren’t that different. I was also tipped off to this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085635HFN

[brokendrum]

@rjg1966

What is everyone using?

Like many here, I use the medium tack paper masking on all of it, leather wood and plastic. Sometimes just the front, but if the design is something that will show both sides, I will mask the back also to prevent flashback burn from the laser hitting the crumb tray grid.

Two items worth passing on.
First, it is easy to mask stuff ahead of time but I have found that no matter the masking flavor used, the glue will set up over time. I was still using blue tape when I first saw this and I thought it was just the tape. But it also occurred over time with the paper masking (talking months here, not days).
Once I started running into this I have taken to masking on demand.

Second, DO NOT use that brown shipping tape. It is hard to remove, and impossible to get off once heated a little.

This or the equivalent. I have some TransferRite, but it is more expensive.
https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Application-Transfer-applying-graphics/dp/B078SYQFT6/ref=sr_1_3?s=arts-crafts&ie=UTF8&qid=1526730103&sr=1-3&keywords=medium+masking+paper

[shop]

if the transferrite is more expensive, it’s only a tiny bit more. $40/roll instead of $36.

[kittski]

@Jules

You need to brayer it down to activate the adhesive, so get a little scraper or something along those lines.

I use and old credit card and on occasion where I can’t find it, I pull an piece of cast-off cut material from the garbage. A brayer sounds easier

[Jules]

They sell a cool little tool for it (and I have no idea where I picked it up) but it’s got a little roller on one end, and a wide credit card style edge on the other…that thing is fabulous! It’s about as wide as my hand which really speeds things up.