So this is situational but I used wood glue to mask some plastic pieces prior to engraving. Then infill with paint, let it dry, then remove the glue and excess paint. I first tried to do it with tape but it always bled through – glue made a perfect seal, no paint could sneak under.
Did you try any other glues when you were experimenting? I assumed standard PVA would work similarly. I haven’t tried masking fluid (mostly used in watercolor painting) yet but, have some.
Thanks, I rigged up a new (to me) way of aligning and securing the jig, pretty happy with it.
I threw a 2x4 in there and a scrap of BB simply taped to it as an overhang. Used a few magnets to hold the 2x4 in place, quick and dirty.
Designed the jig to put the key at the same height as the BB ply, and then cut a notch in the ply with two detents to grab the jig. Guaranteed X/Y position, worked really well.
I could use set focus on the BB ply, which handled the height calculation. I suppose I could have entered the material height in the cut step, but set focus was simpler for this one-off.
The tape was the sloppiest part. If I were going to do this and needed to move the jig in and out I’d probably want something more secure, like hot glue or a couple of screws. Maybe do that next time I need a weird jig, we’ll see.
Wow, that is a great result, and the whole process is just… tight. l might be able to use this trick, too. A few times I’ve wanted to make control panels and I’ve never been satisfied with my attempts to get crisp labeling.
That looks really cool! Love the backlit effect. And a great jig! Thanks for the tip about the wood glue. Does it peel off easily? I’ll have to try this on acrylic! Should be the same, right?
I used a plastic razor to scrape/peel it. It came off pretty easily, about 1 minute per key to get all the little bits off.
In theory? I’d test it, PVA might affect the surface or something. With acrylic, I think the power move is that if you let the glue fully dry it gets slightly brittle, so flexing the acrylic might make it just pop right off?
So funny you posted this. I’ve used glue as a mask in the past and got great results. I just never thought to post it because I felt silly doing it. Like I kinda figured there’s something out there designed for this purpose and by me using glue I’m using “the wrong thing.” LOL
