Frisket film and printing

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

wwattles

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Messages
2,870
Reaction score
0
I just got my first pack of Frisket film last night, and I'm wondering about its usage. Can I print directly on it, to use as a cutout template for masking, or do I need to print on paper, then lay that on the frisket sheet to cut out both?

WW
 
I've never tried that! sounds like a good idea to print the design right on the mask.
My gut feeling is that inkjet printing might not stick to it too well and laser printing might damage the adhesive with the heat of the fusion.
There is only one good way to find out!! Try IT!
 
Well that didn't work. The inkjet ink just beaded up on the vinyl surface and didn't stay in the shape I needed it to. Drat. I don't think my paper will go through the laser printer at work, either. Double drat. I might end up having to try it by hand (a very daunting task, since what I'm printing/masking is VERY small (3/4-inch tall cursive writing) or end up outsourcing to someone with an ALPS printer and decal film. Bummer!

WW
 
I don't know which brand of frisket you're using, but if it has a translucent paper backing, try reversing your design and printing it on the paper side, instead of on the vinyl. You should be able to see the design through the paper; a makeshift lightbox might make it easier.
 
That thought had already occurred to me (I like the idea!) but alas, it won't work. I need to be able to apply the film to the surface and then do the cutting. The reason is that there is a large number of small internal areas that I need to keep masked.

WW
 
Recommendation, if you can find it....

3M sells a paper that can be had in 8.5 X 11 sizes (letter size) that is entirely Post-It paper (the entire sheet is one large post-it note with adhesive covering the entire back side).

You can run this through your printer, peel off the backing and stick it on. It's sorta like having a bond-paper frisket film. I have never seen this available retail, but know it is available for industry use. Some research may find a source for this stuff in low volume.

Something to look into anyway...

jim
 
I don't know which brand of frisket you're using, but if it has a translucent paper backing, try reversing your design and printing it on the paper side, instead of on the vinyl. You should be able to see the design through the paper; a makeshift lightbox might make it easier.
Genius... that works well for me! I have tried printing on the film on my Epson Xp900 inkjet printer and it is messy. The ink never dries and comes off on my hands so not a good solution.
I have spent many, many hours preparing stencils in Affinity Designer, thinking I could print straiht on the Frisket film so I have too much invested to give up now. I have to reverse the image before printing to get it the right way round.
The 1st image shows one page (page 2) out of 6 pages that I will stitch together to form the whole stencil ready to apply to the work and start spraying - the previous attempt at printing on the glossy side is oon the right. The 2nd pdf is the whole template image in Designer.
 

Attachments

  • 666EABDA-7CF5-4614-9FA7-658FCE00048B_1_201_a.heic
    3.1 MB · Views: 0
  • Williams Kick-Off cabinet left-side - Foil Mask.pdf
    19.7 KB · Views: 0
Just throwing out another idea here. Frisket film laser cuts beautifully at very low power settings. I have created masks that were then used for airbrushing using this approach. You can see this trick in action here.
 
The frisket I've used is transparent enough to lay it over a drawing (or print) and either trace the outline or directly cut through the film. You need to make sure the two layers don't shift as you do this.
 
I have never had any Laser Cutting done. Is it a DIY machine or do you send it away?
I've done it both ways. The project linked above I did myself on a laser cutter at a maker space, since closed. Later projects were sent to a commercial shop that was willing to take on the work.

Either way you start with a vector image file of the shape to be cut. Do you have anything like that yet?

James
 
I've done it both ways. The project linked above I did myself on a laser cutter at a maker space, since closed. Later projects were sent to a commercial shop that was willing to take on the work.

Either way you start with a vector image file of the shape to be cut. Do you have anything like that yet?

James
My image is all Vector graphics in Affinity Designer.
Roger
 
Back
Top