Cutting reflective tape in co2 laser

[Craig Keller]

Has anyone tried to cut reflective tape in a laser?

 

[MikePro]

not me, BUT:
aside from needing to exhaust fumes from destroying lenses of the laser, i'd imagine you would want to add a sheet of masking to prevent the laser from refracting.

 

[Craig Keller]

Back side has white already. Just wondering how the beam will do once it going thru

 

[MikePro]

i feel like cutting upside-down defeats the purpose of having a liner on the film
youtube vids show diode lasers cutting with ease, while maintaining the full liner without need to mask the reflective surface.

 

[ikarasu]

I cut reflective all the time with my laser. 3M reflective, and Nikalite are PVC free so they are safe to cut. No need to premask.

It works the best on prismatics, but glass bead cuts as well... It doesn't reflect the laser, or at least if it does it would be so out of focus and it's not going to damage anything.

It's nice because you can cut with zero kerf and get details you couldn't get with a knife.

You can see a straw wrapper in the background to give you an idea of how small those are

(Edit) Just wanted to clarify I use 1170c overlam when printing and cutting, it's the only one I know for sure that does not have PVC in it and is rated for reflective

 

[DChorbowski]

I never would have guessed this would be possible let alone prismatics. Thanks!