Hi, can anyone suggest a good masking tape to use on wood. I’m getting a lot of burn marks on my wood when using the blue laser. THANK YOU
On Blue, I just use regular blue painters tape. Never had a problem with it. I can cut or etch through it without worrying about burns, and it peels off easily. Bonus: you can buy it in 6" wide rolls if you have a complete sheet that you need to cover.
Oh… if you’re etching text (or something else with tiny holes), then blue tape can be a pain to peel off (it can be done… with effort… but all those tiny holes in “e” and “B” are annoying). In that case, butcher paper… waxed butcher paper is slightly sticky. You lay it on your board and cut it. Comes off of the board with just rubbing, much easer than the tape. I find it not as nice to work with as tape because of the slight wax residue – not a problem if you’re painting or sanding, but problem if you’re going to apply an oil stain on the wood. But some people use it commonly.
A lot of people like to use a roll of contact paper held on with temporary spray adhesive, like a seamstress would use to temporarily hold fabric on a cutting board without it sliding around. It should peel off easily with no residue.
Also, with paper sheets, it is likely you will be able to do the piece with one sheet. With painter’s tape, you most often need multiple strips, and there will be some overlap each time. If rastering, this overlap area will absorb some of the energy and leave a shadow in the work underneath. Not as much reason to use a protective layer over a raster, but it’s often followed by the vector cut-out which does.