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I've been using the Anchor 116 or 155 for several years now. It's thick and has a high tack. I blast mostly redwood at 100 lbs. pressure, and also do a bunch of stone and tiles. ANy of you use the Hartco resist? How do you compare the two products?
-------------------- The SignShop Mendocino, California
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6736 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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posted
I use Anchor 117 on polished Granite and prefinished surfaces, and Anchor 116 on raw wood, Limestone and other unpolished stones.
I've tried Hartco several times but I much prefer the Anchor mask. Anchor is softer and cuts better on my plotter and I have had more consistent results. Anchor also costs more but for me, it is money well spent.
-------------------- David Harding A Sign of Excellence Carrollton, TX Posts: 5099 | From: Carrollton, TX, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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I really like your website and the shop looks so neat. Ours is allways clutered. Nice work too.
Like you, I've used both masks but now stay with Hartco for a couple of reasons. First: If you need to do any hand cutiing, you cans see where your've been. Second reason, we cut all our mask directly on the panels with our CNC. We haven't found a bit that will cut the Anchor rubber nearly so well as the Hartco plastic.
David is correct about cutting. Hartco is much more difficult to cut on a plotter, especially during the cold winter months.
I've also found Hartco much more resistant to deteoriation under heavy blasting.
-------------------- Joe Crumley Norman Sign Company 2200 Research Park Blvd. Norman, OK 73069 Posts: 1428 | From: 2200 Research Park Blvd. | Registered: Sep 2001
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Everyone has their favorites...since I hand cut all my stencils Anchor brand has always been my favorite..it is much more elastic and has a higher bond...the high bond can be a hendrance if you don't use Lacquor sanding sealer to seal the redwood firs...otherwise it can rip at the grain when you remove it after blasting.
Hartco is a good product and I can see where it might be a real asset for routing (since it is stiffer) especially on Foam...but Anchor remains my fave.
Hi Joe!
-------------------- "Werks fer me...it'll werk fer you"
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I've used Anchor #125 since 1985 for handcutting and cutting on my Roland 950. I've tried Hartco several times. Didn't like it at all. Used #125 on redwood, cedar, marble, granite (double thickness), foam and glass.
-------------------- Dennis Goddard
Gibsonton Fl Posts: 1050 | From: Tampa Fl USA | Registered: Apr 2000
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From a cutter's perspective, and having cut enough of both materials to have developed a reasonable opinion, my personal vote is for the Hartco product. It is true that it is much more difficult to cut with a vinyl cutter, but given that you've got the right tool (cutter)for the job, the results are beyond comparison. Not to be brand-specific, the cutter will have to have the necessary force, 30* blade (some like to call it a 60*, but it's 30*), and especially, an effective tangential control. howard
-------------------- Howard Keiper Independent Contractor Benicia, Ca. thekeip@comcast.net
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I've used Anchor since I started blasting redwood. I have gotten several rolls of Hartco as door prizes and gave it an honest shot and could never make it work well. It will not conform to curves well, and doesn't cut well on my plotter. At an HDU seminar years ago, the presenters for SignFoam said that you can get impact transfer through Hartco, although the few times I blasted with it I never noticed that.
The absolutly best blast resist I've ever used is no longer available. A few years ago, SignFoam came up with their own brand of sandblast resist. It was soft like anchor, but friction feed plotter rollers would roll over it easily like Hartco. It cut easily by hand or plotter, and CNC routers could route it with ease. In fact, the guy that put me on to it said it cut on his router better than every other brand & type available. It was fantastic stuff. Aparently, SignFoam didn't bother to market it very well and they dropped it from their line. I saw it included in their ads, but there was no effort to market the product properly.
-------------------- Dave Sherby "Sandman" SherWood Sign & Graphic Design Crystal Falls, MI 49920 906-875-6201 sherwoodsign@sbcglobal.net Posts: 5403 | From: Crystal Falls, MI USA | Registered: Apr 1999
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I don't know why, but I've had problems with the Hartco adhesives. As the material sits on the plastic backer, waiting to be applied, it seems to shrink/separate. Sometimes extremely. Shop temps are fine and humidity is too, so I take that out of the equation. It also tends to be very tacky. I've tried a few times with new rolls. Not my favorite.
I use the Anchor products.
-------------------- Gene Golden Gettysburg Signs Gettysburg PA 17325 717-334-0200 genegolden@gettysburgsigns.com
"Art is knowing when to stop." Posts: 1578 | From: Gettysburg, PA | Registered: Jun 2003
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Cutting the material is a fraction of the question. Following cutting is ease of weeding, simplicity to pick up details with application tape, surface application and adhesive bonding, ability to hold up to pressure of prolonged blasting (not just frosting glass or foam), removal from redwood without much splintering, etc.
I can burn away the Anchor if I work it too long or too close. It's not easy to pick up with high tack app tape all the time. The biggest difficulty would probably be elongation....it stretches so easily.
-------------------- The SignShop Mendocino, California
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. — Charles Mingus Posts: 6736 | From: Mendocino, CA. USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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quote:Originally posted by Rick Sacks: Cutting the material is a fraction of the question. Following cutting is ease of weeding, simplicity to pick up details with application tape, surface application and adhesive bonding, ability to hold up to pressure of prolonged blasting (not just frosting glass or foam), removal from redwood without much splintering, etc.
I can burn away the Anchor if I work it too long or too close. It's not easy to pick up with high tack app tape all the time. The biggest difficulty would probably be elongation....it stretches so easily.
Rick, I have been using Anchor 153 for about 10 years. As far as the High tack tape goes, I use either Perfect Tear Or Transferite. They both work fine. Are you cleaning the powder off the resist before taping? I wipe all the powder off with a damp paper towel before cutting.
After cutting, on my Ioline, I lay the stencil down, tape it, squeegee it down good for contact. If the stencil is larger than, say, 3' long I double tape it. I don't get any stretch unless I really pull hard and try to do so.
The way I separate the stencil from the Mylar backing is not to lift the stencil. Instead I lift the backing. I turn the stencil upside down, carefully slice the Mylar straight up the back side with a square ended xacto- blade. This gives you a "hinge". After slicing, I tape my hinge togeter with 1'' painter's maskng tape. After aligning the stencil on the sign face, I carefully lift one half of the stencil and start peeling away the Mylar from under the stencil at the middle where I sliced it. I leave the masking tape in place until I pull the other half. A few full gallons of paint or whatever will helpt to weight down the other half and keep it in place. I never have any problem with the stencil separating from the app tape.
Hope this helps
[ October 21, 2006, 04:21 PM: Message edited by: Wayne Webb ]
-------------------- Wayne Webb Webb Signworks Chipley, FL 850.638.9329 wayne@webbsignworks.com Posts: 7404 | From: Chipley,Florida,United States | Registered: Oct 1999
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