Cutting through masking - ideas?

[MDCochrane]

Seems I'm doing everything for the first time, so I like to check with you people on the forum before I waste too much time or material.

I'm engraving a wordmark logo into the surface of a display mount made of 1/2" plywood. The plywood surface will be stained black and the wordmark painted metallic gold.

Here's the idea and the question:
> Stain the plywood surface and lacquer it before I put it on the table.
> Mask the small area of the cut-out piece where the logo engraving will go. It will be cut with a V bit at about 1/4" depth with a separate tool path.
> Cut the display with a 1/4" down-cut FEM to preserve the surface edges.
> Run the tool path that cuts the logo through the masked material.
> Paint the logo gold with spray or brush (undecided)
> Remove the masking to a, hopefully, sharp edged gold logo on a dark, lacquered surface.

What kind of masking material will cut cleanly and remove cleanly? Is there a special product or will standard blue painter's tape do the job? If you've had experience with this I'd be happy to hear from you.

Thanks!

[coryatjohn]

This is a pretty well documented topic. I asked it a few weeks ago and got some great answers, plus what I found in searches.

Artool Ultra Mask
OraMASK 813 Stencil Film

They both have their own uses.

[rcnewcomb]

This thread may be of interest to you: ->Link (http://www.talkshopbot.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5828)

Dr. Crumley developed this technique which uses transfer tape and rubber cement for masking.

[blackhawk]

Your process is good. That is the way that I do it. I use Avery Paint Mask A1828SA that I get from harborsales.net. Here are some tips that I can give you.

1) Apply the mask with good pressure using a rubber roller or a rounded pastic tool (http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=1184&site=ROCKLER)

2) Let the mask set at least an hour before cutting, overnight is better.

3) The CMT laser point bit is the best that I have found to cut the mask cleanly. The downside is that they only offer it in a 60 degree version. http://www.amazon.com/CMT-858-501-11-Cutting-Diameter-16-Inch/dp/B000P4JOOY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369773261&sr=8-2&keywords=cmt+laser+point


The rubber cement method that Randall mentions never worked for me on smooth surfaces. It could have just been me, but my results were terrible.

[knight_toolworks]

here is an idea I have not tried yet but should work. using the drag knife to cut the mast before you vcarve then vcarve. that you you are not depending on a spinning blade to cut it well but a knife.

[chiloquinruss]

I also spray a very light coat of clear before doing the lettering. I let it dry completey then do the color coat for the lettering. This seals the edge of the cut mask and any bleed under the mask will be clear. Russ

[coryatjohn]

Russ,

I wanted to ask this before... What do you do when after cutting the letters, they need priming before they can be painted, like aluminum? (in terms of the clear coat seal) Thanks.

[gerryv]

Perhaps consider the quality of the plywood core as well. We did a V-Carve sign with MDO plywood and it was so full of voids which showed up that we threw it out and went with solid wood.

[knight_toolworks]

if doing plywood best to stick with Russian ply or baltic birch or apple ply.