I’m looking for a good way to hold down 4mm plywood. I attemped screws around the perimeter; you can guess how well that worked. I found some resources that use carpet tape, but that seems to gum up as I cut it.
I have also read painters tape applies to both the spoil board and the work piece then glued.
I have considered supper 77, but spraying that would gum up the machine.Though I am cutting on a removable raised platform so that might not be an issue. Others say to use super glue.
In either case would two layers of painters tape and some form of glue by any more “gummy” than carpet tape?
I’ve used that method with SuperGlue Gel when trying different things on pink foam with good results. I’d go easy on the glue as too much may saturate the tape and make it difficult to remove from the workpiece.
Or given the thickness perhaps staples would suffice?
I use painters tape and hot glue unless I am need sub-millimeter depth precision. It is a little bit more work having the hot glue gun come up to temp, but it is cheap and works great. If there are lots of little cutouts, I use spray adhesive on the tape on the back of the workpiece and then on the bed tape and then tap it down with a mallet. Generally works ok.
The blue tape and glue method is great because the blue tape lets go so well when you peel it off. Hot glue or CA glue both seem like they would work, CA glue would be thinner. Try not to let it run off the tape.
I’m been using my CNC machine for less than a year, so my advice is from someone new to the craft. Currently I favor double-sided tape, and I avoid cutting into the tape if I can. I measure from the spoilboard (not the top of the stock) and either set the home position 0.1mm to 0.2mm higher than the stock calls for. Or if I think the extra distance is important, I set the bottom height in the Heights tab (Fusion 360) a bit above the bottom of the stock for any operation that cuts through the stock. This does mean a bit more cleanup once the cutting is done. Having tried a few, this is my current favorite double-sided tape: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0773H7GCN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
If your thin stock has any kind of bow to it, I found the painter’s tape and superglue problematic. This combo has great lateral holding, but it did not do well for me with any kind of vertical pull. Supper 77 did much better on the painter’s tape with any bowed stock. As a side note, I always sized the painter’s I put down on the spoilboard a bit bigger than work piece on two sides. This allows me to ‘perfectly’ align the two sides of tape and avoid glue on my work piece.
I recently started using woodworking tape I got off amazon and it’s awesome. Pretty thin double sided tape and holds really good but peels off without residue. You can even pull it off and stick it back on a couple times.
Masking tape (painters tape) and mitrebond (ca glue plus activator). It’s made a massive difference to my workflow. Not so good on aluminium, but great on wood.
Guys, thanks for the advice.
I have painter’s tape and supper 77 so that would be an easy first attempt to see how it goes.
@robertbu I think I saw that same tape on amazon before. Good to hear someone using it and working well. might be a good alternative if my above approach does not work.
this is interesting approach. I will look into it.
Not sure if you have managed to find a solution that works for you, but… I spent some time dealing with this same issue this morning. Sparing the irrelevant details, I ended up drilling 9 pilot holes (3x3)into my 24" x 24" work piece to keep it all secure. Of course, I was cutting small parts that I could easily cut in between screws with no chance of hitting a head so YMMV.
@RootsMedia
I did find something that works. it is a thinner carpet tape, less gummy; I also used tabs heavily.
I kept having parts lift off (they were very small with little surface area to hold) so I just bit the bullet and add the tabs with some bench work afterwards.
Would have preferred no tabs, but maybe that was asking too much.
