Material for stencils?

[Daven]

Hi - whats the best material for one off stencils? Would laser transparency film be ok?

Cheers

Dave

[bobg]

A friend of mine showed me a RC sailing boat he's just made and the sails are made out of a thin plastic-like material he defined as 'draughtsman's stencil/copy paper'. Sorry don't know where he got it but I can find out if you don't find another material.

Bob

[Daven]

Thanks bob - that would be useful if you get a chance

Cheers

Dave

[Spooky]

Hiya Bob,

That's drafting trace, it comes on a 50m roll up to 1200mm wide and costs about £15 per roll from most printer suppliers. The other one we use a lot for drawings is Mylar, very strong and thin but holds a nice clean edge

Dave , have a look on Ebay for Mylar, failing that use oil stencil card, stencil card cuts well and again will last for a couple of spray jobs (it's cheap too)

best wishes

Dave

[tweakie]

I don't know what transparency film is made from ( acetate I presume ) but you may find that the special coating on one side makes it a bit flamable so take care.
I recently used mylar film to laser cut some solder paste stencils and these turned out really well. They were intended to be one use only so I made plenty but as it turned out the whole batch of PCB's was completed using just two of the stencils - mylar is a lot more durable than I had given it credit for

Tweakie.

[Daven]

Thanks all.

Will get some Mylar - sound like it will fit the bill. The job I need it for is a packing case but I have a few other ideas as well;-)

Cheers

Dave

[Spooky]

The structural figures for Mylar are amazing tweaks, hell they even make solar collectors on spacecraft from it. Xray plates are made from it as well

Dave, look for PET sheet as well, Mylar is the dupont trade name of PET and may well be cheaper buying non name brands.

best wishes

Dave

[bobg]

Hi Dave

Further to above - which I think answers your question - I've used Mylar bought off Ebay and it lasers really well with a fine edge to cuts. I've used it for 'post and wire' fencing for the model railway and the 'wire' is very, very fine thread of Mylar left from the cutting. Only drawback from my use if that it won't 'melt' together like more traditional styrene sheet used for model making so have to use Copydex or similar.

Cheers
Bob

[Daven]

Cheers guys, I've ordered some Mylar from Ebay so will give it a go

Thanks

Dave

[blinky465]

I too am looking for material to make solder paste stencils from
(see http://www.nerdclub.co.uk for my latest PCB manufacturing attempts!)

When I searched for mylar on eBay I got a whole load of hydroponic reflective sheets.
Is this the stuff? Does reflective material cut well in a laser cutter? Or should I be using these mylar A4 dividers? (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/REXEL-A4-MYLA ... 0735235293)

I tried the acetate sheet idea first and it smoked like crazy and the edges had a sticky brown edge to them. Even at about 2mA and 50mm/sec it either scorched or melted the edges. I won't be trying that stuff again!