Making Brass Nameplates w/ Masking Tape Workholding - CNC Project  

I wasn’t surprised the double sided won. The adhesive is wicked on that stuff. That said the masking tape/CA glue hasn’t failed me yet and it’s much easier to remove form the waste board and work piece. You already know I’ll be at WBC. As I’ve said, really looking forward to meeting you and hanging out.

Use a good painters tape rather than plain masking tape. You also don't put enough glue down. Use lines, not dots. I don't use activator and I have no problems CNCing 4mm aluminum and all kinds of wood. Rough plywood can be tricky because the tape doesn't still very well.

I love these videos. I love the nerdy content, and I really appreciate the professional video production that quickly conveys the concepts as quickly and easily as possible for the viewer. You clearly spend more of your time to save our time, and I appreciate that. The scientific testing was a nice bonus! I had seen this masking tape and CA adhesive trick last month. A luthier was using it to secure sandpaper to a custom sanding block. Coincidentally, I was telling my brother about this trick last night, so I'll send him a link to this excellent video. I've never been a fan of CA adhesives, but I'm going to give this method a try. CA adhesive is fast enough that I'll probably skip the CA accelerator. I like to avoid volatile chemicals as much as possible. My best tip for storing and using CA adhesive is to buy large quantities of small tubes of CA adhesive and consider each tube as a one time use item. Don't try to store CA adhesive for more than a day and you can avoid clogged nozzles, adhesive hardening in the container, and random results from opened containers.

Not disagreeing with your results but I feel the methodology used to compare the two methods is slightly biased towards the adhesive who's plate is clamped to the table. Is it possible there was some leverage/peeling forces in the tension test where the force isnt entirely vertical? Or that transfer of torque through the adhesive medium played a part in the axial shear test? Just thinking out loud and if the methods are vastly different in strength any bias is probably irrelevant. Always love your videos and have been a fan for a long time :)

This video just given me an idea now how to make a jig to secure the brass plate evenly on all of them, by insert method, making a pocket on the mdf or extra spoil board. Thank you.

It may not have an effect but I noticed that you did all your tests with the masking tape sandwich on the top. This could potentially skew the results.

I was actually about to research methods to hold parts down and this is perfect. Thanks for yet another fantastic video Winston!

I think burnishing the tape is half the trick. Get something smooth, handle on a pair of scissors or a piece of wood, and put the tape down and then push down the tape real good. Do this on both parts, then put the superglue, preferably a squirt out kind, and put a bead.

One of the other videos I was watching just now mentioned that the use of the masking tape and glue method was used BECAUSE it was weaker than double-sided tape. It still held the work, but because it was thin metal, it would be easier to remove the masking tape without damaging the part.

The tests both disadvantaged the masking tape and CA glue set up. For example, the sheer test: You are applying a twisting force to the top aluminium and the CA glue joint. There is some twisting of that joint so the force applied to the bottom joint is less. You also can't guarantee that the top joint was held perfectly horizontal in a steady relationship with the middle block, but the bottom plate is by virtue of being clamped. I have found that the masking tape sticks better if burnished in place to improve adhesion rather than just pressure from a hand. I also burnish double sided tape (obviously only possible on one side) I don't have an overall preference for either method but a fair comparison would be more useful. Do the tests with the CA/masking tape downwards and upwards in equal number.

you can also use something called template tape. I've seen people use it to hold down mdf on their cnc routers.

You missed a very important part of the process which is to burnish the masking tape using something hard and round before you apply the glue also all the tape has to be covered with glue . Burnishing makes all the difference.

Just as a note, tack =! shear strength. In fact, they are inversely correlated, see this graph (bit.ly/2O2c1lB). Stiffer, less tacky materials will perform better in shear. Hence why Command hooks for hanging things on your walls are not aggressively tacky. Although your shear was torsional in nature (which won't happen as much on a CNC due to only one point of contact), that still was a pretty good test. Also, I'm impressed on your surface cleaning with IPA. You are in the minority who actually clean their surfaces before using tape.

Great video as usual Winston.

I use the masking tape and superglue trick when I'm milling acrylic and aluminum parts. So far, nothing has shot across the shop.

Try using painter's tape instead of masking tape. it's more comparable to double-sided tape and also leaves no residue!

Curious how the test changes if you're mounting a less-flat material like wood. One of the purported benefits of the glue method is that it's able to form better to the shape of a slightly uneven material than the double sided tape.

hello i use masking tape but instead of the super glue i use double sided tape between the two masking tapes and i have no problems cutting smaller items and there is no worries about the super glue going on the work piece i mainly cut plastic and mdf of about 3mm to 10 mm in height it is a very clean way of clamping the work piece to the spoiler bord i am only using a 3020t cnc so i dont know what way it would work with a larger cnc but it should work in the same way for lighter jobs anyway

I use this process exclusively!

Good time of day, you have a great video, i love watching them. Tell me a gon took Drag engraving bit?

Fascinating information, thank you for sharing!

just curious, what engraving bit did you use for this project?

Thank you for the video ! How do you clean the brass please?

Nice video. What tool are you using at 5:20 and what are you doing with it?

With the pocket in the mdf for your engraving pass, did you end up using any adhesive to hold the brass in place? or is it just a nice snug fit?

hi way do you get your bit from

Hi Winston Moy, What's the RPM, Feed Rate, Plunge Rate, Step Down?

I want to do similar to this, but have the brass plates (1 - 1.5m thick) have a bevelled edge traditionally, engraving shops use a purpose made bevelling machine but could I kill two birds with one stone by using a big V cutter on the edges? perhaps as a second toolpath after getting half way through? idk about the strength of v-cutters for this material

the link for the engraving tool appears to be dead...

I do wish you would forget that your camera can do fast motion so the viewer can keep track of what you are doing.

nice job

Looks great. What’s the purpose of the finish coating though?

Hi Winston, What engraving bit are you using? Thanks, Sam

Can you tell me where you got the 1/8" collet for the makita router from ?

Can you suggest a cnc around $800 that can cut metal?

Can u tell the spindle power of this CNC?

And what is CA glue?

You have a great voice.

I was thinking of you last week during the Falcon liftoff. It reminded me of watching Saturns lift off in 1969. Check out this guys video of it and use headphones, turned up loud. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ImoQqNyRL8Y.html

You sound like someone who knows the square root of a pickled onion but has know idea how to get the lid off the jar.

You need to stop arsing around with cheapo masking tape and get yourself some 3M Scotch Blue. The adhesion on that shit is *ridiculous*

what a bunch of bullshit why ussing a cnc machine when you can do it millioen times faster with a manual sheet metal cutting machine