Drying flatwork

[Rodent]

For those who laser cut their own flatwork ... what are you using to dry your flatwork right after you 'rinse/wash' it to remove all of the sticky residue?

There has to be something better than using a haridryer for parts scattered onto a router mat on a downdraft sanding table (with cyclone running to pull air thru the table) to keep parts from being sucked into the holes.

I'm thinking some kind of mini clothes dryer would be really cool to tumble the damp flatwork with warm air forced across the gently tumbling pieces.

[WolfeMacleod]

For those who laser cut their own flatwork ... what are you using to dry your flatwork right after you 'rinse/wash' it to remove all of the sticky residue?

There has to be something better than using a haridryer for parts scattered onto a router mat on a downdraft sanding table (with cyclone running to pull air thru the table) to keep parts from being sucked into the holes.

I'm thinking some kind of mini clothes dryer would be really cool to tumble the damp flatwork with warm air forced across the gently tumbling pieces.

I once thought about a salad spinner...

What are you using to rinse the goo off?

[Rodent]

so either nobody is washing & drying their laser-cut flatwork, or it's a big secret that nobody wants to discuss in public. hmmm ...

I'm using a window cleaning product I can buy in bulk at Costco's Business warehouse. it's cheap, cleans ALL the goo quickly, and even has a pleasant smell while drying

I typically wash flatwork for anywhere from one custom split-coil set (10 individual pieces) to 25 split-coil sets (250 individual pieces) at a time. anything up to 5 sets is pretty easy to do on the downdraft table, but larger quantities can be troublesome to fit everything onto the table and have room to easily flip over while drying with the hairdryer.

[big_teee]

I've tried putting the mojo flatwork with the brown goo in water?
It warps so bad when you take it out.
Now I just use a paper towel and rubbing alcohol.
But, I don't do any large volumes.
T

[Lollar Jason]

Ive washed tens of thousands of pieces and this works well and quickly- using window cleaner in a container shake them around for ten seconds drain them with a sieve and then lay them out on a small stack of paper towels and top them over with a few paper towels and press then dump them onto a surface and let them dry for another 5 minutes and bag. No warping and no more residue, reuse the window cleaner many times before you discard it

[jack briggs]

I've used both Mojo's and ToneKraft's and never had issues with brown goo. I just sand edges with 220 grit before winding - no problems. YMMV though.

cheers,

[Rodent]

Ive washed tens of thousands of pieces and this works well and quickly- using window cleaner in a container shake them around for ten seconds drain them with a sieve and then lay them out on a small stack of paper towels and top them over with a few paper towels and press then dump them onto a surface and let them dry for another 5 minutes and bag. No warping and no more residue, reuse the window cleaner many times before you discard it

I've been using a lot of .06" grey fishpaper of late, and have gotten some warping on J5 sized single coil flatwork when not drying it after blotting dry. Similar story for some of the Bart P2 and P4 sized single-coil type flatwork.

I'm like you, with only 10-15 seconds of wash time before the cleaned flatwork is blotted dry.

I assume the reason you bag the wash pieces is for both easy organization as well as humidic stability until you use the pieces in production.

[Rodent]

I've used both Mojo's and ToneKraft's and never had issues with brown goo. I just sand edges with 220 grit before winding - no problems. YMMV though.

the goo makes a sticky mess on the tools I use to press magnets into the flatwork, not to mention that it also gets on my hands and makes working with parts less than fun. I don't notice this much on assembled bobbins from either source, but their custom cut flatwork can be a real mess to work with if you don't wash it first.

in the past year I have obtained my own laser cutter, and can take parts right off the laser and into the wash solution. the parts end up nice and shiny clean ... now I need to find a good method to wash and dry the honeycomb table, as it's getting quite a buildup of goo in the region where I do most of my cutting

[Rodent]

I've tried putting the mojo flatwork with the brown goo in water?
It warps so bad when you take it out.
Now I just use a paper towel and rubbing alcohol.
But, I don't do any large volumes.
T

it's be nice to see Mojo offer a washed flatwork option, even if it came as a reasonable upcharge option

[big_teee]

The goo is most noticeable on mojo gray flatwork.
It is brown and gooey.
T

[Lollar Jason]

I assume the reason you bag the wash pieces is for both easy organization as well as humidic stability until you use the pieces in production.[/QUOTE]

yes it will shrink or expand if not bagged, once its waxed it stabilizes.

[MWaldorf]

Wow, this is really helpful information - thank you! I recently started laser cutting my own flatwork and was wondering what to do about the goo residue.

[David King]

You could vacuum bag it with paper towel and bleeder matt on a flat board. Eventually the moisture will be drawn out. That might be more work than Jason's method.

[ReWind]

I lay them out and pretend I'm playing Space Invaders.



I bring them inside and run the AC. They dry out fine without potato-chipping at all.

[MWaldorf]

Just tried Jason's window cleaner method and it works like a charm. Still have to try the Space Invaders routine.