Materials such as metal and stone do not possess a memory like plastic or acrylic substrates would. Because of this we will need an alternative method that adds small amount adhesive to the bottom of the holes drilled to assist in securing and bonding the Raster Spheres to the material- hence the name Adhesive Assist!
For this tutorial you will need Metal Raster Spheres, as well as both our Low-Tack tape and our Pure Adhesive tape. All of these materials are available for purchase in our online store.
Step One:
Determine the placement of the Braille on the sign. Once the placement is determined, you will want to apply a piece of the low-tack tape on that area, making sure the tape is a little larger than the Braille message on all sides.
Step Two:
Insert Collet Drill Assembly along with B50 Carbide Drill Bit into collet of machine and tighten all the way down.
Step Three:
Using your Deluxe Spline Driver- 39001009, loosen nut to “zero-out” the bit with the nose cone, and then tighten.
Step Four:
Turn the micrometer to 0.045 to allow for proper Raster depth. This depth allows room for the adhesive at the bottom of the hole.
Also note that if you slow down the “Z” speed on your engraver when working with metal substrates, your drill bits will last longer and drill cleaner holes.
Step Five:
Loosen bit out of collet to allow for proper Z depth setting of the nose cone.
Step Six: Send file to machine, and start the file. If you immediately press the pause button this will allow for the Z height definition to take place over the substrate location. Once defined, tighten the bit and run the file.
Step Seven: Once holes are drilled, apply a piece of pure adhesive tape over the Braille holes. Lightly burnish it down with your fingernail.
Step Eight: Using the Raster Pen, manually insert the Raster Sphere through the Pure Adhesive tape. Don’t use too much force to push through the tape, you only need to press hard enough to seat the Raster sphere firmly into the sign.
Step Nine: Once all Raster spheres are securely installed, carefully peel off both sets of tape by pulling on the Low Tack R tape. Try to avoid pulling it at a sharp angle. The excess adhesive should come off with the tape and require no further clean-up.
Step Ten: Don’t forget to check the height of the Raster spheres with the calipers. Measure the height using a depth or height gauge.
You have now successfully installed your Raster spheres using the Adhesive Assist Method! For additional information and assistance, contact us and let us know what Accent can do for you!
