Machine Shop

Tek Circuit Computer: Cursor Hairline Scraping

Engraving a PETG sheet with a diamond drag engraver on the Sherline and filling the scratch produces a good-looking hairline, but there’s a tradeoff between having the protective sheet pull the paint out of the scratch and having the crayon scuff the unprotected surface. This time around, I scribbled the crayon through the protective film, let it cure for a few days, then scraped the surface to level the paint and see what happens.

First, an unscraped cursor:

Tek CC - Cursor red lacquer - plain - overview
Tek CC – Cursor red lacquer – plain – overview

Peeling the transparent protective film:

Tek CC - Cursor red lacquer - plain - partial peel
Tek CC – Cursor red lacquer – plain – partial peel

The hairline is solidly filled:

Tek CC - Cursor red lacquer - plain - peeled
Tek CC – Cursor red lacquer – plain – peeled

Scribbling another cursor the same way, then scraping the protective film to flatten the shredded edges:

Tek CC - Cursor red lacquer - scraped - overview
Tek CC – Cursor red lacquer – scraped – overview

The hairline remains filled, but not as completely:

Tek CC - Cursor red lacquer - scraped - partial peel
Tek CC – Cursor red lacquer – scraped – partial peel

A closer look:

Tek CC - Cursor red lacquer - scraped - peeled
Tek CC – Cursor red lacquer – scraped – peeled

Scraping the crayon off the film removes a substantial amount of paint from the hairline, but, on the upside, the protective film does exactly what it says on the box and the PETG surface remains pristine.

Both hairlines are, at least eyeballometrically, Just Fine™ for their intended purpose.

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