First post on the forums as a new MPCNC user, so be easy on me!
I’ve had my system up and running for a few weeks, but I’m trying to solve a few problems at work with it. We use screen printed aluminum specification plates to mark a lot of our products, and I’ve had barely any luck in engraving them because they are so thin. They are printed on .032" plate aluminum, so its hard to keep them level without flexing during engraving. The company is really against stamping the information onto these, so I have been looking into finding a laser I could use to etch our information onto them. I spoke with the company that provides us with the plates, but they only told me I needed a fiber laser and possibly 250W for power.
I’m very new to lasers, so any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
Just for laser marking the aluminum that would be overkill, I use a 80 watt at 15 percent at 250 mm/sec to engrave through powder coating, You should have no problem removing the paint with a 5 watt SS laser module but that’s not going to mark the metal very well so as the paint wears so will the ability to read the markings.
For things like this I use a blank plate and a product called Laserbond 100 to mark the plate, the laser bonds the ceramic in the paint to the metal and makes a very stable long term marking.
Are you using a spindle and a bit to mark the surface??
You may have better luck with a Pneumatic Impact Engraving head, a little move forgiving on the level on the surface and has a bit more tolerance.
Most any laser should be able to etch that dark ink I would guess. I have a 2.8W and it easily etched anodized aluminum perfectly (I have a video of it I think).
I’ve seen a few engraving bits that have a spring or something of the sort inside to compensate for uneven surfaces. When I say flexing, I really mean that the sheet is just bowed up in the center. Our smaller plates (5" x 7") do fine, but you can really tell the difference for our larger plates (6" x 10"). The ink is pretty thin, so I assume that the reduced rigidity of a tool like that wouldn’t matter that much. I’m really just looking for something that would be a cheap, quick-ish fix. I’m going to Harbor Freight this afternoon to pick up a set of metal stamps to check how they would look on the plates. If the boss likes them, that may be the easiest route.
I spoke with the person again from the nameplate company, and they suggested a 20W fiber laser. If we can’t etch onto the actual surface of the aluminum, even removing the ink with a cheap laser would be enough until we find a better fix. Can anyone suggest a cheap laser or any kind of engraving bit for removing the ink?
At the bottom of the page linked below, I show a spring loaded diamond bit I use for drag engraving acrylic. Cost ~$12 - most of it the Dremel diamond bit itself. This , or some variant of it, might suit your purpose.
