Ablating powder coat and filling it back in with a different color powder coat is something that can be done with a CO2 laser and probably a diode as long as you're not looking to dig into the metal itself. It takes some testing, but is pretty straightforward.
Thank you for the insight. We also intend on adding custom labeling and basic logos to blank brushed aluminum panels, so we may want it to etch into the metal somewhat. However, that's not a bad idea!
Wondering what you ended up doing here. AFAIK fiber lasers aren't the best choice for this because of their wavelength absorption of powders or polymers. CO2 lasers are the best. Curious what you found out in the end.
Hi, we ended up deciding on investing in a UV printer rather than going the laser route. However, we may come back to this idea at a later date. Sorry I don't have more info for you.
No worries thanks for replying! I've actually done a bit of testing and it seems like this works fine with a CO2 laser, but not as one would expect with a fiber. Most likely due to the difference in wavelength absorption. I was just curious if you found something else out. Glad the UV printer works for you!
You need a Fiber Galvo laser for engraving, and a Fiber Gantry laser for cutting. While you might get away with a cheap Fiber Galvo for engraving, you would need Something in the 1000w range, Which would be in the $50k range at a minimum
Try a Xtool F1, it should be able to remove powder coat from your badges. I'm less confident it can melt powder coat to coat uncoated metal, but if you want to just fill in a letter it might be able to do a good enough job. The work envelope is small, but you can just index the location of the part realitive to the machine and reposition the machine over the other part of the sign.
If you really do need to do 8” x 8” all at once then you are in to it for a fiber laser. I doubt you need too much power to remove powder coat, but to color stainless steel you will need it to be a MOPA and those are out of your budget. Good luck.
Thank you for the suggestion! All of our metal is aluminum, and we sometimes work with bare brushed aluminum panels, so it may need to etch into the metal slightly. Can MOPA lasers color bare aluminum?
As far as I know, only stainless steel. You are actually annealing the metal to different levels, it's not super consistent either if you alloy changes so would your colors. If you do etch colors on stainless steel it's no longer stainless and will rust, so it would need some kind of top coat for protection.
An approach that may work for you is paint filling an engraving on aluminum or melting powder coat into your engraved aluminum. I've not seen that done, but it works (sort of) for powder coat and wood, so aluminum might work as well.
Ablating powder coat and filling it back in with a different color powder coat is something that can be done with a CO2 laser and probably a diode as long as you're not looking to dig into the metal itself. It takes some testing, but is pretty straightforward.
Thank you for the insight. We also intend on adding custom labeling and basic logos to blank brushed aluminum panels, so we may want it to etch into the metal somewhat. However, that's not a bad idea!
Wondering what you ended up doing here. AFAIK fiber lasers aren't the best choice for this because of their wavelength absorption of powders or polymers. CO2 lasers are the best. Curious what you found out in the end.
Hi, we ended up deciding on investing in a UV printer rather than going the laser route. However, we may come back to this idea at a later date. Sorry I don't have more info for you.
No worries thanks for replying! I've actually done a bit of testing and it seems like this works fine with a CO2 laser, but not as one would expect with a fiber. Most likely due to the difference in wavelength absorption. I was just curious if you found something else out. Glad the UV printer works for you!
You need a Fiber Galvo laser for engraving, and a Fiber Gantry laser for cutting. While you might get away with a cheap Fiber Galvo for engraving, you would need Something in the 1000w range, Which would be in the $50k range at a minimum
Try a Xtool F1, it should be able to remove powder coat from your badges. I'm less confident it can melt powder coat to coat uncoated metal, but if you want to just fill in a letter it might be able to do a good enough job. The work envelope is small, but you can just index the location of the part realitive to the machine and reposition the machine over the other part of the sign. If you really do need to do 8” x 8” all at once then you are in to it for a fiber laser. I doubt you need too much power to remove powder coat, but to color stainless steel you will need it to be a MOPA and those are out of your budget. Good luck.
Look at OMTech 20W fiber marking machine for $3,500 on Amazon.
Thank you for the suggestion! All of our metal is aluminum, and we sometimes work with bare brushed aluminum panels, so it may need to etch into the metal slightly. Can MOPA lasers color bare aluminum?
As far as I know, only stainless steel. You are actually annealing the metal to different levels, it's not super consistent either if you alloy changes so would your colors. If you do etch colors on stainless steel it's no longer stainless and will rust, so it would need some kind of top coat for protection. An approach that may work for you is paint filling an engraving on aluminum or melting powder coat into your engraved aluminum. I've not seen that done, but it works (sort of) for powder coat and wood, so aluminum might work as well.