I have a 25 watt and have never been able to get CerMark 6000 (in a can) to ever stick to anything but stainless... Always thought it was just a power problem
I have a 25 watt and have never been able to get CerMark 6000 (in a can) to ever stick to anything but stainless... Always thought it was just a power problem
Mark
In the Great Northwest!
Trotec Speedy C25, Newing-Hall 350 (AMC I & HPGL), NH-CG-30 (Carbide Cutter Sharpener)
Sawgrass 400 Gel Ink Printer, CS5, 5/9/x6 CorelDraw
Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )
Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
Delta 18-900L 18" drill press
Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5
Wow, talk about having the rug pulled out from under you.
They came and unhooked the machine this morning. As of now I am no longer the operator/user.
Here's hopeing we win the mega millions and I can quit and buy my own laser and just do flashlights.
Thank you all for your help, I really didn't expect this to happen so soon. I've been kept in the dark about the whole thing, mostly.
Mushroom, over & out....
Gerber Composer, Omega, & Edge
Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
--------------------------------
Previously: Epilog Legend EXT 75W
Dan
It's not a given that Cermark will work on thin aluminum. I use a lot of Cermark and have even run it at 1000 dpi and high power, low speed and the stuff still rubs off sufficiently that the items are not salable.
Mike Null
St. Louis Laser, Inc.
Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
Gravograph IS400
Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
Dye Sublimation
CorelDraw X5, X7
My own experience is that CerMark and Thermark DO NOT work on Aluminum...Ferro assured me that Thermark would work. I found out that it does not work on any aluminum and I am $100 poorer!
Clyde Baumwell
Print Specialist
ULS 20, 30 Watt
Epson Wide Format Printers
Apple Mac Computers
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
You could very well be right on that one... I do mostly SS with Cermark (actually, I use my own mixes these days), and I've only done a few pieces of Al. I didn't have a problem once I dialed it in, but that's not to say it won't be an issue for someone else. If it is a major problem for some, I'm willing to bet the particular alloy is of concern and should be looked at more closely.
Hi-Tec Designs, LLC -- Owner (and self-proclaimed LED guru )
Trotec 80W Speedy 300 laser w/everything
CAMaster Stinger CNC (25" x 36" x 5")
USCutter 24" LaserPoint Vinyl Cutter
Jet JWBS-18QT-3 18", 3HP bandsaw
Robust Beauty 25"x52" wood lathe w/everything
Jet BD-920W 9"x20" metal lathe
Delta 18-900L 18" drill press
Flame Polisher (ooooh, FIRE!)
Freeware: InkScape, Paint.NET, DoubleCAD XT
Paidware: Wacom Intuos4 (Large), CorelDRAW X5
Clyde, Mike and Mark I believe that getting a mark on Aluminum is going to be machine dependent. The material is designed to physically bond to the surface of metal using the intense heat of the laser, kind of like welding (but not exactly). Since Aluminum acts as a heat sink, meaning it absorbs heat, this makes getting the heat in localized where the bond supposed to occur very difficult. A few tricks we like to use is to heat the metal us slightly using a hair dryer, using the honey comb cutting table to help keep the heat localized, use a reduced spot size lens such as 1.5" and finally slow your laser down as slow as it can go. The last on that list "slow the machine down" is very machine dependent. What I think that's happening is since technology is rapidly changing, laser companies are finding ways to get their machine to run as fast they can, and for good reason too, faster machine means faster output. Unfortunately a faster machine means that you might not be able to build up enough heat to get the CerMark to bond to the metals that act as heat sinks (Aluminum, Brass, Copper Silver). You shouldn't have any problem getting marks on metals such as stainless steels, titanium's, pewter's and such. For instance we have a older 35 watt machine that runs at 44 inches per sec and a newer 60 watt machine one that's much faster (I haven't calculated it yet but I'm guessing around 90 inches per my marks, you'll see...). Our older machine gets good marks at 100% power - 35% speed on stainless and around 3% speed on aluminum. The newer machine at 60 watts is almost the same 100% power - 30-35% speed on stainless and 2-3% speed on aluminum, of course it's still going faster due to the overall writing speed but I think you will start to see the picture I'm painting. This is why we are getting away from giving anyone starting settings but rather we tell people to test their laser limits using a test grid, you know run at 100% power and run varying increments of speed until you can find a good solid bond. For example you can use your colr mapping in your laser driver and do something simple like this;
100p/50s
100p/40s
100p/30s
100p/20s
100p/10s
100p/5s
100p/2s
Let me know if this makes any sense or not.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Stephen Rozwood
Technical Service Representative
CerMark Laser Marking Products
Ferro Corporation
724-223-5990
I did get it to work on aluminum, but it took a long time and several tests.
I think I ended up at something like .4 speed/100 power on an old 30W tube
(who knows what it really puts out?) It was turning blue when heated.
Epilog Mini 18/25w & 35w, Mac and Vaio, Corel x3, typical art toys, airbrush... I'm a Laserhead, my husband is a Neanderthal - go figure
Red Coin Mah Jong
Epilog Mini 18/25w & 35w, Mac and Vaio, Corel x3, typical art toys, airbrush... I'm a Laserhead, my husband is a Neanderthal - go figure
Red Coin Mah Jong
Thanks, Dee ... now I just have to figure out what I need.
I just bought a jar of 6038 a couple of months ago. D'OH!!
It may well be the alloy that is the problem with aluminum but I think the problem is more heat dissipation. The aluminum I would mark if I could is 1" x 3" tags which I normally lay on the table about 7 wide by 7 or 8 down. My theory is that by the time the laser makes its pass across this 21" wide area the aluminum has dissipated the heat from the first pass and does not sufficiently heat the piece to create the bond.
This ain't my first rodeo. I have tried all manner of speeds and power and dpi as well as changing my formula. My machine will mark stainless steel without Cermark so it's not a power issue.
At some point you have to make a judgment as to whether marking aluminum with Cermark is profitable. I say it isn't for my application. On the other hand I did jobs totaling about $5000 last using Cermark on stainless and find it to be a most profitable application.
Mike Null
St. Louis Laser, Inc.
Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
Gravograph IS400
Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
Dye Sublimation
CorelDraw X5, X7
I also have successfully engraved stainless with the Ferro products. But when it comes to aluminum, "fuggedaboutit"! You can't make any money engraving at a speed of .2...at least it is not worth my time
Clyde Baumwell
Print Specialist
ULS 20, 30 Watt
Epson Wide Format Printers
Apple Mac Computers
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
ULS X-660 CO2 50 watt (July 2008), Corel X7, Photograv, GX 7000 for dye sub, Graphtec vinyl plotter, Rayzist Sandcarving system (Nov 2018), JPT MOPA M6 30 watt Fiber Laser (May 2019)