Cermark on aluminum problem

[Charles Mottram]

I have a problem with getting cermark to stick to aluminum. Have had great success with stainless but it will just rub off on aluminum.
The laser is an epilog mini 24 45w with settings at 600 dpi 100% power and 45% speed, any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Richard Rumancik]

Sorry to tell you but aluminum is much more difficult to mark than stainless steel. The reason is that the conductivity is much higher, so it is more difficult to get the spot up to the necessary temperature for it to bond.

Best I can suggest is to use your smallest focal length lens (1.5" FL if you have one) and run it slower.

I have found aluminum marking to be impractical for my laser, because if I slow it down enough to bond, then the job time becomes so excessive that it is not viable cost-wise.

You might find some old threads on this subject.

[Gary Hair]

Charles,
I would suggest running a test grid to determine the power/speed setting you need to use. I have a 30 watt machine and have no problem with aluminum. I have to slow it down quite a bit compared to stainless, 5-10% speed compared to 30%, but it works nonetheless.

A test grid is just a bunch of 1/4" squares that I run at 100% power and 100% speed decreasing by 5%, to 5%. Find the one that sticks without turning gray/brown/tan and then run the test again starting about 5% above that setting and decreasing by 1% until you get to 5% below the setting. There will be a mark or two that are optimal for that material. It will change with the alloy, thickness and size of the piece, but I guarantee you that it will work, especially with 45 watts.

Gary

[James Stokes]

Your best bet is to use the lmm-14 instead of the lmm-2000, The 14 is what I have found to work the best.

[Dan Hintz]

Charles,

For a 45W machine, you're looking at about 20S for SS... for aluminum, you will be slower, figure around 10S, maybe lower.

[Charles Mottram]

Much appreciated.

[Bill Jermyn]

I use 2% speed and 100% power, 1200 dpi