Cermark Problems

[Shane Turner]

Hi all,

I've been having a few issues lately when useing Cermark to mark stainless steel. I'm getting some bluring around the edges of any objects I engrave. This is more noticeable on lettering.

I've included a scan I took of a recent example. Sorry about the contrast, but scanning reflective surfaces does that :D

117580

Does anyone know what's going on here. Am I using too much power or speed... or not enough. Or is there something else going on?

[Frank Corker]

Shane, try changing the black on your Corel from CYMK to black RGB. CYMK black is a lot lighter.

[Dee Gallo]

Shane,

I don't know if this will help, but it looks like you have a lighter outline around your letters. Maybe you should delete the outline... if you want the letters thicker, make the style bold. In combination with Frank's suggestion, this might help.

cheers, dee

[Chris J Drew]

Shane,
is that "halo" just on the vertical edges of the text, or all the way round?
( It's not clear in the picture )

For the purposes of investigating your fault, try rastering a small pure black rectangle at low resolution & looking at the edges through a magnifier.

Mismatch of the start & end points of the left & right scans of the laser head would indicate a "timing" issue or perhaps some play in the bearing that the head runs on ( X-axis )
(I'd suggest doing this on some anodised ali or maybe acrylic, rather than using the cermark, in order to eliminate this as a contributing factor to your issue.)

Try adding a little tension to the X-axis belt &/or running the job slower & see what effect this has on the quality.

Regarding Dee's suggestion, you can make text bolder by adding an outline with a thickness - very useful if it's a font without a bold option, but make sure it's a "true" black, the same as the text.

A quick call to Epilog techsupport is what I'd recommend.

[Shane Turner]

Frank:
Have tried both CMYK and RGB black with similar results. Though you are correct, CMYK black does tend to result in a much duller finish.

Dee:
I've only been using fills and quite large text for testing this. But thanks for the suggestion!

Chris:
You seem to be on to something there. The Blurring does indeed only occur on the more verticle areas of a shape. After more testing i've noticed it's consistantly there over all mediums, not just cermark/stainless. I raised this issue with my local Epilog sales rep, but he said it was 'normal'. But I can see with the naked aye that each line is physcially out of alignment with the next.
I guess a call to Epilog tech support is in order, as I don't really know how to tighten belts and all. A quick call to epilog is very expensive from New Zealand but I think that's the only way to go.

Thanks for the help all!

[Mike Null]

Why not try by email. mailto:tech@epiloglaser.com

[John Noell]

I have spent quite a bit of time with Epilog tech support using Skype. Quite inexpensive and easy if you've got an Internet connection. All you need is a $10-15 headset. It only costs about 2.5 USA cents per minute.

[Rangarajan Saravana kumar]

Hi,

Try to make the text

1. convert the outlines as cuved

2. convert the curved outlines as convert outlines to object

3. Now try raster. Hope this work

4. Did you try in acrylic same setup art work to see the difference at edges?

5. If both rastering is similar, then the laser match has to be adjusted in your epilog

6. If not, text might be problem.. try converting bmp and grayscale and try


Regards,
Saravana kumar

[Shane Turner]

Thanks John and Mike, I'll try both approaches and let you know how I get on. Fingers crossed!

[Shane Turner]

Thanks Saravana,

I always convert my text to filled shapes, out of habit mainly as I often email a proof to my customers for checking and this avoids any font problems. So it's looking more likely to be #5 in the list. So just waiting on the new day is the U.S. so I can give Epilog tech support a call. :D

[Rodne Gold]

Is there perhaps a "tuning" feature in your driver?
In my GCC drivers we have a feature than can compensate for shifts on alternative scan lines.

[Chris J Drew]

Is there perhaps a "tuning" feature in your driver?
In my GCC drivers we have a feature than can compensate for shifts on alternative scan lines.

On Epilog machines this the "Laser Match" adjustment, made from the machine keypad.
Best job for this adjustment is a low dpi rastered box on anodised ali or acrylic & examine the left & right side vertical edges through a magnifier.

[Steve Rozwood]

Hi Shane,

Maybe I can offer some assistance, but first let me ask a few questions:

What power and speed setting are you using?

What kind of metal are you working with and did you check to make sure there isn’t a coating on the metal?

What is the size and font you are using?

This maybe a mechanical problem but it doesn’t hurt narrow out any possibilities.


Stephen Rozwood
Technical Service Representative
Ferro Corporation
251 West Wylie Ave.
Washington, PA 15301

Phone: (724) 223-5990
Fax: (724) 228-3170
Email: rozwoods@ferro.com (rozwoods@ferro.com)

[Gary Hair]

Steve,
Between you, Dennis and Sean, the support from Ferro is fantastic! Too many manufacturers don't see the value in your presence on forums.

Thanks!

What's interesting about the problem Shane is having, is that I had virtually the exact same problem with some painted stainless. I lasered through the paint, cleaned with denatured alcohol, applied Cermark with an airbrush and lasered. There was a distinct outline around the text, it was very thin, but there nonetheless. It diminished if I applied a second coat of Cermark and lasered again, but it was still there. My customer ended up going with a different style of plate, but I would like to figure out what it might have been that caused it. I assumed that it was the coating not lasering cleanly around the edges but I didn't do any further testing to see, since they changed the plate design.

Gary

[Rodne Gold]

There is always a residue when you laser thru paint , we used to etch that way and the only way to clean the metal surace was to use a toothbrush with an abraisive type household cleaner (handy andy) but it dies harm the unlasered paint.

We now use polyester vinyl and sandblast the lasered vinyl.

I suspect your problems could be residue related , the instant the laser fires it does not get hot enough to remove both the residue at the edge and still fuse the glaze onto the metal - as it progresses and pulses and there is a bigger heat affected zone , it does get hot enough for the cerdec to take?

[Rangarajan Saravana kumar]

Hi,

I do suspect the problem should be residual issue not laser match issue

Did you try with different materials like acrylic and compare

Regards,
saravana kumar