cermark?

[Devon Jones]

it seems like every time that i cermark something i wash it off with water and dry it the black always seems to come off. i thought cermark was not supposed to ever come off? am i doing something wrong?

[Lili Hua]

Hey Devon,

The Cermark works best on metallic substrates, but you have to make sure you test out your power/speed settings to have the laser burn it in permanently. It only washes off if your settings were not adequate. You'll know you've done it right when you can't even scratch the Cermark off.

You can also contact your Cermark salesperson to get the right settings for your machine's model.

Cheers,
Lili

[Gary and Jessica Houghton]

it seems like every time that i cermark something i wash it off with water and dry it the black always seems to come off. i thought cermark was not supposed to ever come off? am i doing something wrong?

Are you using it on metal or ceramic/glass?

If on metal a small amount will come off on the rag you use to wipe clean, but should not come totally off your piece. Same goes for ceramic/glass. You cannot cermark Sterling silver or gold, because it will not stick! Tried and cost us money to replace customer's product.

Ceramic/glass needs more solution than metal. If not enough, then cermark will wash away. - Again this was a costly lesson for us as well.

I use 20s/100p on metal on our Epilog 35w. Your machine is a lot more powerful, so I would check with the manufacturer for the settings.

[Phil Salvati]

What product are you using...and on what material?

Did you check the Thermark website http://www.thermark.com/content/view/116/171/ for suggested settings?

P

[Janet Liddiard]

I was having this same problem. I was doing two things wrong that you may want to check. I ended up calling the customer service line listed on thermark.com and a lady there helped me. First, I wasn't letting the cermark dry long enough. Based on the product I had, she explained how the color will change once it's fully dry. She even had me start using a hair dryer to get it fully dry (since I didn't have overnight to wait). Second, my speed/power settings were wrong. I don't recall now what they were, but the customer service there at Thermark was great. I'd highly suggest giving them a call and I bet you'll have no more problems getting it to mark permanently. Good luck!

[Richard Rumancik]

Cermark will dry in a few minutes in still air; even the cool air of the air assist will dry it quicker. You shouldn't really need to use much heat and it certainly won't take overnight.

For some items, leaving the Cermark on will cause a stain so I try to get it off as soon as possible.

[Steve Rozwood]

Hello Devon,

I am a representative of the LMM-6000 CerMark product and I may be able to step in and assist you. Lili and Gary are right, its al in the power and speed settings. LMM-6000 is designed to work on most metal surfaces and it will work on silver and gold but we don’t recommend it because of how soft those metals are. LMM-6000 is only as durable as the surface of the metal you are using, so if you laser our product on gold then it can be easily removed. Additionally certain materials will absorb the laser energy and make it harder for our material to bond to. So if you are using a material like copper, silver, ect. then you will need more laser wattage to get a bond. My best advice is to do a power grid on the substrate that you are using. We will laser power grids on a sample piece of the same substrate that we are marking on in our lab to find the best most durable mark. A typical power grid for marking metal with a CO2 laser can be set up in a matrix or a graph from like this:

______100__ D __D__ D___ D__ D__ D__ D__ D
Power _90___D__ D__ D___ D__ D__ D__ D__ D
_______80__ D__ D__ D___ D__ D__ D__ D__ D
___________10__25__40___55_ 60__75_ 90_ 100
_______________________Speed

(The "D's" represent squares that you would normally use to laser at that power and speed setting)

Sorry for the crude outline but you can set up the power grid any way that you want. When are done making the marks on you power grid then you should scrub the material to find the best color with the most durable mark. If you would like to contact me to for any personal assistance on power grids you can e-mail me or contact me by phone and I can give you more detailed information. I hope this helps and not confuses you.

Thanks,

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)