Need help with AlumaMark settings on Epilog

[Edward Brown]

Hello there again, hopefully someone can help me with this. I was browsing through our stock and noticed some AlumaMark in the back. I asked the owner about it and he mentioned it didn't turn out to well, the manufacture told him our lasers were too powerful. But of course this got my attention and I did some research. I've searched the net and searched here but I haven't found model specific power/speed/resolution settings. I tried it out (gold mat finish) in our Epilog 32 and found that 70s 20p turns out "ok" but I've seen MUCH better results on internet samples. If anyone could point me in the right direction on how to engrave this material that would be GREAT. I've seen good directions but not with any of the machines that we have, and this material seems to be very sensitive -

The machines we have are -
Epilog 24EX - 75 watt
Epilog 32 - 75 watt
Epilog Radius - 100 watt

I am familiar with ceramark tape and sublimation but if I could get this to work it "could" save some money on material/production time.

Thank you so much in advance! :)

Edward
Primary Engraver

PS - I also have some JDS samples of their same type of material

[Mike Fuller]

Edward,

Not sure if this will help or not, but we run the gold alumamark in our Epilog Mini (35 watt) at 90s 60p. Sometimes help if it is slightly out of focus.

Mike

[Edward Brown]

Thanks mike, I'll try that - 35w to 75w is a big jump but maybe it won't need too much adjustment. And yes, I have read that bringing it out of focus a little does help, some say use the "largest" lens, but of course these machines all have the same size, with the exception of our Radius, same size lens but 3 different slots and focus tools could make the beam a little larger.

I've also read that the trick is to let the laser "dwell" on the engraved area, low speed and low power to heat the material correctly - this was coming from directions for a 75watt system with different sized lens.

Again thank you! I will try those settings - Any other info is greatly appreciated, even resolution settings could help - again I've read the higher the res the better. This is definitely a journey into the unknown for me :p

[Edward Brown]

WOW - Ok, now I feel dumb. Further looking into their website I've found a PDF that explains what settings to use for which machines... BUT if anyone has their own personal experiences/tips/tricks I'm still open for ideas...

Thanks again!

Edward

[David Harvey]

Edward, I use the following settings on my 75w and it works great on the Gold Alumimark.

Speed = 30%
Power = 10%
DPI = 600

Adjust the focus just a little 'beyond' perfect focus for best results. An easy way to do this is run the job on a piece of scrap. While it's running, adjust focus until the engraving looks sharp. You can also adjust the power settings while it is running for optimum settings.

[Edward Brown]

Ok, so I've tried the recommended settings and there way to powerful, back to step 1 -

Any ideas? I know its in the area of 70s 20p, at least in our "non" EX 32

**This was posted before the above suggestion, not sure why it put my quote before..."

[Edward Brown]

Edward, I use the following settings on my 75w and it works great on the Gold Alumimark.

Speed = 30%
Power = 10%
DPI = 600

Adjust the focus just a little 'beyond' perfect focus for best results. An easy way to do this is run the job on a piece of scrap. While it's running, adjust focus until the engraving looks sharp. You can also adjust the power settings while it is running for optimum settings.

Thank you! I will try that after this next job

[Edward Brown]

Wow, this is stuff is really weird - I tried a name tag setup which has a bitmap and then CYK colored letters (black) and I had to adjust the focus separately for each kind of shade/color format - very strange, but interesting :cool:

[Ross Moshinsky]

I use the same setting as coated steel/brass. 50/100 500dpi. That's on a 30W LS100 New Hermes machine.

[Bill Cunningham]

I usually back off the focus 1/8". If your trying to do a photo, just send the greyscale to the laser. (I've never had any luck using photograv on alumamark) If it still looks 'muddy' drop the photo res. to 150 dpi and run it at 300dpi
Gold is easier to run than silver. Silver can show a big difference even with small power/speed changes, so you pretty well have to build a profile for your machine..

[William Milligan]

I am getting ready to give some AlumaMark a try later today. I looked at their web site and they say the power settings should be at 25p/30s for my 75w...does that seem about right?

Also, I have noted numerous postings about changing the focus and their directions state

"autofocus adjust should be set between

+90 and +115 with autofocus turned on. If
your laser has the option, change the AC
(acceleration compensation) to 6 and RC
(ramp compensation) to 9. This will help to
yield a consistent and rich black mark."

Sorry to ask a newbie question but I am what I am...are these settings in the driver somewhere or do I adjust this on the front panel? Thanks!

BTW, for those who don't have it here is a link to a pdf with the recomended settings: http://www.horizonsisg.com/am_trouble.pdf

[Larry Bratton]

William:
You will find that adjustment (using your keypad) under the Calibration menu, last item. I would be sure and note what it is set at now if working ok and then change back to that after the Alumamark experiment.

[Dan Hintz]

The only time I use less than 100% speed is when I'm maxed out for power or the item is too small to make 100% speed useful.

[Sam Wainer]

As a starting point, I recommend working through the laser settings guide:
http://www.horizonsisg.com/images/stories/isg/docs/alumamark/alumamark-processing-guide.pdf
If that doesn't work, the tech's at Horizons can help you dial in your settings over the phone.

[Mike Null]

I have used Alumamark from time to time and keep it on hand. My best success has been with slower speeds and lower power so be sure to work that into your experiments.