Another cermark question

[Gary Noble 6363]

Hi,

This question will probably make me the laughing stock of the forum but here goes.

I have purchased 5 x 100g of cermark paste (6000) and understand from various posts here that to get the best results I need to dilute it to a ratio of 10:1 with DNA.
My question is how do I get the ratio? do i do it on weight? as in weigh out the paste and then the DNA and mix it or do I measure it out by volume i.e so many millilitres?

Thank you in advance

Gary

[Mike Null]

Gary

I dilute mine to the point that it is the consistency of skim milk. I never measure so I can't say anything about ratios. If you're going to use an airbrush the result you want is for the metal to be showing ever so faintly through the Cermark. I have used hand tools in my shop for test purposes and generally this stuff is somewhat forgiving. Lean toward using too little rather than too much.

[Frank Corker]

It's very much dependent on the job that you are doing Gary. Mike does pretty much the same as I do for airbrushing. When it comes to one off things I am quite slap dash to be honest. I open the lid, get a lollipop stick, scoop out a small blob, drop it in the lid. I get a syringe full of methalated spirits, squirt that into the lid, mix it into a watery paste. Then I get a fine bubbled piece of foam or one of those small house painting foam brushes and DAB it into the lid. When I have sufficient wetness on the foam brush I dab the work piece until there is a fine even coat. When I'm finished I just leave whats left of the blob in the top and close the lid. I don't wash the foam brush after either, next time I need to do something I use the same brush, it absorbs the meths and softens up again. For those of you who may be expressing distaste for my methods, I've been doing this for 5 years and I've never encountered problems. Hey works for me!

[Dan Hintz]

It's like good cooking... everything is by eye and feel. You're not going to see a good cook using measuring spoons, he uses a pinch of this and a dash of that. Same with the CerMark... like Frank says, dump a bit in a small bottle and add DNA until it's a consistency that works for you.

[Mike Null]

Here's an example where i used the foam brush jsut so i could avoid cleaning up over spray that would have occurred with the air brush. One dip of the brush in the solution was adequate to do the entire table full of lids.

So far we've done about 500 of these lids with only 3 or 4 re-dos. A logo goes on the handle.

[Gary Noble 6363]

Mnay thanks for all of the replies,

I was hoping it would be by done by "eye" as I can now start retesting on everything. If it is not nailed down it will be getting lasered :-)

I will be purchasing this airbrush kit to help me on my way :-) http://www.airbrushcompressorshop.co.uk/products/compressor-kits/aibrush-compressor-kit-ii-studio/

[Mike Null]

That should do the job and at 54 db the noise won't drive you crazy.

[Richard Rumancik]

Gary, if you look at the Cermark or Thermark literature I think they recommend 2-3 parts DNA to 1 part Cermark by volume. Dan seems to have luck with 10:1 but I think that would be way too thin for me.

But like most people I don't actually measure, as I return unused Cermark from the airbrush to the bottle; sometimes I add a few ml of DNA to the bottle if it starts to dry out (it seems to do that even if closed and sealed tightly.) So the end result is that I don't always know what the starting mixture is. But that is not a problem; it is fairly tolerant of mix ratio. The big test is that you have proper coverage. If you spray stainless and you can see shiny stainless through the Cermark when held at an angle to the light, then I'd say it is too thin or not sprayed heavy enough. The Cermark can't work where there is none. So if you mix or spray too thin, you will have "missing pixels" in the text or graphic or it will be a very weak looking mark. Find a piece of stainless to test on and see what works for you.

If you wish to meaure DNA, a plastic syringe without a needle works, but you probably won't be able to draw undiluted Cermark as it is too thick.

[Michael Kowalczyk]

Plan A-Just go to the kitchen and open the baking utensil drawer. Look for the ring with all the measuring spoons attached and Wala,your ready to go.
Plan B- To avoid sleeping on the couch, rundown to the dollar store, or any other place that sells kitchen utensils, and get your own set for the laser room.

[Bill Cunningham]

Cermark is probably the most recycled product I use.. Like Frank, I don't wash the brush & I keep my premixed/diluted Cermark in a small mason jar that I shake the heck out of before I unscrew the lid, and dip in the brush.. When done, I just screw the lid back on and set both the brush and jar in a cupboard for the next time..