Not Having Fun with Cermark

[Doug Novic]

Have the aerosol cans. Black for glass. Ran 2 tests and they were alright but not perfect. Ran more tests and was disappointed. Cermark flaked off after the laser hit it. Did not bond to the glass at all. Said to heck with it and cranked up the power, slowed down the speed and fried the glass but the Cermark did not stick. Curled up and flaked off. Went less power and same results. 60 watt at so many speeds and power settings and all I got was a lot of glass test pieces with flaking Cermark and an expensive empty can.
Threw the can out, kissed off the time and money lost plus now I am into late hours to finish a job. Etching and color filling the glass into tomorrow. Another Sunday spent working.

Thank you Cermark. Never again.

[Gary Hair]

You applied it too thick. I was told by someone at Ferro a long time ago to apply it to glass so you can still see light coming through it, if you have it so thick that you can't see light then it will peel/flake when you laser it.

Gary

[Doug Novic]

Gary,

I tried too many things to even remember. I appreciate your response though.

It was a long and frustrating day and this was the topper. I guess I just needed to vent my frustrations and Cermark was there to pick on. I apologize to all.

[Scott Shepherd]

Doug, I posted on a thread yesterday about someone having issues with this type of product. I recommend the same thing to you. Believe me, I've been in your shoes. I've ran piece after piece after piece after piece and still not been happy. I called Cermark and the recommended doing what they already suggest on their website, which is to create a grid and engrave it with a large number of combinations, mathematically done, rather than just guessing. Then you can just rinse that one piece off, and you'll have a clear indication where the sweet spot is for that material with your laser.

Before, I would coat, run, rinse, DOH!, coat, run, rinse, DOH!, coat, run, rinse, DOH!

Now it's coat, run, run, run, run, rinse, OH!!!!

I stayed away from ever trying it because when I read it, I thought "That looks like a pain", in fact, it was very easy, especially for people that have color mapping abilities. You can create 10 squares, 10 different colors, 10 different settings, run it, change the settings on those 10 colors, run it again, do it 1 or 2 more times and in minutes, you've covered a huge range of settings.

[Doug Novic]

Scott, Thank you for the info. The project is almost done and it will be a while before I invest in an more ermark.. I did do the letter "S" in arial font accross 8". Each letter had a different power/speed setting. No satisfactory results.

Might try some other day in the future at some time.

[Jeff Belany]

Having issues with Cermark ceramic myself today. Done quite a few of this type and used the same settings today but they are coming out too light. I don't expect a black but usually get a dark gray. Back to testing.

I have some of the newer formula Cermark ceramic on the way but won't be here until Thursday. It is supposed to be a darker mark. Hope so, would be nice.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin