Questions

[Liesl Dexheimer]

A few questions...

1) Does anyone know where I can find this type of material? It's a very thin metal, almost paper thin (approx .005 in thick). At first I thought it might be LaserFrost but it doesn't come in that thickness. I was looking through ID Plates & JP but couldn't find anything similar...
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2) Has anyone received any new JDS pricing or their new catalog yet? I keep checking their website but haven't seen anything posted...I wonder why they take so long compared to other vendors...?

[Jeff Belany]

I see Spectrum Lights is .004 thick. Thought it might be Flexibrass but that is .020. Both in the JDS catalog.

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[Liesl Dexheimer]

Spectrum Lights is IPI plastic correct? This material that I'm looking for is a thin metal (I'm guessing aluminum) although it really looks like brass. I wonder if this was done with a Fiber laser or YAG?...

[Michael Hunter]

Looks as though it is real brass that has been chemically etched (the card actually says "photoetch" on it).
No way to do that with our lasers and the various plastic substitutes for metal just don't look or feel the same.

Spectrum Lights (Romark Laser Lights etc. etc - they are all the same thing) is much too flimsy and has a sticky backing.
Romark Flexibrass/Flexicolor is better - 0.5mm thick so it does have a bit of stiffness to it. Looks OK, but does not have the right feel.

[Jeff Belany]

Sorry, I missed the metal part. Tough getting old!!!!

Jeff in northern Wisconsin

[Liesl Dexheimer]

Possibly...it really looks like it was engraved but then again it could be photo etched. I was thinking of asking my customer where he had these done but thought I would get some other ideas here first.

[Dan Hintz]

Are you looking for the material itself, or do you simply want someone to create something similar?

If it's the latter, try someone like this:
http://www.photofabrication.com/

[Liesl Dexheimer]

I was looking for the material itself providing that it could be laser engraved or vector cut. I'll check out the link as well. ;)

[Tony Lenkic]

Could be alumamark from Horisons imaging......

http://www.horizonsisg.com/alumamark.html

[Liesl Dexheimer]

Hmmmm..maybe...I do use AlumaMark on a fairly regular basis but I haven't seen it with the frosted type of look...unless I'm mistaken. When I was looking @ JP I didn't see the thin material listed though just the thicker stock, I'll have to double check. Thanks. ;)

[Paul Phillips]

Liesl,
One way to tell material type is by weight, if it's solid brass it will feel heavier that aluminum, if it's AlumaMark with a brass anodized finish, you can see the silver aluminum edge. If it has a frosted finish it could be a clear coat someone sprayed on. If it's .005" though it's probably brass as I've never seen aluminum engravers material come that thin.
Hope this helps.
Paul

[Liesl Dexheimer]

Thank you Paul. The more I think about it & feel it, I'm pretty sure it's brass...especially looking at it from the back. Too bad...I was hoping I could make something like this with my laser... :(

[Richard Rumancik]

You can get .005" brass at the hobby store in small sheets (made by K&S Engineering). It is plain rolled finish. But as you concluded you can't cut into brass with the low power co2 laser.

Some of us have experimented with etching brass (using chemical or electrolytic means) and using the laser to create the mask. The process is roughly as follows: clean/cut metal, apply organic ("paint") mask to etching side, cut through mask with laser with graphic image, clean residue, mask back and edges, etch, remove mask/clean. If you wanted a finish you would have to sand, wire brush or sandblast. So it can be done but there are quite a few steps and some equipment involved. There are some old posts on the subject.

The photoetching companies usually use photo-sensitized brass and expose it with a film negative of the image.