Universal Laser and the HPDFO direct etch on stainless

[Mike Brostrom]

Hi everyone...I'm the new guy. (sigh) I'm looking at purchasing a Universal Laser VLS 4.6 in a 50 watt power setting. Has anyone used this system and the HPDFO to directly etch onto stainless steel? It would sure be nice if this would work instead of using CerMark, but I'm curious to hear what your thoughts are.

Second, any input on this machine versus a Eplog Helix 24?

Thanks for your reply, Mike (The new guy)

[Dan Hintz]

It's slooooow, I hope you realize that. Cermark may force you to run at <20S, but without it you'll be running <5S.

[Mike Null]

Welcome to SMC.

It's possible but as Dan says, too slow to be practical. On thinner stock it may also distort the metal.

[Joe Hillmann]

Do you plan to only use the machine for stainless? If so, and you don't need a large marking area a fiber my be the way to go and in a similar price range. If you plan to use the machine for other work can you switch out the HPDF optics for regular optics to you can run at higher speeds on products that don't require the higher power or small spot size.

[Mike Brostrom]

Thanks gents. Dan, are those travel speed time in inches per second? At one point you owned a Universal if I remember reading correctly. Is the Trotec of the same size that much faster?

Joe, I plan on doing most work on anodized aluminum and also etching granite.

Thanks for the replies.
Mike

[Scott Shepherd]

Thanks gents. Dan, are those travel speed time in inches per second? At one point you owned a Universal if I remember reading correctly. Is the Trotec of the same size that much faster?

Joe, I plan on doing most work on anodized aluminum and also etching granite.

Thanks for the replies.
Mike

Short answer is yes, the Trotec is radically faster than the Universal in raster engraving. What you have to be careful with is having enough power to use those speeds. For example, you won't see the Trotec being that much faster if you are engraving at 20% speed. If you have lower power (50W), then you're not going to be able to run the Trotec at 100% speed for engraving on a lot of materials. The machine is moving too fast to remove the material. So you'll have to slow it down, in which case, it's not much faster than the Universal. But once you break that threshold, it's like watching a race car vs. watching paint dry.

If I were engraving a lot of anodized aluminum and granite tiles, I'd be seriously looking at the Trotec with 80W. That machine would eat granite tiles up, as well as the anodized.