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View Full Version : Nickel Plating - Cermark 6000 or 6060?



Bob WrightNC
04-28-2016, 9:54 AM
Got some nickel plated products I want to mark and was at ISA in Orlando last week. Topic of which to use - 6000 versus 6060 for marking nickel plate. Anyone had experience with these? Settings? Thanks in advance!

Gary Hair
04-28-2016, 11:06 AM
I have used the 6000 on nickel plated steel, it worked fantastic! I didn't see a whole lot of difference between it and stainless except that you may get some staining. Test a piece and see what happens. If it does stain, then you can do a few things - heat the part so it dries quicker, spray from a farther distance so the alcohol can partially evaporate before it hits the metal, and last, don't leave it on too long - spray and laser then clean asap.

Bob WrightNC
04-28-2016, 1:18 PM
So you're saying that the Cermark will stain if you leave too long? I'm going to paint on and then laser. Mind if I ask what settings you're running since we both have the same laser?
Also, did you every try the 6060? Thanks Gary.

Gary Hair
04-28-2016, 1:37 PM
It's not certain that you'll get staining but in 10 years nickel plated steel was the only thing that stained badly and there was a correlation to the length of time from spray to wash and how bad the stain was. Ferro recommended heating the part and spraying from a distance. I was using my GCC Explorer then, haven't done any Cermark with the Trotec - not likely to because 99% of my metal marking is done on the fibers now. I've never tried the 6060, too expensive for testing, especially when the 6000 was working fine.
Run a test grid to test settings, mark .25" squares at 1,000 dpi, 100% power and vary the speed from 10% to 50% in 5% increments - you should find the sweet spot pretty quickly that way.

Bob WrightNC
04-28-2016, 2:46 PM
Thanks Gary. One thing I have noticed is that the settings on the same machine can be drastically different from a similar machine, same wattage. I'll run a grid and see what "sticks". Thanks for the advice!!