Fiber Laser EZCAD2 Settings to Mark Black Text on White Ceramic Part.

[John Kleiber]

Hey everyone,

I have a customer interested in marking some ceramic bits.
The bits are made of ceramic with a stainless steel Dremel size shaft.
They are used in nail salons and need an identification mark on them as to coarseness of each.
The mark, (only 3 alpha/numeric characters) needs to be on the end, which is about 6.48mm in diameter.

Since I only have these 3 samples to test, I planned on finding scrap ceramic to test on.

But in the mean time, does anyone have an idea where to start EZCad2 Power, Speed and Frequency settings for marking ceramic?
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From a couple of youtube videos, I think marking black on white ceramic is possible with fiber.
Unfortunately they did not show the screen for settings.

https://youtu.be/Dxj7-m2-zJ0

Thanks
John

[Bill George]

Well I know they sell ceramic knifes (sp) like that guy is showing but maybe someone else can help. It might help to list what brand FL you have.

[Scott Marquez]

I sell carbide burs at my day job, which have 1/4" stems, and the PN is lasered onto that, not the cutting portion.
Is that an option?
Scott

[Kev Williams]

This a 4-1/2" x 4-1/2" x 1-1/2" thick chunk of solid ceramic, just 'test drove' it. I use it in a vice as a backer for when I'm pressing PEM studs into aluminum panels. The guck is what's left of some transfer tape. Otherwise, even though it doesn't look like it, it's as smooth as glass...
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Making a mark was easy, nearly any setting I tried marked it. However, I'm pretty sure all the laser is really doing is polishing off the grime, aside from the 100/100/30, there's no etch you can feel, and my 20x loupe doesn't show any etch either, other than the 100/100/30, below. It should've really dug in at those settings, but only a couple of places here and there actually etched. The 'e', and it's really blurry but about 8 o'clock on the 'c' some material removed. Otherwise, zilch...
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Best setting was my 'anodized' setting, 1500/100/40 (speed/power/freq)... The 200/60/80 was also .05 hatch. The 100/100/30 was a .02 hatch, the two on the left was a .03 hatch.

Ceramic knives may etch differently...?

[John Kleiber]

According to the customer, he wants the user to be able to identify the coarseness from the top of the tool bit. The stem is only 2.32mm in diameter.

[John Kleiber]

After I finish another job I have Saturday, I will experiment with the suggested settings.

[Bill George]

This kind of looks like one of those jobs where maybe a block of wood with holes and the holes marked with the grit size might be a better option. :)

[John Kleiber]

This was the result of my first ceramic test on the customers provided bit.

Equipment: 50w Fiber Laser
Software: EZCAD2 Settings - 1x, 150s, 100p, 20khz
Total Laser Time .44 of a second. (about a half second)
Material: Ceramic

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They say qty will be 100 at a time or possibly 1000.
The bit sells on the internet ebay etc for 7.50 each
It takes me exactly one minute to populate the box with 25 bits.
At .44 of a second, 25 bits will take 11 seconds to mark.

I think I will price this job per piece in order to back into my hourly rate.

Thanks
John