Cermark Sterling silver question

[Brendon Watson]

Hi
I am new to this forum so apologies in advanced for the lack of knowledge. Also I relatively new to laser engraving.

I have a few questions around engraving with Cermark on sterling silver that I am hoping to get some advise on.

1) From my research it appears a CO2 laser engraver with Cermark coating will work?
2) Will the engraving go into the sterling silver material or only be surfaced based.
3) It looks like the image attached has been lasered into the material and not just on the surface. Would that be possible with CO2.
4) Would a 50w Laser be powerful enough? If so any idea on the power settings and speed I would start my testing at.
5) What are the main differences between engraving Sterling Silver and stainless steal both using Cermark & CO2

I realise some of the questions are broad and may not be answered precisely but any assistance and guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Brendon

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[Bert Kemp]

Hi Welcome
a 50 watt CO2 laser will not go into the metal. Cermark will bond to the surface of the metal, usually leaving a black marking. I'm not sure how well it will work on silver as I have never used it on silver others here can help with that.

[Kev Williams]

I'm not sure if Cermark will bond to silver or not.

I AM sure that the necklace in your picture is not a product of Cermark, and based on the font, engraving depth, consistent stroke width and radius's, I'm about 99% sure that it's been tool engraved and painted and not lasered at all...
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[Brendon Watson]

Thanks for your prompt reply. Which do you think the minimum Watt's are that would be required for this type of material.


Hi Welcome
a 50 watt CO2 laser will not go into the metal. Cermark will bond to the surface of the metal, usually leaving a black marking. I'm not sure how well it will work on silver as I have never used it on silver others here can help with that.

[Brendon Watson]

Hi Kev,
Thanks for the information.
What type of machine would do it like this?
The challenge is this company sell's directly to consumers. The one pictured was around $100 and over the Christmas holiday period they would have been producing hundreds of orders a day so a machine that does high volume would be required.
Thanks again
Brendon


I'm not sure if Cermark will bond to silver or not.

I AM sure that the necklace in your picture is not a product of Cermark, and based on the font, engraving depth, consistent stroke width and radius's, I'm about 99% sure that it's been tool engraved and painted and not lasered at all...
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[Seann Fordham]

Not sure how that was done, but a fibre laser would do a similar job, but 10x crisper. As for sterling silver, you can get a black mark using cermark at very slow speeds with a 60watt, but the mark isn't durable and will eventually rub off.

[Bill George]

That very well could be cast or stamped letters and color filled.

[Hilton Lister]

What Kev said!

[Kev Williams]

Hi Kev,
Thanks for the information.
What type of machine would do it like this?
The challenge is this company sell's directly to consumers. The one pictured was around $100 and over the Christmas holiday period they would have been producing hundreds of orders a day so a machine that does high volume would be required.
Thanks again
Brendon
Me and my Gravograph IS400 could churn out 4 or 5 hundred of these a day no problem, provided the parts are identical. I could run 2 or 3 of these a minute. There's other parts to the job, name entry, light polishing and cleaning after the engraving, and the painting, so unless I have help the net output would be a bit less...

As for selling hundreds a day, at $100 a pop, I may be wrong but I'm thinking that estimate is a bit high...:)

[Kev Williams]

This is my IS400, back when I just got it. Here, it's making a white speedometer overlay for a Buick...
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Here, I'm fixing to engrave the side of a knife, note I'm holding it with a clamp held by the machine's clamp... always improvising!
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Here's the done deal. Notice how the lettering looks almost identical to the necklace engraving :)
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Setting up to engrave around the curve takes a few minutes. The actual engraving only took about 15 seconds.

If you're engraving the same thing over and over, it can be done quite fast (does get boring though) :D

[Brendon Watson]

Thanks for the info Kev,
I really appreciate what you are sharing.
As for the price I did over estimate as I am in Australia and shipping was included to actual item I originally posted a picture of was around $50USD but still you get the point :-).
I notice when I have a real close look some of the black is a little of in the corner of the letters so it could well be engraved and painted.
What paint would you generally use with a process of a lot of orders and variation of jewellery types (30+ different sizes/designs)



Me and my Gravograph IS400 could churn out 4 or 5 hundred of these a day no problem, provided the parts are identical. I could run 2 or 3 of these a minute. There's other parts to the job, name entry, light polishing and cleaning after the engraving, and the painting, so unless I have help the net output would be a bit less...

As for selling hundreds a day, at $100 a pop, I may be wrong but I'm thinking that estimate is a bit high...:)

[Kev Williams]

What paint would you generally use
Testors enamel model paint in the small square bottles. Thin only with their thinner. For basic paint fill, we've found nothing better. Been using it over 40 years.
Note, don't bother buying the bigger round bottles of Testors. The paint is different. Don't know why or how it's different, I just know that it is.

[Brendon Watson]

Ok great, and where would you see a Fibre laser being an advantage over engrave a paint?
Would it be less time in the finishing because no painting is involved?
I'm assuming setup and throughput would be similar.
Thanks Kev!


Testors enamel model paint in the small square bottles. Thin only with their thinner. For basic paint fill, we've found nothing better. Been using it over 40 years.
Note, don't bother buying the bigger round bottles of Testors. The paint is different. Don't know why or how it's different, I just know that it is.

[Bill George]

Just curious if your planning to make a million dollars on just one item doing laser engraving?

[Brendon Watson]

Hi Bill
It will be part of the whole strategy (online business direct to consumer & basically every job is variation) but will not be the only product offering or machine required within the mix.
I have created a few zero to 7 figure online business's before but not in this industry hence the question on machinery and the possible best fit for this product type.
Thanks!


Just curious if your planning to make a million dollars on just one item doing laser engraving?

[Kev Williams]

Ok great, and where would you see a Fibre laser being an advantage over engrave a paint?
There is no advantage over engrave and paint. What my fiber does 'compliments' all my other machines. There IS an advantage in that it engraves anodized aluminum much faster, and can do metal etching I've never been able to do before. There's a disadvantage in that it can only engrave a 6"x6" area at time, but, I can increase slightly with a different lens, but, the disadvantage of that is, deep engraving will be compromised...

And that's the bottom line, everything is a compromise :)