View Full Version : Chemical Exosure and CerMark
Liesl Dexheimer
10-23-2018, 1:06 PM
I have a potential customer who would like stainless steel tags engraved but the problem is these tags will be exposed to harsh chemicals (sodium hydroxide). Does anyone know if CerMark hold up to this chemical?
Kev Williams
10-23-2018, 5:47 PM
not much of anything holds up to lye!
You can test it out:
pick up some Castrol Superclean or HD Purple Power, they contain lye, and a can of EZoff oven cleaner, which is loaded with it...
Get a small piece of SS and laser some Cermark on it-
You need something to soak in, a shallow glass dish or bowl should work; you need as much EZoff as you can get into the bowl (mask and rubber gloves recommended), then add some purple to it for good measure...
Now put the engraved SS piece in and let it soak overnight, then see what you get the next day.
I know this much, floating anodized aluminum in that mixture is definitely interesting!
Bill George
10-23-2018, 6:02 PM
I have a potential customer who would like stainless steel tags engraved but the problem is these tags will be exposed to harsh chemicals (sodium hydroxide). Does anyone know if CerMark hold up to this chemical?
If you had fiber laser, they could be marked without Cermark or anything. It would last as long as the stainless lasted.
John Lifer
10-23-2018, 6:59 PM
And since stainless, could do anneal to darken.....
just say'n
Kev Williams
10-23-2018, 10:48 PM
Here you go, found this Cermark test list as provided by Ferro:
Physical Testing of LMM-6000 Laser Marks
Laser marks were made on type 304 stainless steel tags using LMM-6000 and a CO2 Laser.
Marks were made at settings of 100% power, 12% speed, 500 DPI on a
35 watt Universal Laser.
Tags were totally immersed in the test solutions.
Exposure Time
Organic Solvents
1 Hour
12 Hours
24 Hours
1 Week
Gasoline
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Limonene
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Methyl Ethyl Ketone
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
N-Butanol
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Mineral Spirits
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Xylene
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Acetone
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Propylene Carbonate
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Ethanol
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
DMSO
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Motor Oil
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Acid/Bases
Hydrochloric Acid 35%
No effect
No effect
Test stopped - see notes
Nitric Acid 68%
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Sulfuric Acid (conc.)
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Acetic Acid 99.5%
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Hydrogrn Peroxide 30%
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Sodium Hydroxide 25%
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Ammonium Hydroxide 20%
No effect
No effect
No effect
No effect
Other
Boiling H2O
Marks soaked in boiling water for 1 hr. - no effect
LN2 (Cold)
Marks dipped in liquid nitrogen - no effect
Flame (Hot)
Marks heated in a propane flame until cherry red - metal
discolors, no effect on mark.
Hot/Cold Cycling
Marks heated red hot and immediately plunged in liquid nitrogen
- metal discolors, no effect on mark
Notes:
Hydrochloric acid testing:
- Acid dissolves the steel tag and was not run over 12 hrs. long
- After 1 hr. acid dissolved 0.2767 gms off of steel tag (4.7%),
laser mark was unaffected.
- After 12 hrs. acid dissolved 1.8057 gms off of steel tag (30.6%),
laser mark was unaffected, now having a distinctly raised feel.
Sulfuric acid testing:
- Acid discolors at approximately 96 hrs., mark appears to be
slightly discolored.
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Liesl Dexheimer
10-25-2018, 11:56 AM
Thank you for the testing info Kev. That's great for future reference! Even if I could have used stainless and CerMark my potential customer had too low of a qty for id Plates to custom fabricate the order.
Ian Stewart-Koster
10-25-2018, 10:24 PM
Thanks for that great chart. The thing they omitted was hitting it with an angle grinder- it's prety resistant to that for a bit, too!
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