Laser marking ABS

[Jeremy Shepard]

Hi all,

I have a 45W Epilog 24TT. I have an opportunity to mark some Black ABS handles for a customer. I have seen these laser marked and the marking comes out a gray color. I have tried a few samples myself and all I'm able to do is burn the plastic...not really mark anything.

Just a shot in the dark, but has anyone been able to do nice marking on black ABS? If I can get a picture up, I'll post it. I wish I could get the info from the previous marking guy, but I don't know who that is.

I know there isn't a lot of info here...just wondering if anyone has had sucess with marking black ABS.

thanks!

[Joe Pelonio]

I have done it, but the engraving has not been gray, it stays black. With sufficient power it will go nice and deep but the engraved surface is rough
and the black on black is subtle.

I don't know what paint would stick to that for filling.

I used speed 90, Power 65, at 400 dpi.

[Richard Rumancik]

Although Rowmard sells laserable ABS, it is really the colored cap that is being lasered not so much the ABS itself. In my experience I have not seen much of a contrast when marking plain ABS sheet. I think it might be okay for a part number mark but it is not very decorative.

Here is an example from Synrad

www.synrad.com/e-newsletters/11_17_05.htm (http://www.synrad.com/e-newsletters/11_17_05.htm)

The mark looks slightly grey in the photo.

The Synrad website has a lot of application info on it with pictures so you can search on a particular cutting or marking topic. However in their examples Synrad often uses a galvo marking head which most people on the forum do not have. Therefore the laser parameters provided may not be directly useful.

[Jon Colley]

Getting a contrasting mark on ABS will require a "colder" marking laser in the 1064nm range. The CO2 wavelength of 10600nm will just melt the plastic.

The color of the mark will depend on the peak power of the laser source. A fiber laser will have lower peak power so the resulting mark will be beige or light-brown depending on how low you can make the power go on your system. A true Nd:YAG or vanadate (Nd:YVO4) system will have a much higher peak power and should be capable of producing white or near white marks.

These are my experiences working with our FP100 fiber system and our Finemarker vanadate system but the results may vary depending on your setup.

[Jeremy Shepard]

Thanks guys.

Jon, your description sounds like what I've seen on these from the other laser marker. I guess he was using a different form of laser.

These will be used in a medical device, so I don't think a color fill or paint would be acceptable. It could work, but getting the design changes through and approved would be very difficult and I'm sure the customer wouldn't bother.

Thanks again for your help.

[John Noell]

I had an electrician that wanted to mark white ABS but when he saw that it did not change colour, just engraved to depth he was disappointed. Then he saw my laserlights stuff and was quite happy with it instead. He did not want anything that significantly raised the profile of the plastic so the very thin laserlights fit the bill.

[Carla Cronje]

Hi Jeremy

I agree with Jon. I do engraving on black and white ABS plastic with great success with my DPL Magic Marker(Nd:Yag).For color changes I set my power on low and speed
high. You can view a sample photo on my website gallery at www.laserlabengraving.co.za (http://www.laserlabengraving.co.za).
Thanks for a great forum, I've learned a lot the last few months.
Regards
Carla Cronje