Laser on Powder Coated Items?

[John Frazee]

The person I bought my sandblasting unit from told me about these cake pans with lids they used to powder coat and then engrave with the handheld engraver that came with the sandblasting unit. I don't see how they could have looked nice enough to sell but they made very good money off of them. I have found the supplier for the cake pans. They only come in silver anodized aluminum. I guess it's anodized. I lasered a photo on one but it is not good enough to offer. I have seen powder coat systems on eBay for under $100.00. Have any of you powder coated and then lasered? It would be expensive to just try if it didn't work. Any suggestions?

[James A. Wolfe]

John,
Here's a link to a company that can supply the baking pans I think you're referring to:
http://www.doughmakers.com/contact.htm

They have three colors available and they laser pretty well. You can go to several member's websites and view them. I wrote to the company to buy a sample and they sent me 2 pans free. I always recommend them for that reason. They are also excellent quality pans and reflect well on the seller.
Good luck,
Jim

[John Frazee]

The company is Kitchen Collection that I was checking out. They have some nice items and even have an outlet store within driving distance of me. The pan and lid set is normally around $7.00 but they are on sale right now pretty cheap.

http://www.kitchencollection.com/Temp_Products.cfm?sku=00237498&RankThis=Y&BrandType=Y&Brand=Kitchen%20Collection&

[Pete Simmons]

John:

At around $7 or less each they must be made of foil!!!


I use the Doughmakers pans. They are costly but they are very high quality.

I sell an engraved 9x13 pan and lid for $39.

I even put a name on the bottom of the pan with Cermark.

[Dave Johnson29]

I have seen powder coat systems on eBay for under $100.00. Have any of you powder coated and then lasered? It would be expensive to just try if it didn't work.


Hi John, I have not lasered my own powder coating but this Harbor Freight thing comes on special for around 40-bucks. I have used it many times and it works well. You do need a sandblaster to clean the parts and rough them up a little or spend some time with steel wool and then acetone.

I use an old electric cooking oven out in the open air for curing them. Do NOT use the oven in the house as the fumes given off during curing are quite toxic.

[David Darnell]

Hi John, I have not lasered my own powder coating but this Harbor Freight thing comes on special for around 40-bucks. I have used it many times and it works well. You do need a sandblaster to clean the parts and rough them up a little or spend some time with steel wool and then acetone.

I use an old electric cooking oven out in the open air for curing them. Do NOT use the oven in the house as the fumes given off during curing are quite toxic.

I wouldn't worry about the fumes myself. I figure the wifes reaction would kill me way before the fumes would. :D

[Dee Gallo]

Here's my first try at Doughmakers - I like it! It took 3 passes using the book's anodized settings - each time it got more white. The picture still looks kind of blue, but it's really superlight blue. Do other people get pure white? In one pass? The flash made the white stripe down the middle, not my laser! The picture looks blurry, but the image is sharp... unlike my photo skills.

[Dave Johnson29]

I wouldn't worry about the fumes myself. I figure the wifes reaction would kill me way before the fumes would.


Ahhh, so which one of us is Married??? :D:D

Actually in fairness to my ex, she used to let me fill the dishwasher with machined aluminum motorcycle parts to clean them before sending them off to the anodizer.:eek: Still great friends.

[Dave Johnson29]

Do other people get pure white? In one pass?


Hi Dee,

I use an acrylic cutting setting but about 80% speed and get a clean bright white in a single pass. I'd suggest you just power into it. You will not cut the aluminum. Maybe try out on in some cheap anodized stuff. Dollar Tree have small anodized aluminum flashlights that make cheap practice beds. I just bought 10 of them to mess with settings.

What you are doing is boiling off the trapped color (water and die) in the Aluminum Hydrate. During the anodizing process, after coloring, it is soaked in boiling water for about 10+ minutes. This traps the color in the minuscule tubes of the Aluminum Hydrate and then the boiling water closes the ends of the tubes trapping the color inside. You need to pour in the power to boil the color hard enough to burst open the tiny tubes in the Hydrate coating.

[James A. Wolfe]

Dee,
I've done a few lids and none ever became totally white. I think the etching/coating process embeds the color into the pores of the aluminum surface. That being said, the results are quite good using higher power and lower speed but I run them twice and seem to get a better result.
Jim

[Dee Gallo]

Thanks James, I should have asked around before starting - but it's easy to do another pass, so I eventually got nice clean results. The anodized settings were wrong, the opposite of what I needed. Kind of like marble/granite.

Livin' and learnin' on the Creek, dee

[Bill Cunningham]

Ahhh, so which one of us is Married??? :D:D

Actually in fairness to my ex, she used to let me fill the dishwasher with machined aluminum motorcycle parts to clean them before sending them off to the anodizer.:eek: Still great friends.

Lucky guy!! Mine 'still' does not know her dishwasher is the greatest thing for removing cosmoline from old rifle stocks, and it even raises most of the wood dents..:rolleyes: