Alumamark Help

[Mark Powell]

Hello all,

I have been experimenting with Alumamark (Satin Silver) but not very successfully. I am using an Epilog 35W and running at 30% power & 100% speed with a DPI of 600. The end result is very inconsistant in the colour of the lettering and if viewed from an angle the lettering fades out.
I have tried various combinations of power and speed but can not achieve any consistancy

I drew a rectangle 20mm x 50mm in Corel and filled it with solid black. The job was sent as raster only at 15% power and 100% speed and I then manually adjusted the speed untill I achieved what I thought to be the optimum result.
However once I returned to the lettering I require the same problem occurs.

HELP needed please

Regards from down under

Mark

[Ian Spence]

Hi Mark

I have some samples of alumamark here but I have not had a chance to play with them yet. But I was told to use the same settings you would for non-metalic rowmark material and lie about the thinkness by about 0.050" so that the laser is out of focus.
Let us know how you make out.
Ian

[James Stokes]

I allso have a 35 watt laser, I run alumnamark at 100% power and about 5 inches per second. I have found you have to really put the power to it.

[Keith Outten]

Mark,

I did a test strip using various speed and power settings with AlumaMark. With my 35 watt machine the best settings are 50% speed and 20% power. For my machine these settings will provide the best contrast and range of engraving.

[Jeff DeVore]

Hi Keith,
Are these settings with your power problem fixed?

[Keith Outten]

Hi Keith,
Are these settings with your power problem fixed?

Jeff,

Yes, these are the settings I have been using for about two years. The power problems I have been having for just the last month.

[Roy Brewer]

>>The job was sent as raster only at 15% power and 100% speed and I then manually adjusted the speed untill I achieved what I thought to be the optimum result.
However once I returned to the lettering I require the same problem occurs.<<

Mark,

Everyone seems to agree that the newer Alumamark is more consistent, but I likewise often have difficulty with a new shipment.

From my experience, Alumamark is so sensitive to the laser that the same model and wattage will often require different settings on two "identical" machines. However, my best results have come with much less speed.

I think the last time I went through this, I wound up with something like a speed of 30% and power of 17%; and a couple percentage points really made a difference either way.

HTH,

[Mark Powell]

Thanks everyone for the input.

Keith - I tried the settings you suggested and ran the word "TEXT" and it worked beautifully. I then sent my job to the laser feeling extremely confident and supprise supprise the same inconsistant result once again.
In a product flyer that came with my order it states that if parts of the material is under lasered you can send a second pass with slightly higher power and the existing optimal parts of the job will be unaffected. My experience says otherwise. When I sent a second pass the black lettering became charcoal in appearance indicating an overpowered result.

Roy - I will try your sugested settings tonight and post results tomorrow.
If this material is as temperamental as it apears I will think twice about its use

Still trying

Mark

[Joe Hayes]

Mark -
My results have been similar to yours - I started over 2 years ago working with
Alumamark - The power settings to get good results seem quite tight. I have
never been completely satisfied with the results. It seems as you lasering down a plaque it may change color. The part that really makes me mad is that
I have seen some samples at the trade show that look excellent - so somebody
has it figured out.
I have talked to the Horizon folks both at shows and on the phone - they are
very nice but just say that I need to adjust my setting more. I have come to
a conclusion that it may not be worth my time. Let us know if you figure it out.

Joe

[Mark Powell]

Hello all,

I have continued with the experimenting on this material and found the following:
My optimum results are achieved at 30% speed 13% power and 1200 DPI.
however I am able to achieve more consistant results on the satin gold V's the satin silver. When working on the Gold I am able to run at 600 DPI with the same settings.
On thing I ended up doing was spraying the back of the sheet with low tack adheisive and sticking it down to my laser table to maintain a flat surface as the sheets seem to distort during the lasering process.
All in all my opinion is this is difficult material to work with and I would be extremely wary when pricing a job using this product.

See Ya Later from the land Downunder

Mark

[Keith Outten]

Mark,

Almost 3 years ago I was engraving AlumaMark and it wasn't as difficult to work with. Last year the company made major changes to the product and I now feel the same as you do, it has become to difficult to work with which is a shame. Recently I had to switch to Romark Flexi Brass on a project that I would have used AlumaMark in the past.

[Chuck Stone]

Sam... you do know you're re-opening a 7 year old thread, right?

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

Sam... you do know you're re-opening a 7 year old thread, right?

With 7 different posts on old AlumaMark threads in just a matter of minutes of each other, this appears to be advertising...

[Dan Hintz]

With 7 different posts on old AlumaMark threads in just a matter of minutes of each other, this appears to be advertising...

He has bumped multiple posts and added links to Horizon... you make the call.