Engraving ON a baseball

[Luann Brainard]

Has anyone ever engraved ON a regulation baseball? I plan on getting one to practice on, but if anyone has any expiriences they'd like to share, I'd appreciate it!
Thanks, Luann

[Mike Null]

Luann

The leather on a baseball is very thin so be careful on the power.

Welcome to SMC!

[Chuck Stone]

sure.. just don't go engraving Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle..

[Bill Overturf]

Make sure they are real leather. Regulation Baseball stamped on the side just means it is the correct size and weight. Even ones that say official MLB on them are not always the real deal. When we first got our laser we had a customer bring in some baseballs that said the were Official MLB and they were a plasic pleather type wrap. I tried engraving one and stunk up the whole shop told the customer no way. Now I have done a few for the Kansas City Royals and they come out nice everytime

[Gary Hair]

Same advice I gave someone else regarding engraving a Kindle - start with high speed and low power and increase power as necessary. Leather engraves really well, the few baseballs I have engraved turned out nice.

Gary

[Luann Brainard]

Thanks for the info. Could you give me a starting point for settings? I have a 60 watt Epilog. These are for a semi-pro local team, so I hope they are real leather.
Thanks a lot! Luann

[Albert Nix]

The only baseballs that I had any luck with were synthetic. The real leather ones that I tried did not show enough contrast. I would try several different ones. I don't think no two brands engrave the same.

[Gary Hair]

Start with 100% speed and 5% power. I would run it slightly out of focus, maybe .03 up or down from focus. If that doesn't mark then increase the power 5% and try again, lather, rinse and repeat as needed... It may turn out that you need low speed and low power to get a good mark, I have had good luck with twice the power as speed - 10% speed with 20% power, for example. Use one ball for testing and see what works.

Gary