Chemical Exosure and CerMark

[Liesl Dexheimer]

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]

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]

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]

And since stainless, could do anneal to darken.....
just say'n

[Kev Williams]

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]

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]

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!