laser engraved and cut angle scale

[al ladd]

I'm looking to have an arc shaped engraved angle scale made from thin metal. It needs etched markings about 1/16" apart, and the whole scale is about 12" long, 1.25" wide. Where should I be looking to have these made? I'd love to have a sharp appealing look in these, torn between black lines on stainless, or a more flashy look with colored aluminum. What kind of laser would be required to make these? (Not really interested in buying a laser now, but it would be helpful to know what to look for in a potential producer for me). What kind of quantity would I need to have made to get these affordable? Any way to make these with bicolored marks, like the below Jpeg?

I can have these made very inexpensively by printing on tear proof "paper", and they'd work wonderfully for my product, but I'm concerned about length dimension stability over time. Anyone know if this is a valid concern? The scales will be glued into a shallow recess in a sheet good (probably something like baltic birch plywood). But I think a metal scale would be an enticement to potential buyers , so I'm interested in knowing how much more than the printing option metal scales would cost me.

Anyone here interested in making a prototype and quoting on 100-500 pieces?
Thanks!angle scale jpeg.jpg

[Kev Williams]

I'd just go the tear-proof paper route myself. Seen a lot of neat items like this over the years, but a common denominator I've found when dealing with buyers is: When it comes down to getting a customer to part with his/her money for an item they like, If there are 2 versions of the item, the vast majority of buyers opt for the cheaper one. And in this case, a bonus is the fact the cheaper one can be had in full color...

This scale of yours, being recessed into a pocket, have you considered the idea of filling pocket and covering the scale with clear 50/50 epoxy? Or you could make a mold where you simply mold your own clear plastic, full-color scales. Or you could have someone like me just laser-cut clear plex 'covers' to fit the scale and the pocket, where you'd set in the printed scale in place and the plex could be fastened over it with brass brads, or screws, or all glued in place with clear epoxy...

My thought about a metal scale, would be to have a sheet metal shop laser cut a few hundred of them out of 22 gauge 304 stainless, then find a shop to UV print the markings on the scales, in color.

I could make a sample scale easy enough out of some scrap .040 thick glossy 2-sided black I have around here, but the time involved by my methods-- cutting the scale on my IS7000 machine, then hitting it with a fiber laser-- would result in a nice, monochrome scale that would likely cost too much in the long run...

[al ladd]

Great suggestions Kev---I hadn't considered covering the paper with clear plastic. I think that would look great--though it would introduce a little parallax. I guess cover could be very thin.

I've got a few inquiries out to laser cutters. I'm surprised no one here has ventured a quote. The one I've received so far for color UV printing on stainless was $6/each for 100, $4 each for 500, which is within the realm of consideration ---if I get a good response to the product!

How would "Or you could make a mold where you simply mold your own clear plastic, full-color scales." work?
Thanks!

[Glen Monaghan]

If I were doing it, I'd do it with my UV printer but, since you say you want to embed it in a sheet substrate, I'd probably just print directly onto that substrate and avoid the need/time/expense of making the pocket, procuring a metal/acrylic/other shape for the scale, printing or lasering the scale, and gluing it in place. All around quicker, easier, less expensive.

[Kev Williams]

How would "Or you could make a mold where you simply mold your own clear plastic, full-color scales." work?
Thanks!

Exactly like inserting a printed scale into the pocket of a finished product and pouring epoxy over it-- except for your 'finished product' needs to be a mold, identical in size to the actual product- you could have a 5-piece - or 6, or 10 piece- mold made relatively easy enough, and make several scales at a them, and just and keep them in stock... then you can glue them in place in the finished product's pocket at your convenience. Would work great for trade shows--

They wouldn't need to be very thick, somewhere between .040" and .060" (~1-1.5mm) thick should be sufficient, I doubt there'd be much if any visual aberrations to worry about...

[al ladd]

Wow, that sounds interesting...would never have thought of it!

[John Lifer]

The main issue if you tried to mold out of epoxy is that it shrinks. And really isn't that sturdy of an item. It would be ok for a few, but shipping them would be looking for breakage of the majority. Epoxy to fill a section of a more acceptable item would be ok. But I'd probably just laser a really thin section of acrylic rather than use epoxy. BTW, epoxy is expensive, takes time to cure, messy, and how are you going to keep paper down. I guess put some tape on back. Another expense. And most epoxy will yellow over time when exposed to UV.
I'd find a shop that specialized in laser cut items and go that route UV print on top.

[Cary Falk]

What about laser engraving white Formica? You would get the black marks but unfortunately not the red.

[Kev Williams]

According to Fiberglass Warehouse.com, epoxy resin doesn't shrink much, is quite strong and adheres well...
epoxy resin.jpg
And even if the epoxy shrinks back a bit itself, the paper scale won't - And since the scale is going to be glued into the bottom of a pocket, strength shouldn't be an issue...

I'm just thinking of easy to make, cheap parts until they (hopefully) need to be mass produced if sales take off

[Bill George]

One other thing to consider is UV cured plastic Resin, I have a large bottle setting near my desk and intend to use it someday and it even has color dye available. I have used the UV glue and its wonderful.... if you can get the light on it! I have a powerful UV flashlight to use for curing.