Raised gold lettering

[James Carpenter]

Imagine an 8x10 plaque with a round circle engraved, inside the round circle there is raised lettering)objects that are gold at the top of the letters/objects. How would this be done. If the gold was in the bottom that would be easy by taping off the plaque and then engraving - followed up by gold paint prior to removing the tape. Any ideas about getting the gold paint on top of the letters?

[Bruce Page]

James, it could be carefully applied gold leaf. It is an amazing art.

[James Carpenter]

Yes, I've used gold leaf when i used to build models. Actually i am asking this question for a friend who has a laser (without going into the long story - they are very inexperienced). They have alot of these to do and they will have to send them out to be done if they can't figure out how to do it. They have an 80K laser so i'm sure the engraving is not a problem its just that gold lettering that tends to be a problem.

[Keith Outten]

James,

Two techniques come to mind for your gold lettering project.

The first involves using a masking material. Mask the top of the plaque, engrave the letters only then spray gold paint. Remove the mask and install a new mask and engrave the portion that is to be sub-surface.

The second technique invloves using a gold inlay material. Engrave the whole plaque as required. Edit the drawing to just cut out the lettering and cut from a thin gold plastic material. Glue the gold lettering to the raised portion of the plaque which should be a perfect fit. This is like doing a standard inlay but for a raised area instead of sub-surface.

Hope this helps.

[James Carpenter]

Keith,
I suspected the first of the two techniques was the way it was done. The example that i looked at had the letters rougher than the plaque, leading me to believe that it had been engraved ever so slightly. Question though, what is the purpose of the second masking? To not char the gold paint? Thanks.

[Keith Outten]

Jame,

The second mask will protect the letters that are painted gold. Using a very slow speed and high power setting will allow you to engrave around the gold lettering, thus giving you a lower surface level.

You could just engrave the surface and hand paint or blot the gold surfaces after engraving if the detail isn't too complex.

Keith,
I suspected the first of the two techniques was the way it was done. The example that i looked at had the letters rougher than the plaque, leading me to believe that it had been engraved ever so slightly. Question though, what is the purpose of the second masking? To not char the gold paint? Thanks.

[Robert Hensley]

In the awards industry, the gold look is achieved by using a gold vinyl (from the vinyl sign industry). It is sign vinyl material that is placed on the plaque, and using your laser's vector mode to cut out the image. If you are rastering very deep around the letters, it is a good idea to put a protective layer or masking over the vinyl so that it won't burn.

There many varieties of gold vinyl - shiny, dull, etc.

One technique of applying the vinyl to the wood is to remove the protective coating of the vinyl to expose the adhesive side and spray with a solution of water and soap (1 qt water to one tblespoon palomive or such). The allows you to remove the excess after you have lasered it, and it helps keep the bubbles out.

It wears well on a plaque on the wall, but if it were a box or other product that was handled often, not sure it would stand the wear. I have never tried to use a protective coating over it.

Robert