Laser Cutter/Engraver

[Susquatch]

Do the photos load for anyone?

They load for me just fine John. If it's still a problem, I can reload them as thumbnails for you. In my experience, thumbnails always work.

 

[Mike R]

Same as John, I see the thumbnails, and the 1st pic opens up larger but the other three do not. Opening in a new window shows them.

 

[Janger]

If I right click and open in new tab I get a little bit of the top of the picture. See attached. @Susquatch if you did the reload of thumb nails I would appreciate it.

 

[Susquatch]

If I right click and open in new tab I get a little bit of the top of the picture. See attached. @Susquatch if you did the reload of thumb nails I would appreciate it.

Give me a little bit of time to see what I can do.

 

[Susquatch]

@Susquatch if you did the reload of thumb nails I would appreciate it.

I think I can only save the first and last photos. But the others were mostly (entirely) duplicates anyway. I'm not sure how @Chris Cramer inserted them.

Chris - can you advise?

 

[Chris Cramer]

Even I have the same issues despite the fact that I posted it. I'll try repairing posting.

 

[Chris Cramer]

 

[Susquatch]

Even I have the same issues despite the fact that I posted it. I'll try repairing posting.

My advice is to always choose thumbnail, not full image. I think the image compression add-on that the server guys installed tries to use a compressed image format that isn't compatible with many browsers. So far as I know, thumbnails always works.

What's the difference between the first two images?

 

[Chris Cramer]

What's the difference between the first two images

I gave a description of the difference in the settings on the engraver between the engravings in the first two images. The second one is slightly lighter because it traveled at a speed of 2000mm/s instead of100mm/s both at full power and a frequency of 20khz.

 

[Susquatch]

I gave a description of the difference in the settings on the engraver between the engravings in the first two images. The second one is slightly lighter because it traveled at a speed of 2000mm/s instead of100mm/s both at full power and a frequency of 20khz.

Thank you.

I missed that nuance cuz I was focussed on fixing the post.

 

[Janger]

@Chris Cramer @1018Machine and anyone else with a laser... @David ?

Below is a stainless ruler from Incra. The ruler has slots and holes for a small diameter marker/pencil and helps make precisely positioned marks on your work. I think it is probably laser cut with laser etched lettering/marking with a paint layer pushed into laser etched grooves. I am curious what is required to make this and I have a derivative idea I want to try.

The ruler is 0.25mm (0.01") thick, and 150mm by 50mm in size. @1018Machine can your 30W Galvo cut these slots? What about Etch the rules/letters/numbers for paint? Perhaps even mark the lines/letters? How many passes how long would those operations take to make something like this ruler? @Chris Cramer are any of these ops possible with your xtool F1?

The lettering in the photos looks like it is a boss but this is an illusion. It is engraved as you can feel a scriber fall into the lettering.

 

[Chris Cramer]

Yeah I'm thinking it would be laser engraved. I have a stainless ruler and the marks and numbers look just like an engraving from both my Diode laser and my fiber laser. I've had in mind to make some stainless measuring tools myself like a protractor, and a longer ruler or square by cutting them with my plasma table, and marking them with my laser.

 

[1018Machine]

The pic on the bottom could be laser engraved but more likely chemical etched if massed produced. That said, yes my 30w galvo would deep engrave stainless like that in about 3 passes without issue. I deep engraved stainless to .02" deep often, especially for watch parts.

 

[Chris Cramer]

This is a custom stainless steel coaster that I designed for Wilco landscape and construction. The coaster was first cut out with my plasma table, and then later laser engraved with my fiber laser engraver. It took longer than expected to get sufficient depth in order to make the parts of the logo and the text stand out from each other with different layers.

 

[Chris Cramer]

I Decided to try nonfocused color engraving with my fiber laser on some stainless steel. After doing a 20x20 material test array between frequency and power there were a lot of colors that showed up. The material test labels every row and column with the power and frequency used, which makes it fairly easy to design a color engraving with specific colors. The most difficult part is finding the exact distance from the focal point that the laser head has to be at, down to a fraction of a millimeter to get the same results as the test grid.

 

[Chris Cramer]

 

[whydontu]

Slick. Digitally-controlled heat tint.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

That's pretty cool. Some of the custom golf putter guys are doing some neat things with lasers and tempering colours. I question the durability of the colour on certain things, like frequently handled ball markers and divot tools, but they're making a killing selling this stuff.

 

[1018Machine]

That's pretty cool. Some of the custom golf putter guys are doing some neat things with lasers and tempering colours. I question the durability of the colour on certain things, like frequently handled ball markers and divot tools, but they're making a killing selling this stuff.

Agreed! from I hear from friends with MOPA lasers it's ok for the first while but any amount of handing acts like a polishing effect wearing the oxide layer off.

 

[Chris Cramer]

I hear from friends with MOPA lasers it's ok for the first while but any amount of handing acts like a polishing effect wearing the oxide layer off.

I figured that before engraving the coaster. I made sure to polish the entire coaster before engraving because polishing would remove the oxide. Now I'm not sure how much regular wear the oxide can take only by use or by water based cleaning. If it can't take anything I'll need to aply a finish like lacquer.