Laser engraver for anodized aluminum

[martin_05]

I've seen a few recommendation threads dating back about a year but no recommendations. Let's see what happens here...

First: What kind of power and type of laser is required to engrave letters and graphics on anodized aluminum? Black in my case.

I have a bunch (about 1000) parts I need to engrave with text next to holes of fittings and connectors. I don't really want to put my VF2 to work doing this. For one thing, my spindle is only 8100 RPM and it would not go very fast.

I am considering the idea of buying a reasonably-priced laser engraver to do this job. What's reasonably priced? Not sure. Around $1,000 would be nice.

In case the question comes-up, no, I don't think I can send this out for engraving. It would likely take too long and cost too much. And then I have no tool/process for next time.

Thoughts? Ideas?

 

[Nerdlinger]

I don’t think you’re going to find a laser marker for $1,000 but maybe I’m wrong. There were some Chinese ones at IMTS for around $10,000. We mark some of our anodized parts in the blink of an eye so outsourcing shouldn’t be expensive. Good luck!

 

[LOTT]

We have one of the ubiquitous 50 watt fiber lasers, paid about $5k for it. Works good on anodized aluminum and stainless.

It will pay for itself on that first 1,000 part run, not to mention hassle and delay of sending things out.

 

[martin_05]

I don’t think you’re going to find a laser marker for $1,000 but maybe I’m wrong. There were some Chinese ones at IMTS for around $10,000. We mark some of our anodized parts in the blink of an eye so outsourcing shouldn’t be expensive. Good luck!

I am looking at this one:

xTool D1 - Higher Accuracy DIY Laser Engraving & Cutting machine

www.xtool.com

Good reviews. Not super fast or powerful. I don't really need fast or high power. All I need is some text to identify connectors, serial number, that kind of stuff. I can see investing on a real industrial laser machine later on. I kind of want to gain some experience with something like this before making a higher cost buying decision.

I have endmills that cost almost as much as this things. So, yeah, it could be worth an experiment. If it doesn't hold-up, I'm sure the kids will find stuff they can do with it.

Here's a guy running a test on this very machine:

Issues I can see for real industrial use:

• No fume management system
• No cover/protection
• No safety lockouts
• Not sure how the belt drive holds-up; judging from 3D printers, probably OK if it's quality parts
• Accuracy? Repeatability?
• Software?
• Probably other things I don't know about

 

[Nerdlinger]

Oof, you’re right! Go for it. Are your parts round or flat? The lasers on tracks like that are slower than the ones with the rotating mirror thingy BUT they have a much larger marking surface. Good luck!

 

[martin_05]

Flat. If I get the results this guy got on the video I am happy. I figured I can probably load 20 parts at a time on this machine and walk away. It will probably sit on a welding table with a 3/8 in steel top, so no concerns about accidentally burning anything.

What I will do is have some amber plexiglass cut to size to make a quick safety box around it. There's a guy selling one but wants nearly $600 for it. My plastics supplier should be able to get me the five pieces I need cut to size for a decent price and probably ship them with an order we just placed for thousands of pieces for another project at no additional cost.

 

[martin_05]

not to mention hassle and delay of sending things out.

And shipping isn't getting any cheaper. In the last month or so we spent about $25K in shipping that would have cost close to 1/10 of that in the past. It's just insane.

 

[crickets]

You should also consider K40 type CO2 machines. They will actually have more power than that diode laser, and will be enclosed. Work area is smaller though. Here is one example https://www.amazon.com/Engraver-Desktop-Engraving-Detachable-DF0812-40BG/dp/B07ZGHNMVT/, and they can be found for less in other places.

 

[martin_05]

I saw that. It's just too small. You'd have to sit there loading parts constantly. I looked at their larger machine but it jumps from $500 to $2,500. I don't have a problem spending this amount, it's just that I don't know what I don't know when it comes to laser engraving and machines in general. I think I'll go for the xTool D1, use it, learn a bit and then buy a suitably sized machine in the less than $5,000 category. It looks like that's the right amount for an entry level machine that could be consider industrial grade.

 

[crickets]

The main thing for you to know is that neither D1 (10W diode laser) or a CO2 machine like K40 (40W) can actually engrave metals. When engraving anodized the dye is being burned out exposing bare aluminum, and that's about it. On other metals the only thing that you will be able to do with these machines is CerMarking, which basically selectively bakes on a special paint-like stuff. If you really need to engrave metals though, the only real option is going with Fiber laser engravers, but the price of those is significant even for the machines with small work area and little power.

 

[martin_05]

The main thing for you to know is that neither D1 (10W diode laser) or a CO2 machine like K40 (40W) can actually engrave metals. When engraving anodized the dye is being burned out exposing bare aluminum, and that's about it. On other metals the only thing that you will be able to do with these machines is CerMarking, which basically selectively bakes on a special paint-like stuff. If you really need to engrave metals though, the only real option is going with Fiber laser engravers, but the price of those is significant even for the machines with small work area and little power.

Thanks. That's useful information. I pretty much realized that the lower power machines just burned off the dye. That's just fine for what I have to do now. I can see exactly why real machines get up there in price.

 

[crickets]

Thanks. That's useful information. I pretty much realized that the lower power machines just burned off the dye. That's just fine for what I have to do now. I can see exactly why real machines get up there in price.

It's actually not just the power, but also the matter of laser frequency and the spot size. Fiber lasers can focus the energy to a much tighter spot, so power per area can be greater compared to a CO2 laser. Also different materials absorb different frequencies at different rates - metals have a lot of reflectivity, so effectively a lot of power can be wasted.

 

[doug925]

I've seen a few recommendation threads dating back about a year but no recommendations. Let's see what happens here...

First: What kind of power and type of laser is required to engrave letters and graphics on anodized aluminum? Black in my case.

I have a bunch (about 1000) parts I need to engrave with text next to holes of fittings and connectors. I don't really want to put my VF2 to work doing this. For one thing, my spindle is only 8100 RPM and it would not go very fast.

I am considering the idea of buying a reasonably-priced laser engraver to do this job. What's reasonably priced? Not sure. Around $1,000 would be nice.

In case the question comes-up, no, I don't think I can send this out for engraving. It would likely take too long and cost too much. And then I have no tool/process for next time.

Thoughts? Ideas?

20W minimum, but 50 would be better.
I spent $17K for the 30W, FM station, with 4th axis.

Currently this is almost $9k.

FM-D Desktop Fiber Laser Marking Machine

Upgrade your laser power with Boss Laser's FM Desktop. Enhance precision and efficiency in your cutting and engraving projects.

www.bosslaser.com

I would be wary of $1K lasers, if there are any.

Doug

 

[martin_05]

20W minimum, but 50 would be better.
I spent $17K for the 30W, FM station, with 4th axis.

Currently this is almost $9k.

FM-D Desktop Fiber Laser Marking Machine

Upgrade your laser power with Boss Laser's FM Desktop. Enhance precision and efficiency in your cutting and engraving projects.

www.bosslaser.com

I would be wary of $1K lasers, if there are any.

Doug

Wow, these guys have some nice machines. Thanks for the recommendation. Pricing on your machine isn't bad at all.

 

[doug925]

Martin,

It seems that everybody and their brother sell the same laser as Boss. It is a standard China manufactured laser.
The best advise I can offer is get a decent laser programming package. The EZCam2 laser software is restrictive without Photoshop, or other software.

For part numbers, PO#'s, etc, it is awesome! What used to take 2 minutes of spindle time on a cnc mill, now takes 5 seconds!

Doug

 

[MaxPrairie]

My brother knows a lot more about the laser than I do, but he said we needed a fiber laser when we bought ours. We mark aluminum before and after ano depending on the color and needs. Also will mark steel before nickel in certain situations. There are a lot of settings to get the proper depth and speed you are looking for. Again not the expert, but have gotten great results with our laser. I think we spent about 6k on it.

 

[AARONT]

We picked up an Epilog Fibermark 24 with a 30w laser 4 or 5 years ago. It was spendy(about $30k), but it does everything we could ask for and is very fast.

 

[Mike Henry]

Lightburn is about to release a version of their laser software for the fiber/galvo lasers that normally use EZCAD, which should be a nice upgrade for those that use that software.