Laser engraving on Black Nickel that doesn't have a brass color. Is it possible?

[emlclcy]

have you tried a 1064nm fibre marking laser?
I've got one for sale if you're interested
cheers
carl

 

[ghostreporting]

have you tried a 1064nm fibre marking laser?
I've got one for sale if you're interested
cheers
carl

Hi Carl and thanks for your reply,
We are definitely going to examine other types of laser markers. Why do you think 1064nm would work? Would it go past the copper plate or would it engrave shallow enough not to go all the way through the black nickel plating?

 

[emlclcy]

it is designed to mark all metals, the size on a milling cutter for example. the slower you run it the deeper it engraved but does not cuts as its 10 watts. amazing job on brass with a 40µm cut

 

[ghostreporting]

it is designed to mark all metals, the size on a milling cutter for example. the slower you run it the deeper it engraved but does not cuts as its 10 watts. amazing job on brass with a 40µm cut

Sounds hopeful! Thanks, emlclcy. I'll see if my manufacturer can get his hands on one.
Carl, sorry but I don't intend to invest on manufacturing equipment at this point. It's a self-funded startup so, money's quite tight for the moment.

 

[emlclcy]

if you have a sample I'd be happy to try at different setting
I have two of these laser so will be keeping one for home use and small runs
you can contact me on [email protected]

 

[ghostreporting]

Al sorts of suggestions here. Well, maybe try the old-school mechanical engraving if you can find a spot flat enough. Places that make trophies and plaques should have a mechanical engraver.

I doubt there's enough depth with laser-engraving to backfill the "engraved" area with a light-colored paint (plus this is a PITA, and a lot of labor).

I would not even consider additional chemical sort of processing (resits, etching, etc) to facilitate a logo; that would just drive up the cost on your type of product. I had a business for a long time where we did military science projects making 3-dimensional circuits on all sorts of substrates. We used an electrophoretic (platable) photoresist applied onto the 3-D substrate, along with a special 3-d lithography tool, developing etching etc. Lots of steps and chemicals.

Yes. My hopes are placed on laser engraving rather than a chemical process. Either that or underplating with nickel instead of copper.

 

[ghostreporting]

if you have a sample I'd be happy to try at different setting
I have two of these laser so will be keeping one for home use and small runs
you can contact me on [email protected]

Thank you very much, Carl. I'll let you know if I decide to do that.

Do you think that engraving with the same engraver we used, but before applying the protective lacquer (which adds to thickness) this time, would make sense or not?

 

[ghostreporting]

Hi guys,
Just wanted to post an update regarding the solution. We faced a lot of problems and after trying 3 different types of laser engraver, we couldn't do a clean and crisp engraving.

So, what we did is added the logo to the mold and it will be embossed on the carabiner when casted.

Thank you all for the time you took answering my questions.

Best,
Panos