Metal Laser Engraving
Recently a 50W fiber laser was added to the tooling here in the shop to expand the types of offerings available for cosplay and much, much more.
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| 50W JPT Fiber Laser |
The workspace is crammed with projects and materials, but, that's the way it goes. The fiber laser brings a whole new set of capabilities to the table when it comes to working with metal, capabilities that are not available with the more inexpensive CO2 and diode lasers that are becoming more an more prevalent in the maker space.
Stainless Steel, Cupronickel, Titanium, Bronze, Brass and Aluminum are all easily engraved using this machine. Deep engraves, as much as .5mm are easily attainable. The resolution that the laser operates at is far superior to standard gantry type lasers where the head moves across the work piece. With the fiber laser the head does not actually move, as set of mirrors called galvos aim the beam where it is needed at speeds up to 4,000mm/sec with resolutions as fine as .001mm.
Having this capability allows for the marking of metals without the aid of Ceramark or other spray on materials that are only bonded to the surface of the metal. With stainless in particular there is the ability to anneal the surface of the metal and produce black or colored marks in an oxide layer that is chemically bonded with the metal and are very difficult, if not close to impossible to wear away with normal use. The stainless steel dogtags sold in the Etsy Shop are a perfect example of this marking technique.
