Laser Engraver for Metal?

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TORQUIN

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Posting here because I did not see a forum that seems to apply to this situation. I am thinking I'd like to have a laser engraver to mark drills, and mills, pin gauges, tools I make, etc. Some with very small print, smaller than I could do with my diamond tipped, hand held engraver.
I'd like to know if anyone here has experience with a solution for this and what recommendations they could provide. I'd like to learn the possibilities and requirements for this, like what is required to engrave tool steel.
The idea I have in my head is some king of small CNC unit where I would put my drills/endmills in a V-lock and the engraver would be able to put the size info on them. For instance, I'd like to put the size just above the flutes since I don't normally chuck there and it wouldn't get rubbed off, plus I am thinking the laser engraving should not rub off easily. I could be very wrong on this, and that's why I'm asking. In some cases I grind a special tool bit for a particular job and would like to mark it so I know what the tool bit is for so I don't regrind it for something else.
In my preliminary research on this it seems that metal engraving with a laser is not nearly as common as for softer materials.

Thanks,
Chris
 
Rather than going the laser route a home-built etching setup is pretty easy to do. Do a search for “DIY metal etching” and you’ll find quite a few sites.

Of course if you already happen to have a laser setup then I could see why you may want to use that.

-frank
 
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A laser capable of directly etching metal will be quite expensive. Optical power required will be greater than 20 watts and a fiber optic laser probably the best choice. The power required has to be great enough to vaporize the metal and the laser power is competing with thermal conduction of heat away from the burn area.
I worked through a procedure using a 2.5 watt blue diode laser for burning away resist and then using a simple electrolytic etching process .
www.hobby-machinist.com

Etching Steel Using a 2.5 watt Diode Laser

I recently purchased five pairs of 1-2-3 blocks. My intention was to use them for setups when machining. They arrived last week and on first inspection, actually looked reasonably good. I want to do more thorough metrology but thought that I should serialize them first. A carbide scribe could...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com
 
They do make both spindles and lasers to mount on a 3D printer. The question would if these would have enough ooomph to put a mark in your tool steel.
 
RandyWilson said:
They do make both spindles and lasers to mount on a 3D printer. The question would if these would have enough ooomph to put a mark in your tool steel.
Click to expand...
All that I have seen use diode lasers. If you look at the specs of the typical laser diode they usually state not for engraving metal. 50 watts output is commonly recommended for engraving.

It would be possible to mark a piece of steel with a lower power laser by coating the part with laser printer toner and fusing the coating with the laser, much like the laser printer process. Printer toner is magnetic and will stick to a magnetized surface. The part would be dusted with toner and excess shaken off and then exposed to the laser. The path of the laser scan will determine the fused toner pattern. This method will leave printing which is proud of the part surface so probably not a good choice for something like a drill or end mill.
 
I looked into this for a while. There are people that claim their diodes can etch metal, they are either lying or claiming that etching the anodizing dye is the same. It is not. For diode and CO2, you can remove a coating, or add a coating in a pattern. To actually cut or etch into the metal itself, you need a decently powerful fiber laser. You can also remove a mask coating and etch or sandblast. There are some other types that can do it, but they are more rare and expensive. The cheapest I've seen metal etching fiber lasers is about $5k imported direct from China. Even those don't cut very deep.

Another option is a diamond drag bit in a CNC. They cut in a little and can make decent marking in the metal. I'm not sure if the little motors used in 3D printers could do it, I've never used a drag bit, so I'm not sure how much force is involved. My guess is that the belt drive used in printers would likely skip with enough pressure to get a good cut.
 
RJSakowski said:
A laser capable of directly etching metal will be quite expensive. Optical power required will be greater than 20 watts and a fiber optic laser probably the best choice. The power required has to be great enough to vaporize the metal and the laser power is competing with thermal conduction of heat away from the burn area.
I worked through a procedure using a 2.5 watt blue diode laser for burning away resist and then using a simple electrolytic etching process .
www.hobby-machinist.com

Etching Steel Using a 2.5 watt Diode Laser

I recently purchased five pairs of 1-2-3 blocks. My intention was to use them for setups when machining. They arrived last week and on first inspection, actually looked reasonably good. I want to do more thorough metrology but thought that I should serialize them first. A carbide scribe could...
www.hobby-machinist.com www.hobby-machinist.com
Click to expand...
Have to agree with RJ Paint on some resist and then use the laser to burn off the resist where you want the etched marking to be, You can then either use an electrical etch process or chemical etch process to actually etch into the tool. This will make easy to read permanent markings. and not require a big bux laser system.

The other option is to engrave using a solid carbide engraving bit on a CNC mill.
 
I've seen plenty of laser engravers in the 15-20 watt range (CO2, 9-12um, IIRC) that can do deep etching in brass and aluminum. I don't know about steel, but these are the same tubes used in laser welders.

If anyone wants to make one of those at home, be sure to build an enclosure that contains all scattering light. Laser safety is no joke. You don't want to DIY your own laser eye surgery. Also think of fume evacuation, everything that vaporizes under a laser ends up in the air for you to breathe.
 
Here is some info on metals. The ULS lasers start at $15k and go up, up, up from there.

Metals - Laser Engraving & Marking Metals | ULS

Metals can be pure elements, such as iron or chrome, alloys, or mixtures of two or more elements. ULS provides ideal laser cutting, marking, and engraving machines for metals.
www.ulsinc.com www.ulsinc.com
 
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