Full Version: Tips and ideas for lasering - as promised
From: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD) [#1]
14 Jul 2005
To: ALL
Hiya all , I have sort of finished my article/treatise whatever and here it is , feel free to ad your ideas or ask for more specifics on anything.
Its VERY long - bear in mind it will be truncated here so view the whole message
1) Cut rubber foams or engrave them for box inserts , mount to wood for decorator type wall and fabric stamps (paint applied with a roller to cut shapes)
A lot of co's produce instruments or tools and pack them in a case , the foams are cut to shape around the instrument which secures them in place - apart from which , cutting rubber foam with a die distorts it , a laser doesn't. Examples would be thin foam inserts for shoes , gaskets for an air cleaner and so forth. There is a huge demand for decorating type stamps , the images are generally hand cut , stuff like animals , letters etc. The laser will not only cut the foam but will deep engrave it with exceptional detail , the foams are adhered to flat wood blocks which act as a handle and then paint is applied with a roller , stamped on fabrics , walls and so forth. You use 10mm foams (available from most rubber supply houses) and can engrave them easily 5mm deep. Try various foams in respect of density - DO NOT use the harder rubbers sheets , very difficult to cut.
2) Engrave High temperature silicon foiling material for hot foiling dies
This is a high temp rubber bonded to an aluminium plate , engraved the same way you do stamps. The rubber can take a huge amount of heat , this is put on a machine that heats the die and passes a ribbon of heat sensitive foil under the die , the hot die "melts" the foil into the object where the letters stand out , used for printing metallics or colours onto various items like clothes hangers , pens , card and papers etc. Much like a stamp except you use foils for the ink. This is a VERY cheap way of printing large quantities of items. The Silicon is used for items that don't have dead flat surfaces as it does have some "squish". Its a form of hot stamping die. The downside is the price of the material (I think laserbits has it) and the fact that the dies are far shorter lived than magnesium , brass or steel dies (you can do metal dies using the etching method described later)
3) Apply mylar vinyl (the shiny gold or silver - no need to use expensive "laser" vinyl) to metal , laser away the vinyl and then dunk the plate in a pyrex dish containing warm Ferric chloride which etches and chemically engraves the plate (use something like handy andy on a toothbrush to remove any glue residue before etching)
This is an EXTREMELY potent application , I have posted quite a bit on etching and exactly how to do it. This allows the laser to chemically engrave just about ANY metal and get precision you cant even hope to achieve with a rotary type engraver.
Look here : http://www.uksignboards.com/viewtopic.php?p=19658&highlight=etching#19658
Here are examples of etched plates
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/final%20wae%20pics/signage/brass%20plaques%20-%205967.jpg
4) Cut rubber masks for the monumental engraving industry (they use em as sand blast resists)
The self adhesive rubber is available from sign suppliers , it stops the sand used when blasting from impacting the stone and thus only the areas you peel away are blasted , the rubber is difficult to cut as its thick , but a laser can do far better than a knife or vinyl cutter in this regard, Gives a far deeper engraving than just lasering the marble or granite and its much smoother , applys to the glass thing below. You need NOT use rubber unless you are doing major depth blasting , you can use vinyls as well (laser friendly ones)
5) Use the mylar mask thing on glass as a blast resist and get into "sand carving"
Sand "carving" is selectively removing different parts of a mask and blasting , for example this was done in 2 stages , we removed the deeper bits first (the veins of the leaf) and blasted away and then removed the shallower bits and continued sand blasting the glass , the deeper bits got deeper and we ended up with a 3 D type image. it's not a great pic - but here it is
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/sandcarv1.jpg
This was only a 2 stage mask , you can use many stages to get almost true 3d - you have to work out the cuts you make , IE what to strip and when.
6)Use 1mm UHI acrylic (ultra high impact) for stuff that must be springy but not break , bookmarks , money clips , memo clips etc
UHI is a great for very thin acrylic that can be bent and springs back into shape without cracking as normal acrylic would , its cheap and its real tough and its laser friendly
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/final%20wae%20pics/promo/bookmark-6142.jpg
The part that bends on that bookmark would have snapped the first time it was used if it was either cast or extruded aluminium. Very good stuff to make helmet visors out of or to use in place of polycarbonate which is difficult to laser cut , it can take almost the same impact as polycarbonate would and the thicker stuff works well for vehicle security screens and so forth. Its a stack cheaper than polycarbonate too - available at most perspex sheeting supply houses.
7) Tap the fabric industry , seal cut synthetics (sealed edges) , cut backs and appliques for the embroidery trade , engrave logos onto denim jeans , track suit tops etc
Denim lasers fantastically , a lot of fabrics do and there is a huge market our there for custom graphics on jeans and jackets etc
http://www.tokerbros.co.za/new_page_23.htm , apart from which the laser works very well to both cut and WELD synthetic type materials. If you defocus the beam a
EDITED: 15 Jul 2005 by DGL
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#2]
14 Jul 2005
To: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD) [#1] 15 Jul 2005
If people can't take some of those ideas to the bank, there's no hope for them. :-)
Thank you for that extensive and incredibly information-packed post.
Awesome!
From: Dixie2 [#3]
15 Jul 2005
To: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD) [#1] 15 Jul 2005
WOW Rodney..
You know, another way you could make money...
Clone yourself, and let everyone on here buy one.. Or better yet, invent a brain sharing program..
I could use either one!!
Thanks!
Dixie
From: ram (MCTAWARDS) [#4]
18 Jun 2006
To: Dixie2 [#3] 19 Jun 2006
:-) The tips has been xlnt.
Really great stuff to share.
tnx a lot
regards,
ram
From: MR C (MOSHE) [#5]
16 Nov 2006
To: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD) [#1] 16 Nov 2006
I want to make somthing that looks and almost feels like bronze plaques mostly for indoors. I would need to make many different ones that would be up to 5" x 12" . They would need to be able to have letters a bit smaller than .5" The colour would be bronze and the background would be paint filled.
I am looking for a fast, cheap and clean way to do this.
I am afraid of the chemicals of the etching. Sandblasting seems safer.
I know that there are materials lik zinc, magnesium and Kabronze
Can you suggest what would be my best option.
From: Stunt Engraver (DGL) [#6]
16 Nov 2006
To: MR C (MOSHE) [#5] 20 Nov 2006
Mr. C,
I spoke to a person who was doing just what you're proposing (casting-like product) with Ikonmetal.
Says it cuts like butter with rotary engraving, sandblasting and laser.
At $100+ per sheet (12x24?) not cheap, but neither are actual castings.
EDITED: 16 Nov 2006 by DGL
From: Harvey only (HARVEY-ONLY) [#7]
16 Nov 2006
To: MR C (MOSHE) [#5] 20 Nov 2006
Zinc will oxidize and turn a powdery white, magnesium keep away from oxidizes fast and chips can catch fire easily and burn with a white hot intensity that will cause the same results as thermite.
Kabronze I am unfamiliar with.
From: ABH (BACHI) [#8]
16 Nov 2006
To: ALL
i got a sample of Ikonmetal and tried lasering it.
It required very high power with numerous passes to get a depth of about 1/32.
the only problem is that i am getting very little contrast.
are you supposed to paint fill the engraving to get a reasonable contrast.
Abdul
From: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD) [#9]
16 Nov 2006
To: ABH (BACHI) [#8] 17 Nov 2006
You could cast these using resin mixed with about 50% bronze powder , but would need a mould for each one , fairly easy to do with a laser tho.
You can also engrave acrylic and give it a faux bronze look with paints/inkls which will probably be the easiest.
There used to be an article on laserpro's USA site explaining EXACTLY how to do this , but it seems laserprousa.com no longer exists - google Faux bronze for some alternative "Recipes"
From: Dave Jones (DAVERJ) [#10]
17 Nov 2006
To: Rodney Gold (RODNEY_GOLD) [#9] 17 Nov 2006
They changed the website to http://www.laserproi.com
Here is their projects page:
http://www.laserproi.com/en/engr_showcase_main.php
I don't know if they have the same projects or instructions there as the other site though.
From: MR C (MOSHE) [#11]
20 Nov 2006
To: Dave Jones (DAVERJ) [#10] 20 Nov 2006
thanks for your answers. I dont find the project on Laserpros website.
Also, where can I find bronze powder?