[Soak]

I am interested to know if the base model 40w Chinese lasers can etch anodized aluminum? Specifically, I would like to etch some text and a logo on an aluminum cylinder-like product that we manufacture. It has a diameter of 10mm and the logo is 6mm high. We have a company that does this for us currently, and they do not use a rotary attachment. My concern is that the cheaper lasers will loose focus along the cylinder.

I don't want to spend a lot of money initially, and I don't mind upgrading parts such as the controller board later. Currently we outsource this work and it is getting very expensive. The plan is to move the laser etching in-house. We do about 3000 parts a year, so I can't justify spending much money on the machine.

Thanks for the help!

[Melody-gweike]

Hi, Soak,

It's no problem for a laser here working on cylinder.

I had video before , have a reference.
http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghsST_A83Ck

But for alum, if it has metallic paint, then our machine can manage that easily.
If not, maybe have some difficulty or need to upgrade to large power which may influence the etching result.

Melody
[email protected]

[GWEIKE-LASER]

I am interested to know if the base model 40w Chinese lasers can etch anodized aluminum? Specifically, I would like to etch some text and a logo on an aluminum cylinder-like product that we manufacture. It has a diameter of 10mm and the logo is 6mm high. We have a company that does this for us currently, and they do not use a rotary attachment. My concern is that the cheaper lasers will loose focus along the cylinder.

I don't want to spend a lot of money initially, and I don't mind upgrading parts such as the controller board later. Currently we outsource this work and it is getting very expensive. The plan is to move the laser etching in-house. We do about 3000 parts a year, so I can't justify spending much money on the machine.

Thanks for the help!

:banana: Chinese 40W laser can do engraving on anodized aluminum very well. Attachment is the sample picture I have ever made for customer on bar code. After add rotating, then it can engraving same function on cylinder.
I believe our model LG6040N will be your best choice.

regards,
JENNY

[Exsecratio]

6mm text on a cylinder with a 10mm diameter gives a 1mm drop between the centre line and the radius of the tube. That's just inside the depth of field of a 50.8mm focal length lens so should be fine (the depth of field of a 50.8mm lens is 1.8mm).

Pretty much any laser from 30 watts upwards will etch anodised aluminium without problems, even the small A4 desktop machines.That said I'd be more inclined to go for a machine that comes with LaserCUT as both MoshiDraw and NewleyDraw have serious drawbacks with them.

I'd go with the cheapest machine that has lasercut and use a dedicated bed to sit the parts on for repeatability.

best wishes

Dave

[Soak]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Sounds like one of these 40w lasers will work for my needs. Due to cash-flow, I will probably start with one of the basic machines (with Moshidraw) and upgrade the controller in a few months (maybe Mach3 or RetinaEngrave?)

I am also hoping that I can remove the factory bed and install a bracket that I could use to hold custom jigs for each of the parts we produce. If I have two jigs for each part, I could be loading the parts on a jig while the other one is in the engraver, then swap and repeat.

Would there be a benefit in adding an air assist system for engraving anodized aluminum? I have seen some articles on doing this.

Once again, thanks for the help!

[Exsecratio]

Hiya Soak,

For etching anodise....not really, it will blow the dust around but the process doesn't require air (to keep down flames or assist cutting) so no real benefit.

I do think though Moshi based equipment would be a mistake the software is buggy and difficult to use.

I'd be more inclined to wait till the cashflow builds then go for say a Weike 3040 with Lasercut.

best wishes

Dave

[GWEIKE-LASER]

I agree with Dave.
compare the three software. Strongly suggest the LASER CUT software. It's can work out through coredraw, CAD etc directly.