Be it work, life, family, health or good old fashion procrastination. Got this from Storyboardist (Thanks again) in 2019 BOTY :-[
First time laser etching enclosure. Normally I used UV printing but my only local provider is having problems with their printer.
This was also with a local service and lost some details in the graphic from what was originally intended.
Now a question for those who use laser for enclosures:
Will a diode laser be enough for powder coated boxes (Hammond or
Tayda) or do I need to step up to CO2 ?
(https://i.ibb.co/FH4WJ8V/20240128-115030.jpg) (https://ibb.co/TWMTRPL)
Pickdropper and gordo know far more than I do on this.
I got my 10W laser to do powder coat etching, but it took a few passes to get clean
It'll definitely require some test etches on yhe lid/cover to tune in the results.
CO2 will definitely make quicker work of it all, if my diode experiments are anything to go by. Also you need like upwards of 700 cfm extraction. The fumes from that crap are nasty.
I've been out of the game for a while now but need to get my chops back. I've had fairly good luck with powder coat on my diode, especially Hammond black. More is better in terms of power and I'd love to have a CO2.
Looks great! Really like the offset pots and knobs.
Diode will work if you get at least 10W of power. 10 works, but it does take several passes. The 20W diodes are coming down in price. If you have the scratch, get the 20W. I have a 10 and it works fine, but it does take a while. Cuts wood pretty well too, but obviously 20 would be better/faster/cleaner.