Etching/Milling Powdercoated Enclosures

[benny_profane]

I have a few dark-colored powdercoated enclosures that I want to add labels/art to while retaining the powder finishes (they're sparkly PPP boxes). I was considering laying down white areas then color-matching with waterslide decals over top so that the white showed through negative space in the decals. I'm hesitant to do that because my normal routine is waterslides with envirotex. I'd like to avoid the added gloss and depth in these to keep just the powder without added finishes.

I really like the look of bare aluminum with powdercoat, though. I don't have a CNC machine or really know anything about them or laser etching. What do I need to do to do this? There used to be a Tech Shop in my location, but that's not available anymore. Any input or advice would be appreciated.

Cheers!

[benny_profane]

I may have access to a laser engraver operating at 2000 mW and a 445 nm spectrum. I've pored over the laser etcher thread (http://www.madbeanpedals.com/forum/index.php?topic=25637.0) but any additional tips with those specs would be great.

[benny_profane]

Update: I've used the machine with both mammoth and PPP powder coated boxes. One pass at full speed and full power took the (opaque) mammoth box right down to the aluminum. I had two PPP boxes and experimented: full power and both full and 80% speed were not enough to take a PPP boxes down to aluminum. I ran out of time so I wasn't able to do a second pass on those; I'm planning on filling the relief with a cold wax medium and pigment.