@steve, Anyone with a consumer grade laser (which the Glowforge is part of that market segment) can answer this… Metals are a special beast, there are coatings that allow metals to be marked (Cermark, anodizing, perhaps with some experimentation even patinas and some types oxidization). Marking metal at all (be it engraving or just marking) without a coating of some kind requires very special high power lasers (look up fiber lasers if you want to see what $25,000 to $50,000 can buy you) cutting metal is a wholly other beast as the power requirements are truly industrial, often times plasma cutting and water-jet technologies are so much better at those jobs so lasers aren’t even considered…
However, there is an official list of materials that the Glowforge supports and you can find it in the tech spec section of the website…
Generally speaking keep it thin, keep its atomization point in the hundreds of degrees, make sure it is a poor heat conductor, and that when burned it doesn’t off gas truly evil stuff and you will be good… But metals you are talking trying to get a single point up to astronomical temperatures without the surrounding material taking that heat away and/or the energy being scattered by reflection.
There has been a specific stance on this. I agree the macbook “engraving” is misleading. As has been said on some similar topics the most misleading part is in some of the official info including techspecs where it says engraving. The Glowforge(and all over non super powered lasers) can not engrave(even though it says it can), etch nor cut metals, what the GF team mean is the GF can Mark metal materials with Cermark or similar.
Marking is depositing dark residue, compared to engraving where you are removing material(and maybe leaving some residue in the process), so the finished piece will be completely 2d with do depth.
The GF can also remove coating from metal meterial, so if you have anodized metals you can remove the microns of coloured material to reveal the silver shimmer or you can remove paint etc. from a treated piece of metal to do much the same.(no noticeable depth will be removed, but you will have the contrast of colour)
Honestly this discussion board is the first time I’ve heard anyone object to describing the process of using a CO2 laser to change the appearance of a surface of metal as “engraving”. But you’re right that “marking” is a more accurate term.
If your Glowforge isn’t going to do what you expected of it, of course, say the word and we’ll issue a full refund. Otherwise, apologies for any miscommunication!
@dan Thanks for taking the time to comment and for the generous refund policy. I think you’re missing the point though. We are asking for you or another team member to comment -directly- on the Glowforge’s engraving/etching/marking capabilities with metals listed above.
Now by apologizing for a miscommunication you are implying that the Glowforge’s marketing copy was wrong and that it cannot engrave/mark/etch (I’m getting sick of writing all three) on metal. To be honest, I don’t want to ask for a refund, I want a Glowforge but I want to know what exactly I am going to be able to do with a rather expensive piece of equipment. I don’t think that is asking too much. If you haven’t done enough testing on various materials to know what the laser’s capabilities are then say so. If you know the capabilities then say so.
Lastly I and everyone else here deserves to hear this from someone we are handing $2,500 to. Not @jhandel or @ihermit2 as knowledgeable as they may be.
Steve, this isn’t a discussion and he did comment on it, in a way. The Glowforge CANNOT cut metal. At all. Of any type or thickness.
It can mark some metals with the addition of an additive, and some consumer products (like the Mac Book) have metal that’s already been treated with a coating the laser can remove to produce a visible mark without adding anything yourself.
We’ve tested on anodized aluminum with great results. We’ve engraved a bunch of random metals (and ceramic, and a rock from the back of the building) successfully with Cermark, enough to believe Cermark’s own marketing materials about what it works with. I don’t have a list of which metals we’ve tested in-house. The physics here are pretty straightforward, though - if it works with Cermark and a typical 40w CO2 laser, it will work great on your Glowforge.
I should note the rock from behind the building also looked amazing engraved (marked, etched, inscribed upon with beams of light) without Cermark. : )
The Glowforge has the same etching limits as any other CO2 laser, its pretty easy to google if something can be cut or etched with a CO2 laser. And from my understanding, CO2 lasers can only mark(engrave?) metals which have been coated such as anodizing or Cermark coating.
Dan, will you be selling Cermark once your store for materials is open? Since it does not seem to be a easy product to find, I would rather buy it from glowforge and support you guys.
I just wrote up my experience with dry moly lube as a substitute for Cermark. I’ll have to try to dig up some pictures, but here is the post explaining a bit of my process.
@jbv, I thought about including it, but then when I hit reply and shutdown my computer I realized I had forgot! The product I used was black (more like charcoal…dark grey/gray ). It’s flat black when applied, and if I remember right, turns a little more deeper black when “baked” on. After thinking about this more, and how some might tackle etching glass, I’m thinking if I were to do this again, I would apply a mask to the metal, cut out on the laser the area I would want marked, take it out of the laser and remove the mask where I want to apply the dry moly, spray on the dry moly, let it dry, pull off the rest of the mask, and take a blow torch to piece of metal to “bake” on the dry moly. This seems a lot more practical than wasting your laser tube life on something that could be done at a higher temperature in less than half the time (conservatively speaking)!
Nice. So not a sienna/brown like I was thinking could happen. Good to hear. I would still be interested in seeing your pictures if you happen to still have them.
I agree. And then you would not have as much risk of rubbing off the marking as you would not have to scrub off the excess moly afterwards.
Why not just use Cermark/Thermark? It “just works” and the marks are permanent. Aluminum can be tricky though, never could get the marks to stick to 6061. Might sound pricey but a can goes a LONG way, and your time is probably worth more than the $20 you’d save testing moly lube four hours if not days.
)!
). It’s flat black when applied, and if I remember right, turns a little more deeper black when “baked” on. After thinking about this more, and how some might tackle etching glass, I’m thinking if I were to do this again, I would apply a mask to the metal, cut out on the laser the area I would want marked, take it out of the laser and remove the mask where I want to apply the dry moly, spray on the dry moly, let it dry, pull off the rest of the mask, and take a blow torch to piece of metal to “bake” on the dry moly. This seems a lot more practical than wasting your laser tube life on something that could be done at a higher temperature in less than half the time (conservatively speaking)!