Aluminium Nameplates

Starting my research here so I wanted to describe my project. The customer asked for .022" thick, 2" x 3" nameplates. These nameplates are for an outdoor application and must be readable for years. Can my GF Pro deal with this?

Yes.

You can dig thru this thread I’m linking you to:

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Thank you for your help. Clear anodized? I don’t know. I am not that smart yet.

You can’t cut the aluminum, but your glowforge can remove the anodizing and make a good image.

For the best results you’ll need to find the right anodized parts to start with. I have some nice opaque dog tags that produce a razor sharp image, and some semi transparent blue anodized business cards from Amazon that produce an awful blurry image. (I think that they may just be stained and not truly anodized but I’m not sure.)

There are engravable aluminum blanks out there that are designed for this. Google around, I can’t recall who sells them. Maybe rowmark or Johnson plastics?

Is it necessary that they be Aluminum? There are many bi-color Acrylics out there. Perhaps a bit thicker but strong contrast and would last for years.

This is what an engraved anodized aluminum print looks like:

You’ll have to imagine how nice it looks, without my photoshop smudging… it looks great.

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Very nice. What size?

I have to learn more about anodized aluminium.

You can get certain anodized aluminum products on Amazon, but I think Johnson Plastics has the largest assortment of products in this category.

In a total coincidence, I just came across this video on how to easily anodize aluminum…

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These are about 1.75" x 2", I think 1/8" thick. Home made out of some Aluminum stock from my local Home Depot.

My original thought was to buy a sheet of .022, mechanically cut into to pieces big enough to fit the gf, mark the sheet on the laser and mechanically cut the sheet into some number of name plates. I did not know anything (still don’t, really) about anodized. I have heard of Cermark and such, but haven’t got up to speed.

I have got so much to learn. Thanks to all for your help.

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